Learning and Teaching Symposium (July 2026)

Abstract

The adoption of generative AI has outpaced our ability to evaluate its effect on learning. Decisions are usually framed around productivity, obscuring the distinction between AI that builds students’ capabilities and AI that produces output in students’ place. This distinction matters. Durable learning forms when students struggle productively with material and offloading that struggle to AI removes the very process that lays down lasting knowledge. We will discuss directions for supporting effective student learning alongside increasingly powerful machines.