AI Literacy and Academic Certification: The Encore Series

A 5-week hands-on workshop on understanding, using, and evaluating AI responsibly in college and beyond. Learn how AI works, build practical study tools, develop effective prompting skills, and earn a Digital Badge!

5 Mondays, starting October 26
12:15–1:15 p.m.
FH L117
Participate in person or online. Register for sessions below:

• October 26: Look Under the Hood—Understanding How AI Works (and Why It Confidently Lies)
  Learn the fundamentals of large language models, including the difference between training and inference, how AI predicts text, why hallucinations happen, and why context and data quality matter. Students compare AI-generated and human-written content and practice fact-checking AI outputs.
• November 2: Prompt Engineering—Getting Better Results Through Better Instructions
  Explore how prompts shape AI responses and why vague questions produce weak answers. Students learn the PICCO framework (Persona, Instructions, Context, Constraints, Output), examine AI bias, and build a personal library of reusable prompts.
• November 9: Tools of the Trade—Choosing the Right AI Tool for the Job
  Discover specialized AI tools for research, studying, presentations, task management, and productivity, including Perplexity, NotebookLM, Canva, Gamma, goblin.tools, and Microsoft Copilot. Students compare tools and create their own custom Copilot assistant.
• November 16: Study Systems and Process Engineering—Building a Smarter Study Workflow
  Learn how to use AI to support learning rather than replace thinking. Students create study guides, practice exams, and interactive flashcards while mapping academic workflows to identify where AI adds value and where human judgment should remain in control.
• November 23: Ethics, Integrity, and Certification—Using AI Responsibly in Academic and Professional Settings
  Participate in a guided discussion on academic integrity, algorithmic bias, privacy, intellectual property, environmental impacts, and responsible AI use. The series concludes with a commitment to ethical AI practices and certification.