AI, VR among Top Faculty Projects Funded Through Annual $100K Grant Program

Press Releases

Aug 09, 2023

Course Hero announces 52 grants awarded to faculty for tech-based classroom projects

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Course Hero, the popular learning platform used by over 150,000 educators, today announced fifty-two recipients of its second annual Teaching Grants for Digital Learning. The program awards grants of up to $2,000 to support faculty “dream projects,” many of which utilize the power of generative AI through the lens of digital pedagogy.

“With advancements in generative AI and VR being widely and quickly adopted by students and faculty, educators are seeking out new ways to engage their students in increasingly digitized classroom environments,” said Sean Michael Morris, VP of Academics at Course Hero. “I’m continually amazed by the ingenuity of faculty members across the country who are embracing new technologies to help today’s learners succeed and achieve their higher education goals.”

Faculty from 142 institutions submitted projects for the Fall 2023 term. The 52 projects were selected through a blind review process led by former educators at Course Hero. Many faculty expressed an interest in exploring the ethical and effective use of generative AI in their classrooms, while others proposed using technologies like AR and VR to introduce hands-on learning in their classrooms. Some of the projects selected include:

Applying Learning with VR

Yu-Tung Kuo, professor of Applied Engineering Technology at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (the country’s largest public Historically Black College and University and the largest producer of Black undergraduates in engineering), will use the funding to simulate real-world scenarios in VR game development. Students will apply learned knowledge and skills, explore the importance of diverse user research and testing, and foster collaboration and decision-making skills critical to the workplace.

AI-Prompted Role Playing

Carmen Villavicencio-Hein, a doctoral student at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work, will use the grant to purchase AI software that will support the creation of a series of simulated case studies where social work students must analyze quantitative and qualitative data to determine areas of need in schools, conduct mental health assessments, and develop culturally responsive interventions and strategies in response to needs. Practicing through simulation scenarios will allow students to apply, practice, and reflect on their learning before their direct work with students and families.

Exploring ChatGPT for Tutoring

Kimberley McHale, a Calculus II professor at Heartland Community College in Illinois, will use her grant to develop a classroom project in which students will investigate both the opportunities and pitfalls of using generative artificial intelligence to learn math. Students will investigate how ChatGPT can be applied in different learning scenarios, and present their findings to the class and Professor McHale’s peers.

The grants follow Course Hero’s 2023 Education Summit, which recently brought together over 7,500 educators to engage in conversations and workshops around digital pedagogy, assessment, and student-first learning environments. The Summit’s most widely attended sessions were focused on AI, including understanding the educational opportunities and tradeoffs of AI, using AI constructively in the classroom, and preparing students for an AI-enabled workplace.

About Course Hero: Course Hero is on a mission to help students graduate confident and prepared. The online learning platform now offers more than 100 million course-specific study resources created by and for students and educators, as well as 24/7 tutor help. More than 150,000 faculty across the U.S. and Canada use Course Hero to share their resources with the community, collaborate with other faculty, and hone new strategies for instruction. Every day, students, educators and tutors on Course Hero help more than 30 million students make every study hour count.