The College of Education will be hosting two AI-focused sessions as part of the STEM-E(RC)² 2025 Fall Seminar Series.
Session: “AI-Assisted, Not AI-Driven: A Bilingual Teacher’s Pedagogical Reasoning in Math Instruction”
Date: September 17, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Maricela León, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Teacher and Administrator Preparation (TAP), UTA College of Education
Session information: This work examines how a bilingual elementary teacher integrates ChatGPT into mathematics lesson design. Drawing on pedagogical content knowledge and systemic functional linguistics, we show how AI cannot fully replace teachers’ practices and funds of knowledge. Instead, through intentional prompt engineering, the teacher tailors AI to meet the mathematical and linguistic needs of emergent bilinguals. Findings underscore the teacher’s active role in shaping AI to refine vocabulary, syntax, and activities, ensuring instructional design aligns with disciplinary literacy goals. The study affirms that in STEM-related instruction, the value of AI as a resource is strongly linked to teachers’ expertise and knowledge.
In-Person: Trimble Hall, Rooms 009 and 010
Online: Via Microsoft Teams
Cost: The event is free, but registration is required.
A light lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.
Session: “Exploring Pre-service Elementary Teachers Artificial Intelligence Teaching Efficacy Beliefs”
Date: October 29, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Erdogan Kaya, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Teacher and Administrator Preparation (TAP), UTA College of Education
Session information: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is influencing every aspect of our lives, yet AI education remains largely missing from K–12 schools, especially in elementary settings. This study explores an AI intervention for pre-service elementary teachers (PSTs), framed by Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. Within a technology course, PSTs explored AI concepts and practices, and engaged in hands-on activities that highlight AI’s affordances, limitations, and ethical considerations. We assessed PSTs’ AI teaching efficacy beliefs before and after the intervention. Findings reveal that targeted AI training improved PSTs’ teaching efficacy beliefs. This study offers strategies for teacher preparation programs and underscores the urgency of expanding AI education in pre-college settings.
In-Person: Trimble Hall, Rooms 009 and 010
Online: Via Microsoft Teams
Cost: The event is free, but registration is required.
A light lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.