Penn State funds graduate research on AI's role in education
Penn State's College of Education has launched the AI Justice Fellows initiative, a funding program for doctoral students researching how artificial intelligence affects teaching, policy and academic work in schools.
The program selected its first cohort in spring 2026. Graduate students proposed projects examining topics including how generative AI influences writing and academic communication, how it affects multilingual students, and how it shapes leadership development and education policy.
Leah P. Hollis, associate dean for access, equity and inclusion, leads the program. "The depth and rigor of the proposals affirmed that our graduate students are approaching AI not as a novelty but as a serious site of scholarly inquiry," Hollis said.
What the fellows are studying
Nine doctoral students make up the inaugural cohort. Their projects include:
- Using machine learning to analyze education policy across Pennsylvania's 499 school districts, with a focus on equity
- Examining how AI-generated feedback affects multilingual graduate students differently than native English speakers
- Studying how international graduate students experience AI-mediated academic work, balancing support against surveillance concerns
- Analyzing generative AI's effect on what counts as "scholarly" writing and linguistic authority in graduate education
- Developing guidelines for AI use in doctoral programs with student input
- Investigating how AI tools can support graduate student engagement and self-regulation
Yi "Eve" Wu, a second-year doctoral student in education policy studies, said the fellowship addresses a gap. "As AI tools become more widely used in teaching, research and academic work, colleges of education have an important role in helping future educators and scholars understand how to use these technologies responsibly," Wu said.
Program structure and support
Fellows participate in structured scholarly development sessions throughout the academic year. They receive financial support to advance their research and work toward completed manuscripts while joining a collaborative learning community with other graduate scholars across the college's programs.
Ghadir Al Saghir, a doctoral student in education policy studies, said the program's focus on fairness matters for research rigor. "Engaging with peers who are experimenting with AI in different research contexts strengthens the rigor of her work by encouraging scholars to think carefully about both the methodological and ethical implications," Al Saghir said.
Hollis completed a professional certification in artificial intelligence through Penn State's Digital Education initiative and continues professional development on AI's role in teaching and higher education leadership.
"Our responsibility is not simply to adopt AI," Hollis said. "It is to ask how we integrate it in ways that are responsible, accountable and aligned with our educational mission."
The initiative establishes a foundation for future programming on AI and education within the college.
Educators looking to build expertise in this area can explore AI for Education courses and certifications or AI research tools and training to understand how these technologies affect their work.
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