CLA-Led NSF Project Explores the Future of AI Literacy
Purdue University's College of Liberal Arts is leading a new National Science Foundation-funded effort to help college students become more thoughtful and informed users of artificial intelligence.
The three-year, $899,999 project, The Next Big Question: Adaptive, Inquiry-Driven AI Literacy for the 21st-Century Classroom, is led by Javier Gomez-Lavin, associate professor of philosophy and director of Purdue's Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence (VRAI) Lab. Beginning September 2026, the project is funded through NSF's Research on Innovative Technologies for Enhanced Learning program.
The project aims to help students move beyond simply using AI tools to asking better questions about how AI systems work, when their outputs should be trusted or questioned, and what social and ethical issues they raise.
Gomez-Lavin serves as principal investigator and leads an interdisciplinary team that includes College of Liberal Arts faculty Jeremy Foote and Sue Lim from the Brian Lamb School of Communication. Collaborators also include Andres Bejarano Posada of Computer Science and Ashish of Purdue's Rosen Center for Advanced Computing (RCAC).
The research team will identify the AI concepts and skills most relevant to students and instructors across disciplines, then develop adaptive learning modules that respond to students' learning needs. Built on Purdue-developed AI resources, the modules will be tested in courses at Purdue and partner institutions.
The project draws on expertise in philosophy, communication, computer science, cognitive science and artificial intelligence. It also builds on the work of the College's VRAI Lab, which explores the cognitive, ethical, educational and social questions raised by emerging technologies.
The project will produce open instructional materials, faculty resources and research-based guidance to help colleges and universities strengthen AI literacy.