AI, Neurodiversity, and Community

Deborah Hathaway, Director of Learning and Teaching, Office of Student Academic Success, University of Washington Bothell

Deborah Hathaway is the Director of Learning and Teaching at the University of Washington Bothell. She taught as a Lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at UW Bothell from 2013–2022. She is the inaugural recipient of the Outstanding Community Engaged Scholar Award at UW Bothell. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Musical Theatre from The University of Southern California and her Master's in Educational Theatre with a specialization in applied theatre from New York University. She also has experience working as a director and faculty member at Shoreline Community College and as an instructor at the Seattle Children’s Hospital Alyssa Burnett Adult Life Center, where she educated adults with developmental disabilities.

What are the recent advancements in the learning and teaching space expected to bring significant impacts and address challenges in meeting business requirements?

 The convergence of technology and innovative pedagogy is a captivating realm. It is a space where our understanding continually evolves, shaping how we communicate, teach, and foster meaningful connections within our academic community. When I first started in this role in January 2023, news articles began to come out about generative artificial intelligence (AI), and suddenly, I was thrust into a world of uncertainty and confusion around its impact on higher education. One of the first programs I developed on campus was a faculty forum on AI. Since then, I have watched and responded to the changing landscape. While faculty wonder how students might use these tools to complete assignments, I continue to imagine and plan how we best prepare our students for their careers in a world where generative AI will transform our work. Our challenge and opportunity will be to prepare students for a workforce that advances with AI and leverages our human capacity to engage with these new tools in innovative and inventive ways.

Could you elaborate on a recent initiative that you have participated in and share the valuable experiences you acquired?

Recently, I facilitated some programming on our campus to support neurodiversity and develop neuro-inclusive environments and experiences. The event was well attended, but more importantly, it brought about enthusiasm and questions on this topic, as well as how we continue to create community and support these conversations across roles and units at our institution. I learned that these efforts are deeply valued, and we still have more work to do to support our faculty in designing inclusive classroom environments for neurodivergent students and learning effective teaching strategies to support those students. For example, how are we effectively using community agreements in group work so that students can voice their strengths and accommodations and develop clear roles to support each member’s success? I am passionate about creating opportunities for individuals to join this growing community and supporting our larger campus growth into a neuro-inclusive campus.

"The convergence of technology and innovative pedagogy is a captivating realm. It is a space where our understanding continually evolves, shaping how we communicate, teach, and foster meaningful connections within our academic community"

What are the challenges specific to higher education that remain inadequately addressed by current services?

Specific to my educational development role, I see a continued opportunity for developing and supporting a community of learners. As we create and implement the services and offerings from our unit, I have thought about the disconnect between our desire to learn and engage with one another and how there may be fewer people in the room than there once were. How do we ensure that we meet our faculty's needs while also providing services and opportunities that are engaging and supportive of needs? How do we increase access to resources and activities and value informal dialogue and connection spaces? This is a larger question that I think students, faculty, and staff may ponder as we all continue to heal from the missed opportunities for connection from the past. What does community look like, and how does our student community look different? Supporting our neurodivergent students is one area where we still have additional work to develop equitable and inclusive classroom environments to understand better and redefine our community. In my work, I am determined to fill in gaps where faculty have previously felt they are not equipped with the knowledge and training to incorporate neuroinclusive teaching strategies into their pedagogy.

Additionally, we must acknowledge how we continue to heal and learn from the past few years. We must reimagine our teaching and learning spaces as filling up the empty cup for everyone in the reservoir of what our community offers. Based on the previous programming we have developed thus far, I see a lack of support and resources for students, staff and faculty who identify as neurodivergent. Thus, by prioritizing these efforts, we will also lift and empower our larger community.

Are there any specific warnings or cautionary advice you would give to professionals working in similar roles across different universities in the education sector?

To someone beginning in this role, I advise focusing on building relationships first and foremost. Building trust and creating opportunities to learn from peers at my institution and outside of it has been immensely helpful for learning and growing in my role. Joining a professional network also helped me have quick and effective conversations across the country in my field and connect with and review relevant and supportive resources. Developing relationships on campus helped me learn more from and recognize my peers doing the work and have new colleagues to collaborate with and learn from. My staff team encompasses a small group of people, but we support each other and work together to bridge gaps to make the faculty feel heard and valued.

Among the technology trends in learning and teaching, which one excites you the most?

Could you share the reasons for your enthusiasm? In terms of technology trends, working with and teaching with AI excites me tremendously. I am most interested in thinking about how AI enhances our ability to do our jobs well and supports student success both in higher education and in their future careers. I continue to learn about how I might use AI in my work. I have been enjoying the exploration process and my ability to consider how these tools expand how I think about all the aspects of the teaching process and the student experience. Knowing that a tool can provide me with a new and tailored approach to delivering my course content or an activity developed with a specific population or audience in mind opens new doors for how we support students and create meaningful, equitable, and inclusive learning experiences. We can help model the ethical use of AI in higher education for our students and campus community members. One way is through faculty using AI to communicate with and connect to their students more effectively. For example, by prompting an AI tool to rephrase an instruction in terms for beginning students, we can more easily expand our capacity to understand the content through a new perspective. We can also support our students in their ability to draft responses using AI, evaluate those responses with the community of their peers, and then reflect on how their unique knowledge and experiences best inform and revise the final product. Faculty can engage with AI and educate their students by modeling how it deeply relies on the human experience and can also inspire fresh ideas and greater support for diverse student needs. I am hopeful that these tools will help faculty meet students where they are. I find that discussions and sharing amongst faculty, such as holding panels and learning communities, also help support new creativity and innovation regarding these tools. Transformative teaching can be made possible through collaboration across campus and by adopting innovative approaches to foster a love of learning and an excitement for empowering student agency and success

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