By Giovanni Castaneda, Adrian Hernandez and Grace Schroller
CRETE, Neb. — Doane University is hosting a two-week summer workshop focused on generative artificial intelligence (AI), aimed at helping faculty explore how the technology can support learning, collaboration and innovation in the classroom.
Faculty members participating in the workshop proposed project ideas centered on teaching students to use AI to enhance their learning. The workshop provides a collaborative space where instructors work with various AI systems to explore how the technology can transform teaching practices.
“We’re not just using AI to do tasks — we’re trying to transform how students learn,” said Peg Hart, a professor of mathematics and data analytics at Doane.
Faculty applied for the initiative during the spring 2025 semester. The primary workshop runs from May 26 through June 6, with some faculty opting to attend a condensed version held May 2–6.
“This was the perfect place to share ideas and work collectively,” said Phil Weitl, a professor in the English department. Weitl developed a Narrative Medicine simulator named Scout using the BoodleBox bot builder and Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet. The project is designed for students pursuing careers in healthcare, education and other professional fields.
Scout uses scenario-based interactions to help students build interpersonal and clinical skills through narrative competence. By blending the humanities with emerging technology, the simulator highlights AI’s potential to enhance the human dimensions of professional education.
Weitl plans to establish assessment metrics for Scout’s effectiveness in developing empathy, including pre- and post-measures of narrative competence, qualitative analysis of student reflections and long-term clinical follow-up. A pilot launch is scheduled for his fall 2025 courses to gather feedback on user experience, learning outcomes and technical performance.
Kathleen Zumpfe, associate professor of practice in business, also participated in the workshop. Her project centers on an AI bot for her BUS 101 course that generates real-world business scenarios. Students respond to challenges in real time, promoting hands-on learning and collaboration.
“The students are new to college; they may not have found their people or their community yet,” Zumpfe said. “This gets them working together from day one and throughout the semester. Let’s mingle and meet lots of people so that when we leave, hopefully we’ve built new connections and learned something.”
Her approach is designed to make early classroom interactions more natural while building foundational business skills. By integrating AI, she aims to foster both academic growth and social engagement.
An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education recently challenged the fear that AI will eliminate future jobs. Instead, it argued that educators can lead the way in teaching students how to collaborate with AI. The shift, it said, begins in the classroom — not by replacing educators, but by empowering them and their students to learn more effectively.
“Faculty members are going to be in front of students now,” Hart said. “Students won’t be ahead anymore.”
