Chapter 30: A Model for Reform in Teaching in Engineering and Technology: Artificial Intelligence Systems in Science

Faculty from the University of Alabama’s Colleges of Engineering and Education joined in a cooperative effort to develop a new interdisciplinary science course, ESM 130: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems in Science. The course introduces students to artificial intelligence systems in science through the computer modeling of systems found in nature. The course presents a progression of natural systems, each of which has been modeled on a computer to develop a mainstream artificial intelligence technique. The students are involved in modeling the natural systems, using the resulting AI techniques to solve scientific problems, and discussing published applications of the AI techniques in various scientific disciplines. The AI techniques presented include tree diagrams, expert systems, fuzzy logic, neural networks, and genetic algorithms. Further, the course teaches the “process” of doing science, an approach that is fundamental to scientific literacy. To determine the impact of the course design and pedagogy, student feedback was collected in a pretest-posttest strategy. Overall the course achieved its goal to improve confidence, understanding, and transfer of learning in students taking the course. Weaknesses in the overall offering were determined and addressed in subsequent offerings of the course.