Abstract:

In Fall 2024, I piloted an artificial intelligence (AI)-focused unit in ED 627 Emerging Technologies, a graduate-level course enrolling 30 students in educational leadership and teacher education. Supported by a faculty innovation grant, this unit introduced generative AI tools (ChatGPT, GPT-4, Gemini) through applied assignments, reflective prompts, and curated resources. Initial student feedback indicates the unit was successful in raising awareness of AI’s potential and risks in education, particularly around formative assessment, feedback efficiency, and professional communication tasks. While systematic evaluation of student learning outcomes is ongoing, early observations suggest that structured exposure to AI expanded candidates’ ability to critically analyze AI outputs, evaluate alignment to educational standards, and articulate implications for their own practice.

Building on this pilot, the Dille Fund project, Learning and Leading with AI: Teacher Candidate Engagement and Doctoral Mentorship, extends inquiry into how AI can be ethically and effectively embedded in educator preparation programs. This initiative introduces micro-modules on AI ethics (bias, privacy, human agency, and academic integrity) and investigates how teacher candidates in K–12 licensure programs apply ethical checklists to real-world tasks such as lesson planning, student feedback, and parent communication. Doctoral research assistants are engaged in parallel as co-investigators, receiving mentorship in data collection, coding, and dissemination.

This combined agenda addresses two intertwined questions:
(1) How do AI tools reshape formative assessment practices in K–12 and higher education?
(2) What ethical affordances and constraints emerge when preparing future teachers for AI-mediated practice?

The anticipated contribution is a portable framework of AI literacy for teacher candidates (AIL-TC) paired with evidence-based design principles for integrating AI into coursework and practice. By situating efficiency gains alongside equity and ethics, this work offers both practical tools and conceptual grounding for AI adoption in educator preparation.

Keywords:

Generative AI, teacher preparation, formative assessment, ethics, emerging technologies, instructional design.