ESTELA Summer Workshop 2025

June 12-13, 2025

A group of people seated at tables in a classroom, some smiling at the camera; a woman in front takes a selfie. A presentation slide is displayed on a screen at the front.
Dr. Chen and Dr. Norbutus stand by a table with a decorated sheet cake in a modern office space with large windows overlooking a city street.
A man in a white shirt presents at a podium in front of a screen displaying a project timeline labeled "The ESTELA process.
A group of ESTELA participants pose for a photo in a modern, well-lit room with large windows and city buildings visible in the background.
ESTELA participants on Day 2 of the 2025 Summer Workshop
Two people stand beside a large screen displaying the "Welcome to ESTELA!" message at a summer workshop, with university logos and STEM-themed graphics in the background.
Dr. Zhongzhou Chen and Dr. Amanda Norbutus officially open ESTELA 2025
A woman speaks at a podium to an audience while six panelists sit on stage in front of a presentation screen in a modern, sunlit room.
Student Panel on AI, moderated by Dr. Amanda Norbutus. Student panelists (L to R): Leo Murch (UCF), Giuliano Roccasecca (UCF), Sarah Loza (UCF), Jan Ibrahim (UCF, and Vicente Macias (Valencia)
People sit at desks with laptops, notebooks, and drinks, attentively listening in a classroom or seminar setting.
Several people sit at desks in a classroom, working on laptops and tablets, with water bottles and notebooks on the tables.

Attendees of the inaugural ESTELA Summer Workshop, co-hosted by UCF and Valencia College, learn about prompt engineering, AI-assisted problem bank development, AI feedback generation, and ethical considerations of AI in teaching during sessions at the shared Downtown Campus on June 12, 2025 in Orlando, Fla. The ESTELA project is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation.

A woman stands at the front of a classroom presenting to a group of adults seated at tables with laptops and notebooks. Two large screens display presentation slides.
Laurie Uttich of UCF FCTL presents “Intro to GenAI” for STEM.

Press Release

July 7, 2025

ESTELA Inaugural Workshop Empowers Faculty to Harness AI in STEM Education

Orlando, FL — The University of Central Florida (UCF) and Valencia College successfully co-hosted the inaugural ESTELA Summer Workshop on June 12–13, 2025, at Union West on the UCF/Valencia Downtown campus. ESTELA, which stands for Enhancing STEM Education with Learning Analytics and Generative AI, is a 4-year NSF-funded initiative under the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic Serving Institutions (IUSE) program at the Nation Science Foundation (NSF). The ESTELA workshop marked the launch of the collaborative effort to explore and implement AI-integrated practices that enhance undergraduate STEM learning.

Led by Principal Investigators Dr. Zhongzhou Chen (UCF, Physics) and Dr. Amanda Norbutus (Valencia College, Chemistry), the workshop convened STEM faculty from across Central Florida to engage in hands-on sessions, demonstrations, and dialogue on integrating generative AI tools into STEM classrooms and course preparation.

Participants explored topics including prompt engineering, AI-assisted problem bank development, AI feedback generation, and ethical considerations of AI in teaching. A standout feature of the event was the student panel, where STEM students shared candid insights into how AI tools shape their learning experiences and expectations, emphasizing the importance of student-centered innovation and their perception of faculty use of AI.

The ESTELA project, supported through two NSF HSI-IUSE grants awarded to UCF and Valencia College [NSF Award Numbers: 2421299 (UCF)/ 2421300 (Valencia)], brings together interdisciplinary faculty and administrative teams—including Valencia’s Dr. Osama Moussa (Physics, Co-PI), Dr. Vasudha Sharma (Chemistry), and Dr. Jay Perez (Physics) and UCF’s Chris Randles (Chemistry), Julie Donnelly (Chemistry), Harrison Oonge (Curriculum Alignment), Cyndia Muniz (HSI Initiatives), Michelle Taub(Learning Sciences), Heather Edwards (Math), Piotr Mikusinski (Math), Katiuscia Teixeira (Math), and Tong Wan (Physics).

Over the grant’s 4-year period (2025–2029), the project will not only foster the co-creation of AI-driven STEM resources but also build a mentoring student community of undergraduate research assistants and peer-group facilitators. These students will help implement AI-enhanced problem banks and promote innovative teaching practices.

Throughout the project, UCF and Valencia faculty will meet regularly in discipline-specific groups and as a joint cohort to ensure alignment, share research findings, and address challenges collaboratively. The ESTELA workshop represents a major step in building a faculty network dedicated to transforming STEM education through AI and analytics.

The workshop will be an annual summer event. Future details for the Summer 2026 ESTELA workshop will be shared via Curriculum Alignment and other outlets in early 2026.