The University of Dayton is developing and adapting curriculum as part of its broader AI strategy to prepare students to use the technology skillfully and thoughtfully in their careers.
Starting this fall, all first-year students will study AI from two angles. AI Fundamentals will help them understand how the technology works and how to use it wisely. Human Dignity in the Era of AI will examine ethical questions, AI’s impact on society, and how people can use it responsibly.
Together, these units will give students a shared foundation before they build on those ideas in more advanced, field-specific ways throughout their four-year education.
“Our students will graduate ready to lead in an AI-enabled world, with the skills and agility to stay ahead as technology rapidly evolves throughout their careers,” said Meghan Henning, professor and senior assistant provost for undergraduate curriculum and student success. “Just as importantly, we are preparing students to keep humans at the center, building their capacity to question these tools, understand the limits of technology, and lead others to use it for the common good. That reflects our Marianist values and the heart of a UD education.”
Learning continues in students’ second year with a redesigned writing seminar that explores how AI is changing the way people research, write and create knowledge across professions. In discipline-specific classes, students put those ideas into practice, learning how AI is reshaping work in their chosen fields.
Education majors take a seminar on AI and lesson planning with professors Lindsay Gold, Jackie Arnold and Vanessa Winn. Marketing students use AI to help build campaigns for outside companies, including Brooks Running, with Assistant Professor Andrew Edelblum. In engineering, students working with Sidaard Gunasekaran, Hans von Ohain Chair in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, use AI to visualize equations involved in designing a wind tunnel and test how changing one variable affects power consumption and other factors.
“AI helps them ask questions in a more meaningful way,” Gunasekaran said. “When they enter the workforce, they will stand out because they’ve learned to use AI to increase their skillset, not just automate their work.”
Marketing student Quinn Herron saw that firsthand while working on the Brooks Running project.
“Working with AI, we learn what it can’t replace: our ability to think ethically, understand context or connect emotionally,” Herron said. “It gives us more time to do what matters, which is understanding audience behavior and brand identity.”
Students also use AI to push their learning further, including through tools created by their instructors. Economics Associate Professor Marlon Williams developed an AI tutor using his video lectures, exams and other sources in his teaching style to help students think through a problem, not just get an answer, at any hour of the day. About 87% of students found it useful and 74% said it helped them do better in class.
“Information is ubiquitous, even to the point of being overwhelming at times,” Williams said. “What will set our students apart isn’t their ability to reproduce information, but how deeply they understand their field and how well they can think critically and creatively about real-world issues.”
Other tools help students adapt materials to their own needs, such as turning dense reading assignments into podcasts for students who learn better by listening. Ryan Allen, executive director of UD's Learning Teaching Center and UD's Center for Online Learning, who works with faculty on these tools, said it comes down to mindset.
“Students can really push themselves so much further,” Allen said. “From the Marianist perspective, it’s the way you evaluate results and make sure the human is still at the center.”
Ultimately, this comprehensive approach is about students’ careers. Jason Eckert, executive director of career services, said the ability to talk about AI experience is becoming a major advantage in interviews.
“It’s not just about saying you’ve used it,” Eckert said. “It’s about showing how you used these tools during internships and classwork to solve problems. Employers regularly tell us our graduates stand out, and their ability to lead with AI will set them apart even more.”