TEACHING ACADEMIC WRITING AND RESEARCH IN ECONOMICS IN THE AGE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

The course is aimed at:

• Teaching staff
• TA staff
• PA employees or other external professionals

It is possible to register for the BIP by filling out the form available at the link:
https://forms.gle/gcLVsw4r3fQey6bm9

Participation is free.

The program focuses on the critical and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence to support the teaching of academic writing and research in Economics. Combine theoretical reflection with practical activities related to developing research questions, literature review, academic article structure, academic English, prompt design, ethics, transparency and evaluation.

Through a combination of online training sessions and collaborative project work, participants:

• They will critically use AI to help students develop and refine research questions;
• They will guide students in the use of AI for bibliographic research and evidence synthesis, while recognizing its limitations and "hallucinations";
• They will support students in structuring academic articles and developing coherent arguments;
• They will use AI to ethically improve clarity, academic English and discipline-specific language;
• They will design, test and refine reusable prompts and meta-prompts;
• Address issues such as academic integrity, transparency, disclosure of the use of AI and assessment redesign;
• Design AI-supported learning activities and collaboratively develop learning materials.

The program combines theoretical input, practical exercises, the collaborative development of teaching materials and the design and presentation of a final group project in an international academic context.

The program promotes structured collaboration between European partner universities and allows participants to compare approaches to teaching academic writing and research in the age of artificial intelligence.

It brings together participants from different institutional and national contexts, encouraging the exchange of good practices, collaborative reflection and the joint design of teaching activities and teaching materials supported by artificial intelligence.

The program combines online training sessions, collaborative projects, in-person workshops, hands-on activities and the development and presentation of a final educational project.

The virtual component includes live sessions on topics such as artificial intelligence in higher education, AI tools for data analysis, instructional design and economic modeling.

The presence component focuses on the critical and pedagogically responsible use of Artificial Intelligence in the teaching of academic writing and research in Economics. It includes sessions and workshops on developing research questions, literature review, academic article structure, academic English, prompt engineering and meta-prompting, ethics, transparency, assessment redesign, implications of the AI ​​Act, and designing AI-supported educational activities. Participants will also develop and present a final group educational project.

The first part of the training is divided into thematic modules delivered in synchronous online mode.

Each lesson includes 2 hours of online teaching. The events will be broadcast on the Cisco Webex Meetings video conferencing platform (https://unito.webex.com/meet/angela.ambrosino), registered and made available on course Moodle page. The training will also be accompanied by teaching materials and ongoing tests made available by the teacher responsible for the individual module.

Module 1 – AI and innovation in university teaching

• AI in Higher Education: tools, applications and initial experiments
• Integration of AI tools in economics teaching

Main contents: overview of AI tools for higher education, practical use of AI applications for lesson design, content creation and learning support.

Module 2 – International and blended educational planning

• Designing International and Blended Learning

Main contents: COIL and BIP methodologies, instructional design for environments
international, planning of online and blended collaborative paths.

Module 3 – AI for data analysis in Economics

• AI Tools for Data Analytics; Applied AI Lab

Main contents: AI tools for the analysis and visualization of economic data, predictive analytics applications, guided laboratory activities.

Module 4 – Economic modeling and simulations

• Introduction to NetLogo for Economic Modeling
• Building Agent-Based Models with NetLogo

Main contents: agent modeling, use of NetLogo for simulations
economics, development of application models.

Module 5 – AI and digital tools for teaching innovation

• Einaudi Digital Human in Teaching

Main contents: use of advanced digital tools for teaching interaction,
experimentation of innovative formats for teaching economics.

In-depth materials

• Scientific articles and contributions on AI and economics teaching.
• External videos and tutorials on the tools presented.
• Digital resources and case studies for autonomous application.

In January 2027, 5 days of in-person training will be organized with approximately 4 hours of frontal teaching and 4 hours of laboratory activities per day.

Dates: 25-29 January 2027

Further information will be published in the autumn.

At the end of the course, an Open Badge will be issued upon reaching the following attendance requirements.

By attendance online only (part I)

• 50% attendance of video lessons, plus having recovered at least one additional 20% of online lessons recorded with the performance of the related activities.

Complete Peril Badge (part I online + part II in person):

• 50% attendance of video lessons, plus having recovered at least one additional 20% of online lessons recorded with the performance of the related activities,
• have participated in face-to-face lessons and activities for at least 70% of the planned training hours. Furthermore, it is necessary to have carried out the final test which will focus on practical applications of the tools learned for the creation of COIL projects for students or practical application of the tools to work tasks.

UNITA Partner Universities

• West University of Timisoara (Romania)
• University of Beira Interior (Portugal)
• University of Zaragoza (Spain)
• Universidad Pública de Navarra (Spain)

Other Partner Universities

• Université Lumière Lyon 2 (France)
• University of Barcelona (Spain)

Scientific Committee

• Angela Ambrosino, Department of Economics and Statistics “Cognetti de Martiis”
• Mario Cedrini, Department of Economics and Statistics “Cognetti de Martiis”
• Emanuela Maria Teresa Torre, Teaching and Learning Center