Category: Rubaina Khan, Ph.D.

Rubaina Khan
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  • Whole-Person Education for AI Engineers: Presented to CEEA (Peer Reviewed)

    Whole-Person Education for AI Engineers: Presented to CEEA (Peer Reviewed)

    This autoethnographic study explores the need for interdisciplinary education spanning both technical an philosophical skills – as such, this study leverages whole-person education as a theoretical approach needed in AI engineering education to address the limitations of current paradigms that prioritize technical expertise over ethical and societal considerations. Drawing on a collaborative autoethnography approach of fourteen diverse stakeholders, the study identifies key motivations driving the call for change, including the need for global perspectives, bridging the gap between academia and industry, integrating ethics and societal impact, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. The findings challenge the myths of technological neutrality and technosaviourism, advocating for a future where AI engineers are equipped not only with technical skills but also with the ethical awareness, social responsibility, and interdisciplinary understanding necessary to navigate the complex challenges of AI development. The study provides valuable insights and recommendations for transforming AI engineering education to ensure the responsible development of AI technologies.

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  • WIP: Gen AI in Engineering Education and the Da Vinci Cube (Peer Reviewed)

    WIP: Gen AI in Engineering Education and the Da Vinci Cube (Peer Reviewed)

    As generative AI (GenAI) tools rapidly transform the engineering landscape, a critical question emerges: Are current educational innovations adequately preparing engineers for the socio-technical challenges of the future? This work-in-progress paper presents two key contributions. First, we build on prior work presenting a systematic review of over 160 scholarly articles on GenAI implementations in engineering education, revealing a predominant focus on enhancing technical proficiency while often neglecting essential socio-technical competencies. Second, we apply an emerging framework—the da Vinci Cube (dVC)—to support engineering educators in critically evaluating GenAI-driven innovations. The dVC framework extends traditional models of innovation by incorporating three dimensions: the pursuit of knowledge, consideration of use, and contemplation of sentiment. Our analysis suggests that while GenAI tools can improve problem-solving and technical efficiency, engineering education must also address ethical, human-centered, and societal impacts. The dVC framework provides a structured lens for assessing how GenAI tools are integrated into curricula and research, encouraging a more holistic, reflective approach. Ultimately, this paper aims to provoke dialogue on the future of engineering education and to challenge the prevailing assumption that technical skill development alone is sufficient in an AI-mediated world.

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  • Work in Progress: Exclusive Rhetoric in AI Conference Mission Statements

    Work in Progress: Exclusive Rhetoric in AI Conference Mission Statements

    AI conferences are pivotal spaces for knowledge exchange, collaboration, and shaping the trajectory of research, practice, and education. This paper presents preliminary findings from an analysis of AI conference mission statements, investigating how their stated goals affect who is welcomed into AI conversations. We find that many mission statements reflect assumptions that may unintentionally narrow participation and reinforce disciplinary and institutional silos. This limits engagement from a broad range of contributors—including educators, students, working professionals, and even younger users —who are essential to a thriving AI ecosystem. We advocate for clearer framing that supports democratizing and demystifying AI. By broadening participation and intentionally fostering cross-sector and interdisciplinary connections, AI conferences can help unlock more innovation.

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  • Developing the Permanent Symposium on AI (poster): Presented at Engineering and Public Policy Division (EPP) Poster Session

    Developing the Permanent Symposium on AI (poster): Presented at Engineering and Public Policy Division (EPP) Poster Session

    A multidisciplinary, reflective autoethnography by some of the people who are building the Permanent Symposium on AI. Includes the history of the project.

    RQ 1: Challenges that unite AI policy & tech

    RQ 2: How to design the PSAI?

    RQ 3: What factors influence the adoption and scalability of the PSAI?

    This is the Flagship project of the Aula Fellowship.

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  • Path to Personalization: A Systematic Review of GenAI in Engineering Education

    Path to Personalization: A Systematic Review of GenAI in Engineering Education

    This systematic review paper provides a comprehensive synthesis across 162 articles on Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in engineering education (EE), making two specific contributions to advance research in the space. First, we develop a taxonomy that categorizes the current research landscape, identifying key areas such as Coding or Writing Assistance, Design Methodology, and Personalization. Second, we highlight significant gaps and opportunities, such as lack of customer-centricity and need for increased transparency in future research, paving the way for increased personalization in GenAI-augmented engineering education. There are indications of widening lines of enquiry, for example into human-AI collaborations and multidisciplinary learning. We conclude that there are opportunities to enrich engineering epistemology and
    competencies with the use of GenAI tools for educators and students, as well as a need for further research into best and novel practices. Our discussion serves as a roadmap for researchers and educators, guiding the development of GenAI applications that will continue to transform the engineering education landscape, in classrooms and the workforce.

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  • Collision Toronto: Booth

    Collision Toronto: Booth

    Emmanuel Taiwo and Tammy Mackenzie represented the Aula Fellowship in the social good start-up stage. Thank you, Collision Toronto, for this excellent experience with old and new friends, working for good AI together in excellent company. Thanks also to Aula Fellow Rubaina Khan, Victoria Kuketz, and Marisa Eleuterio, for technical support throughout!

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  • Collision Toronto: Presentation

    Collision Toronto: Presentation

    Presented the Aula Fellowship from the Non-Profits Stage. Thank you, Victoria!

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  • A Review of AI-Enhanced Personalized Learning Systems: Implications for the Learning Sciences

    A Review of AI-Enhanced Personalized Learning Systems: Implications for the Learning Sciences

    This research focuses on recent studies of AI-Enhanced Personalized Learning, organized into three main sections: understanding key aspects, investigating practical methodologies, and elucidating motivations for AI integration into personalized learning to provide insights for future research in learning science. The methodology involves a rapid literature review, emphasizing eligibility criteria and a precise study selection process. The conclusion underscores the importance of seamlessly integrating AI analytics with humancentric approaches in personalized learning, enriching data, and training algorithms for efficiency, alongside emphasizing the role of human oversight.

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  • Making Space for Critical Action: Re-visioning Computational Thinking

    Making Space for Critical Action: Re-visioning Computational Thinking

    While school makerspaces promise to inspire and excite, the challenge of meaningfully integrating them into schools remains. Guided by a philosophy of praxis that stresses the need for education to interweave theory, action, and reflection to advance positive social change in our communities (Freire, 1970), this paper reports on the co-design of a school space called the Critical Action Learning Lab (CALL) for inclusive making to support computational thinking and critical action through curriculum-informed learning

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  • Teaching Future-Makers: Outcomes of an International Design Workshop for Critical Action Educators

    Teaching Future-Makers: Outcomes of an International Design Workshop for Critical Action Educators

    This paper reports on recent developments of the Critical Action Learning Exchange (Carvalho et al., 2021), an international community of educators who seek to respond to social and environmental issues that affect their students. We report on an international design workshop that engaged a cohort of teachers in designing Critical Action Learning activities for their students in the Summer of 2023. Participants (n=39) completed 16 curriculum designs for grade levels from kindergarten to university, addressing a broad range of socio-environmental issues and adopting diverse approaches, such as Arts-Based Critical Action, Community Engagement, Critical Making, Games for Critical Action, and Storytelling. This paper examines our Professional Development model, together with an analysis of teacher participants’ ideas and their design products. We investigate what forms of scaffolding can facilitate the changes of practice needed for teachers to become critical action educators and support their Critical Action Learning designs.

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