This project aims to integrate AI tools into the ME395 – Laboratory I course for mechanical engineering students to enhance critical thinking and AI literacy. By incorporating AI-driven resources like U-M Maizey and Matlab’s AI Chat Playground, the initiative seeks to support students’ engagement with AI in writing processes and problem-solving within lab settings.
The course will emphasize hands-on experiments, promoting human-in-the-loop writing processes with AI tools, thus preparing students for real-world engineering challenges. It also plans to improve current lectures on engineering ethics and DEI with content focused on AI literacy and ethics.
Through personalized support in Matlab programming and technical content, the project ensures equal access to learning resources, aligning with equity-centered engineering principles. It will involve developing a learning hub, interactive classroom tasks, and pre-lab assignments alongside evaluating the project’s impact through surveys and teaching evaluations. The project’s findings will inform the implementation of AI-based STEM education practices in other courses at U-M and beyond, aligning with equity-centered engineering education principles.
Project Team
Hugo Gonzalez Villasanti
Mechanical Engineering
Clay Walker
Technical Communication
Funding
This team was awarded $8000 in funding in Spring 2025.