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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · 12d

The serious conversations about pedagogical approaches that harness AI productively rather than making human learning obsolete 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨! How are other educators navigating this?

🎥 Check out this short video demo—and I'm curious to hear your thoughts:
youtu.be/6q5CtXD5koY

Comet Assistant in Jupyter: First Impression of the Agentic Browser

YouTube video by Lorena Barba

youtu.be

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · 12d

We're facing a 𝘄𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲: motivating genuine learning when the tools have become this capable. Assignments should help critical thinking rather than just testing procedural knowledge. But the pace and the scale of the changes required are 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴.

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · 12d

What I witnessed:

– The AI assistant analyzed the entire Jupyter notebook
– Executed code cells autonomously
– Wrote proper NumPy functions
– Solved exercises completely
– Even explained its reasoning

All faster than students could read the problem statement.

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · 12d

𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝘂𝗽𝘆𝘁𝗲𝗿
Friends, I watched an AI agent complete my students' coding exercises in real-time, and I'm shook 🤯
I tested Perplexity's Comet browser on a Jupyter notebook with eigenvalue problems I assigned to my class… (video at the bottom of this thread)

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · 25d

This raises a critical question: Are certain genres of scholarly work—especially simple literature reviews or trend summaries—no longer valuable as original scholarship? It's time for academia to rethink what we consider "original."

What do you think? #PeerReview

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · 25d

The paper's abstract promised a "review of key trends" in AI for engineering education.
My reasoning for immediate rejection: anyone can generate this with a single, well-crafted prompt. I tested it in Gemini 2.5 Pro, and the results were stunningly good and likely similar to the submitted article.

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · 25d

I just rejected a paper because it was pointless in the age of AI.

For the first time, I recommended a manuscript be rejected because its content was so easily replicable by an AI model with deep research capabilities.
#AcademicPublishing #AIinResearch

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

Bonus:
In support of my statement in highlight 1), above, you need to see this video by Prof. Giordano Scarciotti of Imperial College London (posted May 10, 2025):
youtu.be/lSbnMBb6INA

Can ChatGPT Pass a Top-Tier Engineering Coursework?

YouTube video by Prof. Giordano Scarciotti

youtu.be

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

7) Beware wearables: Smart glasses can photograph exam questions and get live AI answers. Your syllabus needs wearables policies NOW.

Bottom line: Students will use AI anyway. Let's redesign courses to help them thrive with it.

Full piece: doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
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Colleagues: what to know about AI as you plan your Fall 2025 courses

This is an incomplete list of major developments and items to consider about the state of generative artificial intelligence, as we approach the Fall 2025 semester. My goal is simply to bring to your ...

doi.org

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

6) The AI polarity: It can amplify learning OR create cognitive laziness. The difference is in how we design assignments and teach usage. How might you design for active AI use and promote user patterns that result in positive outcomes?
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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

5) AI is much more than chat. It's autonomous agents doing research, filling forms, completing coursework. One prompt = entire literature review. Will you change expectations of what students do in your class?
6/8

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

4) Entry-level jobs were down 15% in 2024, and unemployment for new grads hit 4-year high this year. Meanwhile, companies now require AI use in their teams, and are conducting AI-enabled job interviews. Are we preparing students for this?
5/8

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

3) Students perceive that they know AI better than faculty (they're probably right). This gap is creating stress and missed opportunities for everyone. What are you going to do about this?
4/8

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

2) ChatGPT now has "Study Mode" and Gemini has "Guided Learning"—both promise Socratic tutoring versus immediate answers. But will students choose the hard path when instant answers are a click away? (They can turn Study mode on/off!) 🤔
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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

1) Google just gave all US college students free access to Gemini Pro. They just need an .edu email for verification. This means validity of your take-home assignments is cooked: Gemini can do complex work for students and they don't need to think…
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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Aug 14

🧵 Fall 2025 faculty: I wrote 7 pages on what you need to know about AI before classes start in a week or two—it's posted as PDF in the ‪@figshare.com‬ service under CC-BY: link below… Here are the highlights:
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Reposted by Lorena A Barba

Jeffrey Perkel (he/him) @jperkel.bsky.social · Aug 6

Good benchmarks allow a user to choose the best method for a particular application. “But the first question is, what do we mean by ‘better’?” Fascinating story by @drmichaelbrooks.bsky.social on benchmarking in #AI. Thx @labarba.bsky.social for the suggestion! 🧪 www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Is your AI benchmark lying to you?

Artificial intelligence models are too often assessed against flawed goals — a stumbling block for progress.

www.nature.com

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Jul 19

Had a hallway conversation at #SciPy2025 about #GenAI in coding education → one week later, a (partial) solution is shipped in @googlecolab.bsky.social 🤯

The magic of conference serendipity never gets old. Longer post with story on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

A week has passed since I got back from the SciPy Conference in Tacoma, WA, delighted as usual by the experience. | Lorena A. Barba

A week has passed since I got back from the SciPy Conference in Tacoma, WA, delighted as usual by the experience. I had skipped it last year, weary of crossing the whole continent for the event. But I...

www.linkedin.com

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · Jul 10

Presentation slides for my talk yesterday at #SciPy2025

Barba, Lorena A. (2025). Embracing GenAI in Engineering Education: Lessons from the Trenches. figshare. Presentation. doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...

Embracing GenAI in Engineering Education: Lessons from the Trenches

Talk at the SciPy Conference, July 9, 2025. Tacoma, Washington.This talk presents a candid reflection on integrating generative AI into an Engineering Computations course, revealing unexpected challen...

doi.org

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · May 18

Here's a practical intro for anyone who values simplicity, openness, and wants to build their own online presence the #OpenSource way.

Full tutorial (~40 min): youtu.be/j-tXer7dIes

Jekyll and GitHub Pages basic tutorial

YouTube video by Lorena Barba

youtu.be

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · May 18

I did a hands-on tutorial for easily creating a static website using #Jekyll and #GitHub Pages. No local installations—everything is done directly on @github.com!
Follow along to:
– Fork a Jekyll theme
– Deploy with GitHub Actions
– Edit the content
– Solve issues with #GitHubCopilot
(link in reply)

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · May 4

You can read all about my #GenAI adventures (and misadventures) here: doi.org/10.6084/m9.f...
Let's chat – what are YOU seeing in your classrooms? #teaching #python #highered

Experience embracing genAI in an engineering computations course: What went wrong and what next

This paper is a candid reflection on adopting generative AI in an undergraduate engineering computations course, revealing unforeseen challenges despite best intentions. Students quickly developed pat...

doi.org

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · May 4

Key takeaway: We have to adapt. AI isn't going away. We need to find the line between helpful tool and crutch. And share our failures, not just our successes. It requires courage!
#genAI #learninginpublic

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · May 4

Tried to adjust the exam format, and the students revolted. 😬 It highlighted a key issue: are our assessments valid in the age of AI?
What now? I've scrapped homework and exams (yes I did!) and moved to in-class, collaborative exercises. It's better, but still a WiP…

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Lorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · May 4

The "illusion of competence"—that's when learners think they understand, but the knowledge isn't really sticking (like what happens after a "clear lecture"). AI gave them quick answers, but they didn't actually get the concepts. Sound familiar?

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