dr. M. Farnaghi (Mahdi)
Assistant Professor
In this talk, Mahdi Farnaghi will talk about how the Scientific Geo-computing course at ITC has been transformed to reflect the rapid advancements and widespread adoption of GenAI. Two years ago, ITC colleagues recognized that continuing to teach programming without addressing GenAI was no longer feasible. So, after some discussions, the course was adjusted to integrate GenAI into its core.
Key changes included the introduction of a lecture titled "Programming Tools: From Dumb to Intelligent," delivered during the first week. This lecture provides an accessible overview of how large language models (LLMs) are developed, their potential as programming assistants, and guidelines for their responsible use—both in the course and in students’ future professional lives. After this lecture, students actively engage with GenAI tools meaningfully, including participating in a programming hackathon and two group assignments. The teaching team has been evaluating the impact of these changes through questionnaires and self-reflection reports, seeking to understand how embracing GenAI affects students' learning experiences.
This approach may resonate with colleagues thinking of creating a general-purpose course or workshop for students while accounting for the effect of GenAI usage or teaching the students how to (responsibly) use GenAI in their course.
