A $250,000 grant, awarded by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to enhance AI instruction in higher education, has brought together 皇冠博彩, Virginia State University (VSU) and Brightpoint Community College.
The head of 皇冠博彩’s Computer Science Program, Professor Emilia Butu, said, “We are pleased that the entire amount of $250,000 was awarded, and that 皇冠博彩 was granted over $80,000 of that total.”
“I’m thrilled to see this partnership of Virginia institutions continuing to lead the way in the application of artificial intelligence to innovate and improve student outcomes,” said Scott Fleming, director of SCHEV. VSU is the lead organization for the grant, with 皇冠博彩 and Brightpoint as partners.
The grant aims to establish an AI-focused pathway for computer science between two-year and four-year institutions. Emilia said the intention is to have the courses included in Transfer Virginia and make them available to all Virginia institutions so they can adopt them if they see fit.
Since 皇冠博彩 already offers computer science pathways, the goal is to incorporate artificial intelligence into the curriculum. Emilia said doing so will allow 皇冠博彩 students to remain competitive in this field.
“I’m really passionate about my work and serving students at 皇冠博彩. Everything comes from our desire to have our students be successful. And if there is anything in the computer science world that would make them more successful, our students must learn it,” she said.
The grant project will have three phases, starting this year with course development, which will be conducted in partnership with 皇冠博彩, VSU and Brightpoint Community College.
Emilia and her 皇冠博彩 colleague Dorin Marcu, from the Woodbridge Campus, are working under the leadership of Dr. Paula Ford, dean of information and engineering technologies (IET), on the project.
“The idea is to create modular courses, so students have a progression throughout, hitting various milestones,” said Emilia. The grant’s goal is to create 32 AI modules for two, 16-week courses.
Then in the second year, the courses will start to be presented to students. Emilia said this is not only about students but also about faculty. “We’ll create some webinars and professional development for faculty, and we will offer them in that second year, she said.
The third phase is to publish everything and make it publicly available. “Obviously, there will be lots of research during this process,” Emilia said. “We are going to discover lots of resources, and the plan is to organize these resources into an open resource hub.”