In this episode, Mike Palmer engages in a fascinating discussion with Charles Fadel, the Founder of the Center for Curriculum Redesign and author of Education for the Age of AI. We delve into the intersections of artificial intelligence and education, exploring the implications of AI’s rapid advancement and the need for curriculum redesign to make education more relevant.
Charles shares his unique perspective, drawing from his diverse background in engineering, working at Cisco, and leading a team focused on redesigning curriculum to focus on relevance. We dive deep into his framework, which encompasses knowledge, skills, character, meta-learning, and motivation, underscoring the importance of cultivating purpose, agency, and identity in learners.
Key Takeaways:
We examine the engineering phase of AI, where capabilities are converging in potent ways, and the necessity of computational thinking and problem formulation in leveraging these tools effectively.
Charles emphasizes the need to modernize traditional disciplines, prioritizing statistics, probability, and data science over excessive trigonometry, reflecting the real-world demands of the modern era.
We discuss the multifaceted nature of motivation and the role of AI as a tool to help students pursue their unique purposes, whether designing marine robots or mastering the art of guacamole.
As we navigate this fascinating moment in humankind, Charles leaves us with a call to embrace the urgency of addressing humanity’s self-created challenges through the judicious integration of AI in education. Don’t miss the illuminating deep-dive into education engineering with a true thought leader in the field.
Fadel, C., Black, A., Taylor, R., Slesinski, J., & Dunn, K. (2024). Education for the Age of AI: Why, What and How should students learn for the age of Artificial Intelligence? Independently published.
