Completed Projects

• AI-Based Feedback and Its Influence on Academic Growth 
  • Team led by Spyros Simotas (Assistant Professor, French, University of Virginia) 
  • Fall 2023 – Spring 2025; Dissemination Ongoing 
  • This project explored the impact of AI-generated feedback on students’ confidence and growth mindset about writing. Results revealed that GenAI can support meaningful learning gains when paired with critical reflection and instructor guidance, and student responses to the tool span the spectrum between enthusiasm and skepticism. 
• Development and Evaluation of an OER, Fostering AI Literacy: A Guide for Educators in Higher Education 
  • Team led by Fang Yi (Assistant Director, Learning Design & Technology, University of Virginia) and Bethany Mickel (Teaching and Instructional Design Librarian, University of Virginia) 
  • Fall 2023 – Spring 2025; Dissemination Ongoing 
  • This project resulted in the creation of Fostering AI Literacy: A Guide for Educators in Higher Education, a new open educational resource (OER) designed to support higher education instructors as they navigate the rapidly changing landscape of generative AI in teaching and learning. This resource features interactive content, specific classroom examples, reflection questions, and hands-on activities to help faculty develop AI literacy and make intentional, informed course design decisions that cultivate students’ AI literacy. The team conducted several surveys with instructors across the state to inform design, development, and ongoing revision. 
• Exploring Generative AI Use and Perceptions Among Students with and Without Disabilities in Higher Education 
  • Team led by Danielle Waterfield (School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia) 
  • Fall 2023 – Spring 2025; Dissemination Ongoing 
  • This project examined how students with and without disabilities use and perceive GenAI in their academic work. Results highlight both the opportunities GenAI offers for accessibility and support, as well as ongoing concerns related to ethics, reliability, and equitable implementation in higher education settings. 
• Instructor Responses to GenAI in Classroom Assessment 
  • Led by Rip Verkerke (T. Munford Boyd Professor of Law and Director of the Program for Employment & Labor Law Studies, School of Law, University of Virginia) 
  • Fall 2023 – Spring 2025; Dissemination Ongoing 
  • This project examined faculty attitudes towards AI tools and the strategies instructors have adopted in response to their availability.