Mississippi State University, Mississippi
March 9, 2025
March 9, 2025
March 11, 2025
Professional Papers
10
10.18260/1-2--54148
https://peer.asee.org/54148
10
Anna Howard is a Teaching Professor at NC State University in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering where she has led the course redesign effort for Engineering Statics. She received her Ph.D. from the Rotorcraft Center of Excellence at Penn State University and is one of the campus leaders of Wolfpack Engineering Unleashed. She has launched and is currently chairing the College Teaching Committee for the NC State College of Engineering.
Sally Pardue, Ph.D., is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Tennessee Tech University, and former director (2009 - 2018) of the Oakley Center for Excellence in the Teaching of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
In 2024, the American Society for Engineering Education Southeast Section conference hosted a panel discussion about the coming, no make that the arrival, of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom. Several points became clear to us during that discussion: first, easy access to predictive large-language models (LLM) is alarming to faculty. Second, once these examples of artificial intelligence become widespread, their use will continue. And third, faculty will need to adjust. It has been clear to the Engineering Education community for some time that our students’ learning outcomes are better when we teach using research-based methods that have evolved beyond the 1950s-versions of our classrooms. Just as the hand-held calculator changed the way engineer educators instruct and assess in the classroom in the 80s, then internet in the 90s, then cell-phones in the 2000s, technology enhancers, some might say disruptors, require us to adapt. In this paper we will briefly discuss the current state of AI in engineering classrooms and then discuss what we think can be done to future-proof our teaching.
Howard, A. K. T., & Pardue, S. J. (2025, March), Call to Action! Paper presented at 2025 ASEE Southeast Conference , Mississippi State University, Mississippi. 10.18260/1-2--54148
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