The ASCEND-AI Curriculum

Building AI Literacy from Understanding to Stewardship

The ASCEND-AI Curriculum is a structured learning framework designed to help faculty and students develop the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and ethical foundations needed to engage with artificial intelligence responsibly. Through six interconnected modules, participants progress from foundational concepts to discipline-specific application and AI leadership.

Progression: Grounding → Judgment → Verification → Integration → Leadership

Outcome: To move participants from AI consumers to AI stewards, capable of using AI with intention, verifying outputs, maintaining disciplinary integrity, and leading responsibly.

Module 0: ASCEND-AI Overview

Participants are introduced to the ASCEND-AI initiative, program goals, and the ASCEND AI Learning Matrix that guides the curriculum experience.

Module 1: AI Literacy & Fundamental Concepts

Phase: Grounding

Core Question: What is AI, what is it not, and where does human thinking begin?

Module 2: Responsible AI Use & Ethical Foundations

Phase: Judgment

Core Question: When should AI be used, when should it not, and who decides?

Module 3: Detecting Misinformation, Bias & Hallucinations

Phase: Verification

Core Question: How do I know when AI is wrong, and what do I do about it?

Module 4: Discipline-Specific Integration

Phase: Integration
Core Question: How does AI serve my field without replacing its core thinking?

Module 5: AI, Innovation & Stewardship

Phase: Leadership

Core Question: How do I lead responsibly in a world shaped by AI?

Why This Curriculum Matters

Faculty: Engage with the modules through the Faculty Learning Community (FLC), adapt them for your discipline, and integrate AI literacy into your existing courses. You are not expected to become AI experts. You are expected to model intellectual ownership, ethical reasoning, and disciplinary judgment in how you and your students engage with AI.

Students: Encounter the modules as part of their coursework. Each module builds on the one before it. By the end, you will not just understand AI. You will be able to use it with intention, verify its outputs, apply it within your field, and take responsibility for the decisions you make with it.

Together, these learning experiences help cultivate AI-competent communities that are equipped not only to use AI, but also to question it, evaluate it, and shape its future responsibly. These modules can be taken independently or integrated into existing courses, providing flexible pathways for learning.