10 of the BIGGEST College of Education Stories of 2023
by Orion Buckingham / Dec 19, 2023
With 2023 nearly behind us, it's time to look back and remember many of the year's notable achievements and advances from the College of Education. Here's to our faculty, staff, students, and alumni of the Education at Illinois community and the amazing work being done! Now, enjoy this rundown of uplifting and exceptional impact:
Introducing Our New Faculty for 2023-24
Nine new faculty members join the College of Education and bring their expertise to our top-ranked programs. This group of scholars expands the capacity for research and mentorship for graduate students and provides fresh leadership and perspective to guide the College's perennial areas of strength.
U. of I. to Lead National Artificial Intelligence Research Institute Focused on STEM Learning
Faculty at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will lead the INVITE Institute, a project that will invent and deploy new artificially intelligent learning technologies that are responsive and inclusive. H.Chad Lane, associate professor, EPSY, will serve as Director of the center. "The NSF's support enables us to pursue transformative interdisciplinary research in AI, the learning sciences, and psychology, and to couple that with aggressive outreach and AI education efforts so we can reach students and teachers at a national scale," says Lane.
How Artificial Intelligence Can Be Used to Aid Learning and Teaching
Artificial intelligence has many applications in education. Luc Paquette speaks to the ways AI can be used as a powerful learning and teaching tool. Luc Paquette, an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction, is using data to analyze the strategies employed by the students who are working to debug computer programs. This will help guide students on whether they are using the right strategy.
How to Reap the Benefits of Generative AI in Education—While Avoiding the Pitfalls
Two College of Education professors are at the cutting edge of harnessing the power of Generative AI in education. Here, Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis share their story and thoughts on the possibilities that Generative AI holds for education and the problems it poses. They hope to use their decades of experience with educational technology to help shape the future of AI in education.
Designing Artificial Intelligence Software to Improve Student Learning
Can artificial intelligence be used to improve students’ learning—while keeping their data private and being fair and effective for students from all demographic backgrounds? Nigel Bosch and Dong Wang aim to find out. “As you learn more, you learn that there’s always more to learn, and you realize how much you don’t know,” says Bosch. “There’s a lot of research in educational psychology that shows how important it is to be able to estimate how much you know and what you know so you can more effectively plan and study the right things and with the right amount of time.”
How will Artificial Intelligence (AI) Power New Learning in Education?
H. Chad Lane and Mike Tissenbaum are two of a handful of College of Education professors whose research in artificial intelligence—AI—in education is changing the landscape for teachers and students. Here, Lane and Tissenbaum share their AI research and views regarding its use in education. “AI is not replacing the teacher,” Tissenbaum emphasizes. “It takes care of the grinding, hard-to-do work so the teacher can focus on the students. It can really empower the teacher and the students.”
Empowering Teachers to Engage Students Through a Justice-Centered Approach
Asif Wilson has focused his research on helping teachers learn to engage students through justice-centered and inquiry-based curricular and pedagogical practices. “We often think about supporting teachers as ‘windows to the world,’” Wilson says. “As in, ‘If we can just change the way we look out on the world, we can change it.’ Well, part of that work on looking out on the world is creating mirrors too. Mirror work is really about understanding racism, capitalism, patriarchy, and ableism through structures, not through individual analyses that help us to do good service work.”
Best Online Master's in Education Degree Programs in the Nation
U.S. News and World Report has ranked Education at Illinois' overall Online Master’s in Education programs #3 for 2023, confirming a strong commitment to providing students with high-quality, innovative online learning opportunities and excellent experiences. "We have been focusing efforts on innovatively meeting market needs, attracting a wide variety of students, adhering to best practices in online education, engaging students in their online learning and helping them succeed, and staying connected with alumni—a full spectrum approach."
Alum Tyrone Williams, Jr. Named 2023 Illinois History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute
Tyrone Williams, Jr., a three-time University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign degree earner, and a two-time College of Education alum has been named the 2023 Illinois History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to K–12 American history education. “My Ph.D. program in the Department of Education Policy, Organization & Leadership sharpened my ability to challenge the inherent ‘grotesque inconsistency’ in the ways in which U.S. history curriculum is often presented to students in high schools,” said Williams.
An Illinois Legacy: Three Generations of Teachers and a Commitment to Special Education
Sophie Kamienski, now a freshman at Illinois, is the third generation to attend Illinois and study special education. She is joining her mother and grandmother as Illinois educators. "When I was younger, I would dream of going here." Sophie says, "The first time I officially visited campus as a prospective student was on a college visit in April of 2022. I instantly knew that this was the place for me. My favorite part of the visit was touring the College of Education and seeing where my dreams of becoming a teacher would come true."