Non Technical Summary
Traditional engineering education in lecture-focused classrooms fails to adequately educate food science students to meet the demands of rapidly evolving processing innovation in the food industry. The accelerated development of new food processing technologies outpaces faculty abilities to incorporate up-to-date technology and knowledge into already compacted food engineering courses. The emerging natural language processing-based artificial intelligence (AI) technology (e.g., ChatGPT) may offer an innovative solution while presenting challenges for higher education due to the potential misuse of AI tools that can lead to ethical issues and stifle critical thinking development. This project seeks to develop an AI-integrated pedagogy to transform passive lecture-based classrooms into high-engagement, active learning experiences that prepare students to think critically, innovate, and transition smoothly into the workforce. Through simulated future work environments, students will assume different roles related to AI, including consultees, coworkers, and supervisors. The AI-supported roleplay will help students develop skills in adapting new concepts from AI, solving engineering problems with AI, and assigning tasks to AI. The series of active learning strategies will enhance students' mastery of engineering concepts in food science and develop workforce readiness skills such as lifelong learning, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, teamwork, ethics, and professionalism. This project will prepare students for future technological challenges and opportunities by understanding the limitations and potential uses of AI tools. Successful completion of this project will result in a novel pedagogy, validated curricula, and extensive training documents for the innovative integration of AI into agricultural and food science programs nationwide.

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
501	5010	2020	100%

Knowledge Area
501 - New and Improved Food Processing Technologies;

Subject Of Investigation
5010 - Food;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering;

Goals / Objectives
This project seeks to develop innovative AI-integrated pedagogy for implementation across three levels of food science courses to advance food engineering education.

Project Methods
The AI-supported pedagogy will be designed and implemented in three existing courses at different levels - FDSC 100 Science of Foods, FDSC 341 Food Engineering, and FDSC 490 Food Product Development. The roleplay activities and instructional materials will be specifically designed for the three courses considering the student's academic background (major, progress), course contents, and expected learning outcomes. The AI-supported curricula, instructional materials, and training materials will be developed and disseminated for broader adoption. A comprehensive, utilization-focused evaluation will be performed.