AI Learning Trailblazer Certificate

Description of and requirements to earn these certificates listed below

Spring 2025 General Offerings

SDSU’s Academic Applications of AI (AAAI) Micro-Credential

Prepares you to apply generative AI (gAI) technology efficiently, effectively, and ethically to level up learning in the classes you teach. Online and asynchronous.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Articulate and differentiate how language-based and image-based generative AI tools actually work.
• Describe an action plan for ensuring student awareness of bias, privacy, and other ethical concerns inherent in using generative AI tools.
• Construct a syllabus statement on using generative AI tools appropriate to at least one of your courses.
• Understand the variety of popular generative AI options and selectively build a tailored toolkit appropriate to your academic work.
• Iteratively refine prompt results leading to effective querying of generative AI.

Once you have completed the SDSU microcredential, upload the course completion certificate to this  form   to count toward the AI Learning Trailblazer certificate program.

Engaging AI Critically with Your Students

• Self-Enroll Here

This "Viewing Only" offering of "Engaging AI Critically with Your Students" is being offered through the remainder of Spring 2025.  The videos and resources are available, but the credit-bearing Discussion Board is currently closed to increase informational access to more faculty.  Opportunities to earn LIAISONS  Certificate credit for this workshop will occur at least three times between Summer 2025 and Spring 2026.  This workshop will introduce you to:

1. How Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT work
2. Many of the problems associated with these tools, including
   1. Representative, allocative, and sample biases
   2. GAI Training, Toxicity, and Exploitation
   3. AI Sycophancy
   4. Misinformation and Info Manipulation
   5. Copyright and Equity
   6. Data Privacy
   7. Academic Integrity
   8. Environmental Risks and Benefits
   9. Employment Impacts & Futures
3. Some of the potential benefits of using LLMs critically, with some example applications
4. A rationale for integrating LLMs carefully and critically into your teaching
5. Two videos on ethical questions in GAI by Phaedra Boinodiris, AI and ethics specialist.  

Enhance Your Teaching with AI: Khanmigo Teacher Tools Demo
Facilitated by Shelli Wynants

• Tuesday, January 14, 2025 | 1:00pm-1:45pm (Zoom)

Join us for an introductory demonstration of Khanmigo Teacher Tools, now accessible directly from your Canvas sidebar!

Writing Your AI-Ready Syllabus Policies
Facilitated by Leslie Bruce

• Wednesday, January 15, 2025 - Sunday, January 19, 2025, 8:00am - 11:59pm

In under an hour, this asynchronous WAC LIAISONS workshop will guide faculty through adapting their syllabi academic integrity policies for the presence of AI. Policy definitions, expectations, rationale, guidance, and repercussions will be modeled and explained. (1-hour certificate credit)

Adapting Major Assignments to Reduce AI Reliance
Taught by Leslie Bruce

• Wednesday, January 22, 2025 - Sunday, January 26, 2025, 8:00am - 11:59pm

Attempts to evade and detect generative AI use in coursework are never foolproof. To ensure student learning, we can adapt our assignments to better engage students. Focusing on longer assignments and projects, this asynchronous workshop introduces six strategies for reducing AI use in your favorite major assignments. (1-hour certificate credit)

Engaging AI Critically with Your Students
Taught by Leslie Bruce

• Wednesday, February 12, 2025 - Sunday, February 16, 2025, 8:00am - 11:59pm

Take this asynchronous workshop at your own pace. Learn some of the promises and perils of AI chatbots, explore ways to support critical thinking about AI in class, and draft your own in-class AI-infused activity for feedback. (2-hour certificate credit)

Using AI as Your Faculty Assistant to Reimagine Course Concepts
Facilitated by Dr. Shelli Wynants

Each 30-minute synchronous Zoom session will start with the same material about accessing a couple of common Generative AI models & basic prompting tips. The live demo example will change across sessions.

Wednesday, February 19 | 1:00pm - 1:30pm
Simplify Challenging Course Concepts

Use AI for simplified explanations and everyday analogies (30-minute certificate credit)

Wednesday, February 26 | 1:00pm - 1:30pm
Diversify Course Examples

Use AI to add diversity to your existing case studies/scenarios, quiz questions, etc. (30-minute certificate credit)

Wednesday, March 12 | 1:00pm - 1:30pm
Create Quiz Questions

Use AI to generate basic and applied quiz questions on web pages, articles, & documents. (30-minute certificate credit)

Wednesday, March 19 | 1:00pm - 1:30pm
Create Images

Use AI to generate simple images to add to your Canvas page, course assignment document, PowerPoint/Google slides, etc. (30-minute certificate credit)

AI and Academia Conference
Taught by Leslie Bruce and the FDC

• Friday, February 21, 2025, 8:00am - 5:00pm

The “AI and Academia” conference will convene faculty, administrators, and staff dedicated to learning more about AI in education. Panel presentations, roundtable discussions, and a keynote speaker will explore the possibilities and challenges of generative AI on campus. Please see the conference's shared presentation materials on the AI and Academia: Riding the Wave page.

