2025 Summer School “Active Learning in Action: Engaging Students Through AI”

Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education and Psychology, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Porto, Portugal and Director of the Research Centre for Human Development (CEDH). Diana M. has strong research experience in the field of Higher Education. She also delivered more than 95 workshops dedicated to teacher training in Portugal, Brazil, Colombia, Russia and Thailand, mainly under the following topics: Active Learning, Problem and Project Based Learning, Curriculum Design, Assessment and Evaluation. https://www.linkedin.com/in/diana-mesquita/

Director of Koc University Office of Learning and Teaching, Istanbul. She used to teach academic skill courses to undergraduate students and effective teaching courses to graduate-level students. For the last ten years, she has been designing and delivering faculty development workshops on various topics, such as course design, effective teaching, active learning, etc., and holding individualized consultation sessions with faculty members on improving their daily teaching practices. She is particularly interested in SoTL research in HE. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zzeybekoglu/

Assistant Teaching Professor in the Engineering and Computing Education Program and the Associate Director of STEMed Research in the College of Engineering and Information Technology at UMBC. She also serves as the Director for the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL) in the Graduate School and is a Faculty Fellow for the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship. Her work focuses on the development of engineers, educators, and communities from P–12 through post-graduate levels, with expertise in engineering identity, global and entrepreneurial competencies, failure culture, first-year experiences, and capstone design. She is committed to innovative teaching practices, including gamification and hands-on, authentic learning and collaborates globally on STEM education initiatives. Dr. Gurganus serves on the national leadership board for CIRTL, is Program Chair and Co-Chair for the American Society for Engineering Education and serves on several UMBC boards—including the Council for Global Engagement. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-gurganus-phd/

Mairéad is SALC Chair in Digital Education in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Manchester; Visiting Professor at Abertay University in Scotland and at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Data Science Institute (DSI); and Research Fellow at the USA’s National AI Institute for Adult Education and Online Learning (AI-ALOE). She is a member of the AI-ALOE External Advisory Board (EAB), the Digital Learning Institute (DLI)’s Industry Advisory Council and the Government of Portugal’s National Council on Pedagogical Innovation in Higher Education. https://www.linkedin.com/in/maireadpratschke/

Professor David Smith is a Professor of Bioscience Education and Head of Research at Sheffield Hallam University. A National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, he is widely recognised for his innovative, evidence-informed approaches to teaching and learning in higher education. His work focuses on enhancing student engagement through the use of generative AI, authentic assessment, and technology-enhanced learning. Professor Smith actively contributes to national conversations on curriculum design and pedagogical innovation, helping shape the future of bioscience education across the sector. In parallel, his research explores the molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases, using techniques such as protein chemistry, cell culture, and mass spectrometry to investigate Parkinson’s disease. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-smith-3709657/?originalSubdomain=uk