University of Maryland Pioneers AI-Informed Teaching

The University of Maryland is leading the way in AI-informed teaching. Its program empowers faculty to ethically integrate generative AI, transforming classrooms and enhancing student learning for a new era.

The quiet hum of artificial intelligence, once a distant concept, has officially moved into the classroom, sparking a seismic shift in how educators teach and how students learn.

For many, like Dane Grossnickle, a lecturer at the University of Maryland’s Institute of Applied Agriculture, the initial arrival of tools like ChatGPT in late 2022 was met with a shrug.

He imagined students might use it for quick fact-finding, much like a glorified search engine. But that apathy quickly curdled into alarm as the spring of 2023 unfolded, revealing assignments bearing the unmistakable fingerprints of a chatbot, leaving Grossnickle to question the very authorship of the work before him.

This wasn’t just a minor inconvenience. It was an existential challenge to the integrity of academic work, forcing faculty to confront a new digital frontier without a map.

The line between genuine student effort and algorithmic assistance blurred, creating a pedagogical quandary that left many feeling overwhelmed and unprepared.

Yet, the Grossnickle of 2025 is a different man, no longer locked in a battle against the inevitable. He is rather a guide, skillfully navigating his students through the proper, ethical, and effective uses of AI.

This transformation is a testament to the proactive vision of the University of Maryland’s Teaching and Learning Transformation Center (TLTC) and its groundbreaking “GenAI-Informed Pedagogy” track.

The TLTC’s program isn’t about mere acceptance of AI; it’s about profound understanding and strategic integration.

“At the end of the program, all of us who’d taken it understood AI is not going away,” Grossnickle reflected, underscoring a sentiment that echoes across campuses nationwide.

“What they taught us wasn’t that we have to accept and like AI, but that we have to understand it. In my classes, it’s become a valuable tool to enhance, not replace, learning.”

This shift from apprehension to empowerment is precisely what TLTC Director of Teaching Innovation, Mary E. Warneka, hoped for.

She notes the widespread creativity and intentionality faculty have shown, teaching students not just to use these tools, but to use them critically, discerning when they are appropriate and, crucially, when they are not.

The GenAI-Informed Pedagogy track, offered through the TLTC’s Teaching Academy, provides a structured pathway for faculty to earn micro-credentials for individual courses.

Those who complete three offerings, or a multi-session learning community alongside a final application project, can achieve the coveted GenAI-Informed Pedagogy Practitioner meta-credential.

In just over a year, its popularity has soared, becoming one of the Teaching Academy’s most sought-after programs, with over 600 micro-credentials awarded.

The initial course, “Harnessing AI for Teaching,” alone has drawn nearly 450 participants, a clear indicator of the urgent need faculty felt for guidance in this rapidly evolving landscape.

So far, 60 faculty members have earned the comprehensive meta-credential, signifying a deep commitment to mastering AI-informed teaching.

Among them is Sayan Bhattacharya, an assistant professor in the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Bhattacharya observed how the pandemic had already reshaped student engagement with texts, a challenge exacerbated by the widespread accessibility of generative AI.

“I noticed that a lot of students were using ChatGPT for their assignments,” Bhattacharya explained.

“Rather than being punitive, I wanted to find ways to constructively integrate AI into my curriculum to ensure students get the most out of the class. TLTC’s training certainly proved extremely useful.”

This encapsulates a critical pivot for higher education. It is moving beyond punitive measures to embrace pedagogical innovation that leverages, rather than bans, the powerful tools now at students’ fingertips.

The program’s offerings are diverse, ranging from digital courses and interactive workshops to immersive learning communities.

Participants delve into everything from rethinking assignment design and enhancing course structure to exploring the implications of AI for research.

This fall, two AI-focused learning communities are underway: “AI Playground,” designed for beginners to explore various AI tools, and “Using AI to Teach Undergraduate Research Skills,” an advanced collaboration with the Office of Undergraduate Research.

Grossnickle, who attended the “AI Playground,” described it as “a really robust, really valuable course about developing course-specific guidelines and understanding of when and how to use these platforms.”

His engagement was so impactful that he was later encouraged to join the University System of Maryland’s Generative AI Pedagogy Fellows Program, further solidifying his role as an AI-informed educator.

Beyond direct faculty training, the TLTC and the University Libraries have collaboratively developed an AI and information literacy course module.

This resource, integrated into 337 courses and publicly viewed over 115,000 times, equips students with the essential skills to understand AI-based tools, assess their accuracy, and recognize their limitations.

It’s a crucial step in fostering digital citizenship and critical thinking in an AI-saturated world.

Warneka wisely cautions against a one-size-fits-all approach to AI integration.

“Its use has to be pedagogically purposeful and tailored to the unique needs of each discipline, each course, and even each assignment,” she advises.

This nuanced perspective is vital, acknowledging that while AI offers immense potential, its application must always serve specific learning objectives rather than becoming an end in itself.

The University of Maryland’s commitment extends beyond faculty training.

It views AI as a transformative force, actively shaping its future by forging solutions to pressing global issues, training the next generation of an AI-infused workforce, and applying AI to strengthen the economy and communities.

The TLTC’s work is a microcosm of this broader vision, demonstrating how the university embraces AI’s potential for the public good, all while steadfastly upholding the human values that remain at the core of education.

In an era where technological change often outpaces human adaptation, Maryland stands as a testament to proactive engagement, turning potential disruption into purposeful innovation.