AI FAST Challenge (California Education Learning Lab)

AI FAST Challenge (California Education Learning Lab) is sponsored by California Education Learning Lab (housed under the Governor's Office of Planning and Research). This grant supports nimble, innovative research and development projects led by individual faculty, institutions, or cohorts of institutions within the same public higher education system in California, focusing on AI-integrated innovation in teaching and learning.

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Learn About Learning Lab's AI Initiative The California Education Learning Lab is a state-funded grantmaking organization that awards grants to support faculty-led projects across California’s public higher education segments, particularly in STEM disciplines, to incentivize innovation in teaching and learning approaches. Funded projects leverage technology tools and the science of human learning to foster student success.

Grantmaking is Learning Lab's primary mechanism for advancing equity in public higher education on behalf of students. Open Educational Resources Funded projects create open educational resources promoted for use among California faculty and beyond.

Learning Lab hosts in-person and virtual gatherings to foster collaboration and promote continuous learning among California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California faculty communities.

The California Education Learning Lab is a state-funded grantmaking organization that award grants to support faculty-led projects across California’s public higher education segments, particularly in STEM disciplines, to incentivize innovation in teaching and learning approaches. Funded projects leverage technology tools and the science of human learning to foster student success.

Grantmaking is Learning Lab's primary mechanism for advancing equity in public higher education on behalf of students. Learning Lab hosts in-person and virtual gatherings to foster collaboration and promote continuous learning among California Community Colleges, California State University, and University of California faculty communities.

Open Educational Resources Funded projects create open educational resources promoted for use among California faculty and beyond. In 2024, Learning Lab funded 33 faculty-led projects across California Community Colleges, CSU, and UC campuses through its AI Challenge grants.

These three briefs synthesize early insights from that initiative, highlighting faculty-driven, student-centered approaches to AI Literacy, AI Ethics & Responsibility, and AI Workforce Preparation in California public higher education. NEW! MRT PODCAST Ep.

18 – What Should Students Still Struggle Through? OpenAI’s Leah Belsky on AI, Agency, and Education’s Future The chancellor of one of the world’s leading public research universities explains why UC San Diego is building its own AI infrastructure—and why universities must stop confusing slow decision-making with thoughtful decision-making.

Learning Lab Substack: THE DOCTOR IS IN What do Ali Wong, intro stats, AI literacy, VibeTeaching ™, and confidence scams all have in common? Read Learning Lab Director Lark Park’s interview with Cal State LA Professor Ji Y. Son to find out!

Learning Lab Launches The Quantum FAST Challenge Learning Lab, in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), has announced a new grant opportunity: the Quantum FAST Challenge. Enhancing Data Science Teaching Capacity Data science is a growing field, but until recently El Camino College had only two full-time faculty teaching its data science course; not enough infrastructure to meet the need.

In partnership with UC Berkeley’s data science modules team, this project is building a critical mass of ECC faculty who can create and teach data science courses, offering professional development tailored to different levels of faculty expertise.

Beyond the classroom, the project connects students directly with industry through Data Science Industry Events featuring working professionals, and has brought on an industry advisory board member, the Chief Analytics Officer at Breakthrough Research, to help keep faculty training grounded in real-world practice. Learn More About This Project Learning Lab Awards $1.

6 Million to Boost Engineering Pathways for Community College Students We’ve awarded a $1. 6 million grant to support a UCLA-led project aimed at improving the transition for community college students into engineering programs and enhancing career opportunities through internships and industry partnerships.

What happens when you bring together faculty/instructors, philanthropic leaders, policymakers, and administrators from California’s public higher education systems and beyond, to reimagine the future of teaching and learning? We will let you know after INSPIRE 2024 participants gather at UCLA to wrestle with thorny issues and explore bold ideas, October 16-18!

Learning lab's AI Initiative​ The AI Initiative is a multi-faceted and collaborative effort aimed at spurring transformative change in teaching and learning across California’s three public higher education systems and beyond...

AI Challenge: grant opportunities​ In 2024, Learning Lab launched two AI Challenge Grants to promote AI-integrated innovation in teaching and learning at California Community Colleges (CCC), and California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) campuses.

Student and Faculty Experience from Learning Lab Projects "I almost didn't graduate high school because of algebra… I was an English major because I wanted to stay as far away from math as possible. It changed my complete perspective on the whole subject. It wasn't about the fact that I was stupid or couldn't do it… it was just about learning math in a different way."

Psychology student at UCLA, The Better Book Project "The main reason I'd recommend this program is to connect with a community of like-minded faculty across campuses. The content we learned about was great, but I think the long-term value is in keeping connected with a local teaching and learning community into the future."

Instructor at UC Berkeley, Reorienting Toward Mastery “I loved taking control of my learning and reviewing more in class time. Every computer science class should follow this model.

” Student at MiraCosta College on the "GOALS in CS" project "It's been a fun process to develop activities that have students working together… using an actual building in Fresno rather than just a canned textbook problem — to make all the applications meaningful for students from the valley." Instructor at CSU Fresno, On Ramp "I was worried about this class going into Berkeley because I knew that Berkeley STEM is notoriously difficult.

The A's for All policy decreased my stress about the course by a lot, and I felt like I was able to focus on learning rather than on first-try perfection." Computer science student at UC Berkeley, A's for All "My lecture style is very casual and down to earth… but my quiz questions are more formally written. AHA!

Then I was able to brainstorm what to do about it with my STEM CoP and we talked about having two versions of the question. Love it!" Instructor on the Scaling Humanized Academy project "I felt so proud of myself and not just proud but enabled.

This class has given me so much confidence that I was lacking not just in the sciences, but in life." Introductory chemistry student at College of Marin, Developing Students' Identity and Self-Perception as Capable STEM Thinkers and Learners