Unlocking AI: Reflections on the "Foundations of AI and Programming" Module at OSP
Dr Cristiana Tisca
Module leader and Post-Doctoral Researcher in Neuroimaging at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford
I had the great pleasure of organising and teaching on the “Foundations of AI and Programming” module within the Oxford Scholars Programme (OSP) last August. This was an incredibly fulfilling experience, both as an educator and scientist. From the outset, I was highly impressed with the skills, knowledge and dedication of the 14 students participating in the module, most of them having advanced programming knowledge.
The course was designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of fundamental AI concepts through daily lectures and complementary hands-on skills through the daily workshops which were focused on completing their AI projects.
The lectures covered a broad range of topics, starting with the history of AI to introduction to machine learning and deep learning, covering concepts such as artificial neural networks, neural network architecture, building neural networks and optimising them for specific applications. Special lectures on information processing in the brain and how that drives AI research and ethical dilemmas in AI research also provided a broader, interdisciplinary perspective into important issues in AI. The lectures were delivered in an interactive format, including blending the theoretical content with daily quizzes, programming problems and class discussions.
The 14 students also worked in groups of 3-4 on four different AI projects, which focused on spam email detection, facial emotion identification, traffic sign recognition and fruit detection. At the end of the programme, they presented and defended their results to their peers and a specialist audience. This dual learning approach ensured students could not only grasp the theoretical underpinnings of AI but also develop the practical expertise needed to build and evaluate their own AI models.
The relevance of AI cannot be overstated. AI is rapidly transforming all industries, from healthcare to finance, entertainment and education. Equipping students with this knowledge will open doors to a range of career opportunities.
The growth I witnessed in the students was remarkable. At the beginning of the course, many students were unfamiliar with Python and machine learning. However, by the end, they were confidently analysing their results, debugging their code and planning future work.
Teaching at OSP was special because of the curiosity and deep level of engagement with the subject matter of the participating students. This experience has strengthened my passion for education, inspiring me to explore novel approaches to make this subject more engaging for future learners.