With the perpetual rise of artificial intelligence, AUC faculty are looking for answers about how students should use AI in the classroom and testing if one set of guidelines could work across disciplines.

At AUC, five faculty members are working with students across nine courses to explore those questions and develop flexible, discipline-specific approaches to using artificial intelligence in teaching and learning. The ongoing research project, “Towards a Guided Application of AI in Teaching and Learning within STEAM Higher Education,” brings together courses spanning construction and mechanical engineering, architecture and Core Curriculum courses.

Led by Mohamed Darwish ’04, ’06, assistant professor of construction engineering, the multidisciplinary approach uses student experiences, attitudes and concerns about AI to help shape guidelines that can evolve along with the technology. 

Maha Bali ’01, co-principal investigator in the research and professor of practice at AUC’s Center for Learning and Teaching, encountered a multitude of questions from fellow faculty regarding the development of AI guidelines in the classroom. 

 "It’s like driving: There are laws you need to follow, but if nobody's watching you, if there are no policemen, what are you going to do?”

“People are always asking for more specific guidelines, and we keep saying, ‘Every discipline and course needs something slightly different,’” Bali said. “This project is trying to see if we can come up with something that would be flexible enough for a diverse group of courses.” 

AI in the Classroom

Rather than developing a single set of rules, the research takes a course-by-course approach. Each participating course begins with a survey, in which students answer questions about their AI perspectives and usage. Instructors then review the findings from their individual courses alongside data from the wider group. With students, the co-PIs create guidelines for AI usage with their students. They then examine the commonalities between the different student-created guidelines.

For Bali, that student involvement is central to the project’s purpose: helping students develop the judgment to make responsible decisions about AI even when no one is there to enforce it.

"Our aim is to have a set of guidelines, but they will ultimately be a first draft for others to build upon: There should be endless numbers of drafts.”

“I hope for my students to develop their own judgment of how they should use AI, whether in my own course or beyond, but they need a bit of scaffolding to do so. It’s like driving: There are laws you need to follow, but if nobody's watching you, if there are no policemen, what are you going to do?” Bali asked. 

For AI, however, there are no clear laws as of yet, Bali stated.

Keeping Pace with AI

As AI further develops, so does the research. The approach is designed to evolve alongside the technology itself. Conducted over four semesters, the research is now in its second year, with one full semester remaining. During that time, new AI tools and capabilities have emerged, and the technology has already advanced in ways that were not present when the project began. The flexibility of the research is a vital element for both Darwish and Bali. 

“It’s a dynamic process. There are issues that are arising and new questions that we weren’t asking before,” Darwish said. Emphasizing student participation, Bali added, “This semester, the plan is to create a new activity and see how students develop AI guidelines for a particular assignment, whereas previously we introduced them to a variety of ethical ways of thinking and asked them to develop generic guidelines based on ethically challenging scenarios.”  

Exploring the effectiveness of these guidelines is not the end of the research. “This is open for change with time, circumstances and norms,” Darwish said. “Our aim is to have a set of guidelines, but they will ultimately be a first draft for others to build upon: There should be endless numbers of drafts.” 

For both Darwish and Bali, the process of co-creating the guidelines with students is important; they hope that the students will process the experience and carry it with them in the future.

By testing AI guidance across different disciplines and incorporating student perspectives, the research addresses a fundamental question: How can educators help students use AI thoughtfully and responsibly in different academic contexts?

More faculty research regarding AI can be found at AUC’s AI information hub.

AUC is partnering with Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation to implement a climate leadership program for Africa, training 100 African professionals from more than 22 countries across the continent in water management and climate-smart agriculture.

"AUC has the academic and research expertise, as well as capacity-building and program-management capabilities, to bring all the elements of the project together."

The program, known as Building Climate Leadership Excellence for African Resilience (BCLEAR), is funded through an AUC grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. As the implementing partner, AUC is the entity responsible for overall management of the program in collaboration with the ministry's Nile Water Affairs Sector.

The training will comprise three modules: Water-Energy-Food Nexus, Training of Trainers, and Crop Water Management—with sessions held in Egypt, Uganda and Rwanda. As part of the agreement, AUC will lead the content development and delivery of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus and Training of Trainers modules in each country, while the Crop Water Management module will be adapted and delivered by implementing partners to reflect the local climate and country context. In Cairo, the ministry’s Nile Water Affairs Sector, through the Regional Training Center for Water Resources and Irrigation, will serve as the local implementing partner. 

Hossam El Zayat, deputy director and senior manager of projects at AUC’s Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability, which manages the BCLEAR project, said the University’s role is to manage the implementation of the program and consolidate the program’s academic and research components.

“AUC has the academic and research expertise, as well as capacity-building and program-management capabilities, to bring all the elements of the project together,” said El Zayat. “We are not just training professionals to work in the market. There is an educational element. We are training future trainers. We are preparing educators because AUC is by definition an educational institution.”

Four cohorts are planned, with the first scheduled for October 2026 and the final one for April 2027. Under the program’s monitoring and evaluation plan, each of the 100 participants will commit to training at least 20 additional people after returning home, potentially extending the program’s reach to nearly 2,000 people.

"We are training future trainers."

“In Egypt, we have a set of challenges different from what you find in other countries like Rwanda or Uganda,” said El Zayat. “Most of our agricultural challenges revolve around the optimization of water consumption and management.” Developing urban agriculture solutions in the face of water and food scarcity is the core of the expertise at CARES. AUC will contribute resources to the training from various disciplines, mainly the School of Sciences and Engineering.

AUC’s partnership with the ministry gives the program access to its regional networks and training infrastructure, while allowing local partners in Uganda and Rwanda to tailor part of the curriculum to conditions in their respective countries.

“Africa has not been receiving adequate support to tackle its climate challenges,” said El Zayat. “This program helps address this need by uplifting African professionals and bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical skills to ultimately enhance livelihoods across the continent, including Egypt."