taught by Rifat Sabbir Mansur<\/a>, assistant professor of information sciences and technology, and LA 135N, Human Intelligence in the Age of AI, taught by Stephanie Gresh, assistant teaching professor of business.<\/p>\nTogether, the courses encouraged students to understand both the technology behind artificial intelligence and the human capabilities needed to use it effectively.<\/p>\n
In AI 100, students explored how artificial intelligence systems work while examining concepts including algorithms, machine learning, bias and the limitations of AI. Rifat Mansur said developing AI literacy requires students to do more than learn how to use the latest tools.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI literacy is becoming an essential skill, but understanding AI also makes critical thinking more important, not less important,\u201d Rifat Mansur said. \u201cWe want students to understand what these systems can do, where they can fall short and why human judgment still matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
That message resonated with students. Justin, another Allentown School District student who participated in the institute, said one of his biggest takeaways was recognizing the limits of relying on technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned that we can’t depend only on AI, or we will end up losing some of our own skills,\u201d Justin said.<\/p>\n
Maria said she came away with a greater understanding of how human decisions can affect the output produced by artificial intelligence, particularly when it comes to bias and inaccurate information. <\/p>\n
\u201cI learned that nearly everything relies on the programmer\/developer when it comes to training the AI models to prevent biases and hallucinations,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Developing the human skills that matter<\/p>\n
Gresh’s course approached the changing relationship between humans and artificial intelligence from another direction, asking students to consider what distinctly human abilities will continue to matter as AI becomes more capable.<\/p>\n
Students worked with AI tools while developing critical thinking, empathy, adaptability, communication and social influence. They practiced those skills through classroom activities and projects and completed the course with a digital portfolio demonstrating what they had learned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe course gives Allentown high school students something rare: real college credit paired with practical skills they can use right away,\u201d Gresh said. \u201cStudents learn how to work with AI tools while strengthening the human skills that still matter most \u2014 critical thinking, empathy, adaptability and social influence.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Gresh, those skills are not separate from career preparation. They are increasingly central to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSoft skills are not \u2018nice to have\u2019; they are the skills that help people stay valuable as technology changes,\u201d Gresh said. <\/p>\n
Students also explored ethical questions surrounding artificial intelligence and learned to analyze real-world dilemmas and support their positions with evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI is a powerful tool, but it still needs human direction, judgment and oversight,\u201d Gresh said. \u201cEthical thinking matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Odette, another student in the institute, said she enjoyed the different approaches of the two courses and came away with a greater understanding of AI. Her advice for students considering the program was straightforward: Turn in their work on time and \u201cbe open minded.\u201d<\/p>\n
Building college confidence early<\/p>\n
The experience was also designed to accomplish something beyond teaching students about artificial intelligence: To give them an authentic experience with college while they are still in high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor many students, this is their first real experience of college-level work,\u201d Gresh said. \u201cIt builds confidence, reduces the intimidation of higher education, and gives them tangible evidence of their readiness both for future classes and for the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n
That early exposure is one of the broader goals of Penn State Lehigh Valley’s growing dual enrollment efforts.<\/p>\n
Through Penn State’s high school dual credit enrollment program, eligible students can take college courses on campus while still enrolled in high school. Students who have completed their junior year or are currently seniors are generally eligible, with exceptions for younger students considered on a case-by-case basis. Typical applicants have a cumulative high school GPA of 3.0.<\/p>\n
Penn State Lehigh Valley’s growing portfolio of dual enrollment opportunities currently includes partnerships with the Allentown School District, Upper Perkiomen High School and Lehigh Career and Technical Institute.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Learning to understand AI, not just use it During the AI Summer Institute, students completed AI 100, Artificial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-271390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}