Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning

Week Zero Spring 2026: Teaching, Learning, and AI with Students in Mind

We invite you to join HBCTL’s Week Zero Workshops, an in person, pre semester series focused on shared teaching and learning challenges across disciplines. Each workshop offers practical, research informed strategies to support student engagement, inclusive teaching practices, and AI cognizant course design. These sessions also create space to connect with colleagues and learn from one another.

• January 16, 2026 | 9:30-10:30AM GST - Generative AI Tools on Campus: What’s Available, How They Differ, and How to Use Them

  Recommended for: new faculty and academic staff and anyone who wants to learn more about GenAI tools and how to integrate them into teaching & research
  
  Description:
  What Generative AI tools are available on campus? How do they differ, and how should you use them? Which tools do your students have access to?
  
  Join us for a hands-on workshop learning about Generative AI tools and services at NYU Abu Dhabi. This session is designed to keep you informed about the available options and to better equip you to engage in conversations with students about AI, whether or not you choose to use these tools. We’ll talk about Generative AI platforms such as Gemini, NotebookLM, ChatGPT Edu, and others and explain what each tool is and how they differ in capabilities and features. We will also highlight practical teaching use cases and sample prompts, with time built in for hands-on exploration.
  
  Facilitator:

  Chenyu Yi, Research Associate and Special Advisor on AI and Technology

• January 19, 2026 | 9:30-10:30AM GST - Teaching with Students in Mind: From Understanding Learners to Practical Strategies

  Learning happens when students feel safe, see relevance, and are appropriately challenged. This one hour workshop offers practical, easy to integrate strategies for learning about students early in the semester and using that insight to design engaging and effective learning experiences from day one. The session also creates space for faculty to share strategies they find effective and connect across disciplines.

   

  Facilitators:

  Jamie Whelan, Associate Director of HBCTL; Associate Lecturer in Chemistry

  Evgeniya Efremova, Director, HBCTL

• January 19, 2026 | 10:45-12:15PM GST - GenAI in the Classroom: From Student Beliefs to Better AI Course Policies and AI-Aware Teaching Practices

  Students want to use generative AI to support their learning and future readiness, yet often lack sufficient guidance to make informed decisions, especially when expectations differ across courses and disciplines. As a result, students may turn to AI not to avoid learning, but to cope with skills gaps, workload, or uncertainty in ways that can undermine learning and diverge from faculty intentions.

  
  This workshop invites faculty to reflect on how and why students are using AI, what students need to know to become AI cognizant learners while maintaining foundational skills, and how to make course specific AI expectations clear and learnable. Through common classroom cases such as brainstorming, writing, and problem solving, participants will explore how faculty and students can work together to navigate the uncertainty AI introduces while preserving rigor and academic integrity.
  

   

  Facilitator: 

  Evgeniya Efremova, Director, HBCLT

• January 19, 2026 | 1:00-2:30PM GST - Rethinking Reading Assignments in the Age of AI

  Many of us across disciplines are noticing that students struggle to analyze ideas, sustain discussions, or work through the complexity of assigned readings. This workshop examines how students are actually using AI to support reading and why these emerging practices can unintentionally weaken critical thinking. We will also explore what motivates students to engage more deeply with texts. Grounded in the realities of student decision making and learning behavior, the session supports faculty in rethinking reading assignments in ways that foster authentic engagement and durable understanding.

  
  Facilitators:
  Neelam Hanif, Writing Instructor, NYUAD Writing Center
  Evgeniya Efremova, Director, HBCTL

• January 19, 2026 | 2:45-4:00PM GST - Integrating AI Literacy Across the Curriculum

  This interactive session supports faculty in integrating AI literacy into their courses as an extension of information literacy and scholarly practice. Participants will explore key components of AI literacy, such as critical evaluation, authorship and attribution, bias, limitations, and ethical use, and reflect on how students can develop responsible, context-aware approaches to AI use. The session includes a brief AI literacy overview, guided assignment reflection, group discussion, and concrete examples of how the NYUAD Library can partner with faculty to support AI literacy.

  
  Facilitators:
  Amani Magid, Academic Librarian for Engineering; AI Initiatives and Reference Services Coordinator
  Grace Adeneye, Assistant Academic Librarian for the Arts, Outreach and Community Engagement
  Rebecca Hastie, Assistant Academic Librarian for Instruction, First-Year Experience and Student Success

Register

---

You are welcome to attend the sessions that best align with your interests and needs.