From addressing fraudulent activities to venturing into outer space, state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and augmented reality innovations are reshaping education at the University of Georgia, offering students practical experiences that equip them for the professional landscape.

Annually, the Center for Teaching and Learning allocates numerous technology learning grants amounting to as much as $25,000 to promote the creative integration of technology in educational environments. Among the various initiatives financed in recent years are Choose Your Own Adventure, STEMin3D, and Learning Bites — each discovering distinct methodologies to enhance student achievement at UGA.

Investigating fraud using AI

Tina Carpenter, Dan Smith Professor of Accounting and educator in the Terry College of Business, developed Choose Your Own Adventure: AI-Powered Simulations for Active Learning. With financial backing from a CTL technology grant, she partnered with software firm TrueUp to create an interactive AI simulation titled “Trouble at Tindy” aimed at educating students about fraud detection.

The moniker “Tindy” merges her name with that of her co-author, Cindy Durtschi, symbolizing a global fashion enterprise grappling with fraudulent activities that students must unveil.

As a result of over 20 years of research, this AI learning tool presents a “whodunnit” scenario where students assume the roles of undercover fraud detectives acting as auditors. This primes students for the team game phase armed with a far deeper understanding of the complex subjects at hand.

“The responses from the students have been truly remarkable,” Carpenter stated. “In both the classroom and their educational journey.”

The software became accessible last fall to business students enrolled in introductory accounting classes. Carpenter aspires for the game to be broadened to engage more students and prepare them for an accounting pathway.

Expanding the cosmos in 3D

Faculty members Nandana Weliweriya, lecturer, and Inseok Song, associate professor from Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, initiated STEMin3D: Exploring Virtual Reality in Astronomy Education. With the help of the grant, they procured essential software and enlisted undergraduate and graduate students to generate 3D models for simulating astronomical events. These 3D representations can be experienced through various immersive technologies, including virtual and augmented realities. The project’s mission is to create scientifically accurate, immersive, captivating, visually impressive, and modular 3D simulation platforms and tools to bolster students’ grasp of challenging astronomical ideas.

“When I enter a classroom, that’s my research laboratory. Every activity students engage in provides data for me,” Weliweriya remarked. “While grades are important, comprehension is the ultimate goal.”

Both Weliweriya and Song have recognized that numerous students find it challenging to visualize 3D concepts while learning from flat sources such as textbooks or videos. One of their initiatives involves creating a celestial sphere platform, also known as a virtual night sky. This is being developed using data from coordinate systems, authentic photographs of the night sky, and the dynamics of various celestial objects including planets, moons, and other smaller celestial bodies. This system can then be manipulated, enabling users to adjust parameters like observation time, location, direction of view, and more.

Although the program is still in the development stage, Weliweriya and Song are actively seeking additional grants to employ full-time graduate students to create further programs this summer. Their aim is to incorporate these tools into their classes by the fall of 2025 to aid students in better visualizing the material.

Ultimately, they aspire for this program to be utilized broadly at the elementary or middle school levels to inspire future generations to pursue careers in astronomy or physics.

“All those resources will be made available and shared with the public,” Song mentioned. “They will allow others to provide the same high-quality education to their students, potentially even in other countries.”

Enhancing veterinary education with AR

Faculty members from the College of Veterinary Medicine, Christopher Cleveland, Ania Majewska, and Michael Yabsley, developed Learning Bites: Using Augmented Reality to Enrich Learning about Arthropod Vectors. Together, they crafted these augmented reality resources to assist students in grasping various arthropod species, which are invertebrate creatures featuring segmented bodies, such as spiders, crabs, and millipedes.

Students have utilized these resources and shared their findings at national conferences, with one group securing third place at the American Dairy Science Association. Ultimately, the objective is to enhance veterinary education and foster outreach opportunities for community involvement.

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