CBE Seminar: Liem Tran

Beyond Productivity: Thinking with AI in Graduate Education and Research

Abstract

Artificial intelligence is transforming graduate education and research, offering new ways to review literature, analyze data, write code, and solve complex problems. While these tools can improve productivity, an important question remains: Does working faster with AI also help us think and learn better?

This seminar explores how graduate students can use AI not just to complete research tasks, but to strengthen their thinking and problem-solving abilities. Drawing on theories of cognitive load, cognitive offloading, and productive struggle, as well as the Instructional Design in the Era of AI (IDEA) framework, we will examine how AI can support critical, systematic, and creative thinking. Through practical research examples, we will discuss strategies for using AI effectively while preserving the intellectual effort essential to developing research expertise.

Biography

Liem Tran, Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is also a professor in the Department of Geography & Sustainability and the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education. His academic and administrative work focuses on interdisciplinary research, student learning, and curricular innovation. He developed the Instructional Design in the Era of AI (IDEA) framework, which draws on theories of cognition and learning to examine how artificial intelligence can support critical, systematic, and creative thinking. Through this work, he helps faculty and students explore how AI can enhance learning and intellectual engagement rather than simply increase productivity.