Possibilities and Implications of AI for University Labor: Will it increase efficiency, reduce workload, or replace faculty?

• Friday, April 11, 2025, 12:00-1:30pm

This will be a hybrid event held on Zoom and in PLN-420. This session will include a faculty panel followed by a roundtable discussion.

• "Unlocking the Archives & History with AI" - presented by Colleen Greene, Digital Scholarship Librarian
  • This presentation explores how AI is dramatically increasing discoverability and access to information in historical sources hidden in physical and digital archives. It highlights initiatives impacting communities of color and shares the hits and misses experienced when using generative text transcription tools for historical research.
• “The Dangers of Generative AI are more urgent than potential benefits” - presented by Jon Bruschke, Human Communication Studies
  • The best available research demonstrates that the use of generative AI considerably lowers student critical thinking skills.  This is a logical outgrowth of the jump from computers performing rote operations to computers performing higher-ordered cognitive skills.  This presents an urgent need to re-evaluate the way generative-AI is used in college classrooms, especially for student papers, in a way that goes well beyond workshops that train instructors to use the tools.  As a large body of work has explored, the potential of generative-AI to do tremendous damage to higher education, even if used exactly as intended, is a real and immediate threat that requires a real and immediate response.

Ethics of Using AI for Scholarship: Navigating the Ethical Considereations fo AI in Academic Advancement

• Friday, May 2, 2025, 12:00-1:30pm

This will be a hybrid event held on Zoom and in PLN-240. This session will include a faculty panel followed by a roundtable discussion.

• "Ethical AI Use in Human-Subject Research: A Case of Text-Mining Qualitative Research on Korean Americans’ Perceptions of Alzheimer’s" - presented by Grace Yi, Social Work

  • This workshop explores ethical considerations in AI-supported human-subject research, focusing on confidentiality, anonymity, and validity. It demonstrates the use of generative AI in a study on Korean Americans' views on Alzheimer's disease, highlighting benefits, risks, and management strategies. Participants will be able to discuss integrating AI while maintaining ethical rigor and enhancing productivity.

• "Exploring opportunities and risks of AI in academia: Ethical considerations to mitigate risks such as implicit bias and ensure inclusivity" - presented by Deanna Jung & Kristina Fortes, School of Nursing

  • This presentation explores the opportunities and risks of using AI in academia. It highlights AI's potential to enhance education, improve skills acquisition, and prepare students for the workforce while addressing ethical considerations like implicit bias and inclusivity. Key takeaways include strategies for integrating AI ethically and fostering an inclusive learning environment.

Teaching and learning with AI: Opportunities & Risks: Examining AI's Potential and Challenges in Educational Settings

• Friday, May 9, 2025, 12:00-1:30pm

This will be a hybrid event held on Zoom and in PLN-240. This session will include a faculty panel followed by a roundtable discussion.

• "Using AI in Quizzes 101" - presented by Itay Sharfi, Computer Science
  • This session explores the strategic integration of AI in educational assessments, demonstrating how tools like ChatGPT-4 can generate high-quality, scenario-based multiple-choice questions. Topics include effective prompting, quality assurance, navigating AI challenges, and integration strategies. The goal is to empower educators to harness AI's potential while maintaining rigorous academic standards.
• "Navigating Students' Use of Generative AI: Strategies for Increasing Transparency and Emphasizing Academic Integrity" - presented by Britt Marlow, TESOL
  • CSUF students have access to TitanGPT and Copilot but fear using them due to potential punishment. AI competence is crucial for workforce success, so transparent guidance on ethical AI use is needed. Assignments should encourage AI use with multiple submissions to ensure academic integrity. This presentation focuses on how faculty can structure their assignments to provide transparency into how students are using generative AI.
• "Your Syllabus Can’t Outrun the Singularity: Pedagogy in the Age of AI" - presented by Maksim Bugrov, Human Communication Studies
  • This session explores AI integration in Human Communication Studies, addressing challenges and possibilities in AI-enhanced teaching environments. It covers core risks, adaptable design frameworks, assignment restructuring, and strategies for teaching critical thinking and AI/media literacy. The goal is to equip educators with tools to teach through AI, promoting inclusive, student-centered learning.

AI LinkedIn Learning Pathways (Online and Asynchronous)

New to LinkedIn? Read this article on how to access LinkedIn Learning with your CSUF username.

Generative AI: What is it? Understanding Ethics & Bias (LinkedIn Learning Beginner Pathway)

Explore the fundamentals of generative AI, its applications, and the ethical considerations surrounding bias in this 2.5-hour LinkedIn video series designed for staff and faculty. (2.5-hour certificate credit)

Generative AI: Using It to Amplify Aptitude Communication, and Critical Thinking (LinkedIn Learning Intermediate Pathway)

Advance your skills in generative AI with this intermediate 3-hour LinkedIn video series, designed for staff and faculty to enhance aptitude, communication, and critical thinking with AI. (3-hour certificate credit)

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Certificate Descriptions and Requirements