Learning That Sticks: Memory, Productive Struggle, and AI

AI is already in your classroom. The question is whether it's building skills or replacing them. Our “Ready for Tomorrow” three-part webinar series features leading voices at the forefront of AI in higher education as it pertains to learning science, curriculum design, and the industry as a whole. Each session will tackle a different piece of the same challenge many faculty are facing: how to harness AI in service of learning, not replace it.

Our presenters leading the conversation will share how they've redesigned their own courses with AI in mind, how they're shaping practice at their institutions, and preparing students for a workforce already transformed by these tools. 

About this Session in the Series:

It is easy and tempting for students to use AI as a shortcut to skip the hard part of learning, but cognitive science says those hard parts are the learning. In this session, we explore why memory and retrieval practice remain foundational to real understanding, why the "productive struggle" is skill building, and how AI tools can either support or fail students depending on how they're used.  

We'll look at ways faculty can thoughtfully incorporate AI into retrieval, helping students practice, gauge their own understanding, and build the kind of knowledge that outlasts the semester.