Amid the rapid rise of generative AI, Sungkyunkwan University and Seoul National University have joined forces to explore the future of higher education. The two institutions co-hosted the '2nd AI in Higher Education (AI in Action - From Policy to Practice)' conference on October 23 at Sungkyunkwan University's Humanities and Social Sciences Campus.
The event attracted hundreds of professors, staff, and students from across the country, reflecting a strong interest in AI education innovation.
The conference was divided into two parts: 'What Should Universities Prepare for in the AI Era?' and 'How Will Classes Change in the AI Era?' In the first part, keynote speakers included Lee Min-seok, chair of the National AI Strategy Committee's Education and Talent Division; Jo Young-hwan, director of the Learning Science Research Institute at Seoul National University; and Lee Young-eun, senior account manager at AWS Korea, who presented macro-level survival strategies. The second part featured vivid examples of integrating AI into classroom instruction, assignments, and assessments.
Bae Sang-hoon: Universities Must Become Spaces for Experience and Challenge
Bae Sang-hoon, director of the Digital Education Innovation Center at Sungkyunkwan University, opened the event with a call for a fundamental shift in the role of universities in the AI era.
Bae stated, "There is a growing concern that the power of knowledge is shifting from professors to AI. In an era where students seek knowledge and advice from AI before their professors, the role of educators must transform from knowledge transmitters to facilitators of student growth."
He emphasized that universities should not merely be learning spaces but should serve as environments where individuals meet, face challenges, and cultivate dreams through experiences. To achieve this, he urged a radical restructuring of the entire curriculum and academic systems, beyond just changing specific teaching and assessment methods.
Bae cautioned against universities adopting a stance of 'denial' or 'simple adaptation' to change, asserting that they must proactively create new pathways to become leaders in this significant transformation.
Lee Min-seok: Companies Seek 'Questioning Talent' Over Memorization
In his keynote address, Lee Min-seok addressed the realities of university education in the AI-native era.
He remarked, "Current universities operate like high schools, progressing through set curricula and evaluating students with multiple-choice exams. Students learn as if they are studying how to ride a bike from a book, leading to a severe mismatch with industry needs, which do not desire such graduates."
Lee asserted that with AI tools like ChatGPT evolving rapidly, memorizing knowledge has become meaningless. He stated, "Companies seek individuals who possess practical skills sufficient to start their own businesses, who can define problems independently and utilize AI as a tool. We must flip the educational sequence, introducing real-world projects from the first year, allowing students to produce results using AI and receive customer feedback, thus gaining 'experience of failure and validation' before studying their majors to fill any gaps they identify."
AI: A Double-Edged Sword Requiring Human-AI Collaboration
Jo Young-hwan from Seoul National University and Lee Hyun-eung from Sungkyunkwan University presented guidelines for utilizing generative AI in higher education. Jo emphasized that while generative AI can enhance efficiency in task completion, it can also diminish students' critical thinking and hinder knowledge acquisition.
To address this, Seoul National University has developed a website and chatbot with specific practical guidelines. Lee Hyun-eung shared an example of integrating an AI chatbot into an educational technology course, explaining that instead of providing answers, AI prompts students with questions, allowing them to articulate their understanding, thereby enhancing their metacognitive skills.
In a subsequent presentation, Lee Young-eun from AWS Korea conveyed industry perspectives, stating, "In global big tech companies, AI is replacing 75% of coding tasks, and even non-developers in HR are creating apps using AI. The top skills companies seek in new hires are not coding abilities but the capacity to ask critical questions and the ability to compare, select, and validate various AI models."
The second part of the conference featured presentations from students, including Oh Hyun-ji from Seoul National University and Han Seung-ho from Sungkyunkwan University, who shared their 'Student Voice' experiences. Following them, professors from Sungkyunkwan University, including Lee Jung-eun (Special Education), Ryu Je-heung (Political Science Education), and Lee Chang-mook (Senior Researcher), presented diverse practical cases and data on how to integrate AI into curricula and assess students, receiving enthusiastic responses.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.