Flexible
Individual workshops
Choose the topics that interest you. Each workshop stands on its own, and there is no certificate commitment.
3 topics
Attend any number
Use AI with more skill—and better judgment.
Pick the path that works for you.
Complete program
AI Certificate
Build your understanding from AI fundamentals through ethics and prompt design, then apply what you learned.
4 consecutive workshops
3 submissions
Offered twice
Individual workshops
Choose what you want to learn.
These workshops are separate from the short certificate program. Students may attend any number of them without committing to all three.
Sign up for individual workshopsHow AI “Thinks” and “Writes”
- How AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini simulate human thinking and writing
- Why convincing answers can still be wrong
- How to use AI more critically and effectively
Full workshop description
Discover how generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini actually work beneath their deceptive chat interfaces. We’ll explore how they simulate human thinking, process your questions, generate words, and why their outputs aren’t always factually correct. This interactive, visually rich session will help you understand what’s really happening when you chat with AI, empowering you to use these tools more critically and effectively by recognizing their true strengths and limitations.
AI as Study Tool
- Where AI can—and cannot—fit into your coursework
- How to support learning without crossing academic-integrity lines
- Useful study prompts designed for Champlain students
Full workshop description
Learn how generative AI can enhance your study process while maintaining academic integrity. We’ll clarify College policies on AI use, discuss what’s acceptable versus problematic, and help you draw clear lines between using AI to support your learning and using it to complete graded work. You’ll share study practices and prompts with your peers, learn effective prompting techniques, and gain access to an extended library of study prompts specifically designed for Champlain students.
How to Chat with AI
- How to guide a productive, multi-turn AI conversation
- What separates an engaged AI user from a passive one
- How to stay in control and get more useful results
Full workshop description
Develop practical skills for productive, multi-turn conversations with AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. By examining two examples of human-AI chat sessions—one effective and one less so—you’ll discover techniques for guiding AI conversations in the direction you want. This hands-on workshop ensures you stay in control of the interaction while getting valuable AI outputs that align with your personal needs and insights.
AI Certificate
Ethical Practices and Technical Insights
A focused four-workshop program that moves from understanding AI to using it thoughtfully and effectively.
Sign up for the AI Certificate
Complete the program. Earn a certificate.
Successful students receive an official Champlain certificate signed by the Academic Dean and AI Certificate Coordinator.
To complete the certificate
- Attend all four workshops on time.
- Participate actively in discussions and activities.
- Submit an ethical AI use statement, a structured prompt plan, and a prompt testing report.
Important: The workshops are sequential. You must attend each preceding workshop to continue in the program.
Choose one fall session
Session 1 · September–October
- Workshop 1
- Workshop 2
- Workshop 3
- Workshop 4
Session 2 · November
- Workshop 1
- Workshop 2
- Workshop 3
- Workshop 4
What the four workshops cover
How AI “Thinks” and “Writes”
Understand how generative AI produces content, where it falls short, and why your judgment remains essential.
Full workshop description
- Foundational concepts: Learn how generative AI tools are trained, what they “know,” and how they generate content based on patterns in their training data rather than facts or true understanding.
- Understanding AI limitations: Recognize the limitations of AI in providing reliable facts, while learning why it is important to critically evaluate AI-generated content.
- Active engagement: Discover how effective AI interactions depend on the user’s insights and guidance, which can improve the originality, accuracy, and relevance of AI responses.
AI Ethics
Examine privacy, bias, intellectual property, misinformation, and how to decide whether AI is appropriate in a given situation.
Full workshop description
- Key ethical concerns: Explore ethical considerations related to AI, including trust, privacy, intellectual property, environmental impact, transparency, and the risks of misinformation.
- Bias awareness: Identify how biases in AI outputs can come from both the AI’s training data and the user’s input, and learn why critical evaluation is essential.
- Practical ethical guidelines: Apply practical ethical guidelines, such as crafting neutral prompts to reduce bias, giving clear instructions to improve explainability and verifiability, and providing AI with your own insights.
- Situational AI assessment: Learn how to analyze a specific situation to determine whether using AI is appropriate and, if so, how it should be used. Consider factors such as potential risks, the sensitivity of the information involved, and the expectations of the intended audience.
Prompt Engineering
Design, test, and refine structured prompts that combine your own ideas, context, instructions, and carefully chosen data.
Full workshop description
- Original prompting: Learn how to design ethical prompts that integrate your own insights and data, reducing reliance on patterns in training data that may have been used without consent.
- Prompting template: Use a structured prompting template to move beyond simplistic prompts. By integrating personal insights, specific context, detailed instructions, and carefully selected data, you can generate AI outputs that are more effective, accurate, and ethically responsible.
- Hands-on practice: Practice designing, testing, and refining a structured prompt while applying both technical skills and ethical principles.
Ethics and Prompting in Action
Develop your own AI project, apply the program’s technical and ethical principles, and receive individualized support.
Full workshop description
- Project development: Develop your own AI project while applying the ethical principles, technical insights, and instructions introduced in previous workshops.
- Individualized support: Receive one-on-one assistance to address specific challenges or questions related to your project.