The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) has introduced a six-month course on artificial intelligence (AI) for physics teachers at the ICSE (Class X) and ISC (Class XII) levels.
The course on “AI-Native and Entrepreneurial Education” is to equip teachers with a comprehensive framework for an “AI-native generation” and to build an entrepreneurial mindset, the council said in a circular addressed to school heads.
“In response to the rapidly evolving educational landscape shaped by advancements in artificial intelligence, it has become essential to redefine the role of education beyond the traditional transfer of knowledge and skills,” the council said in the circular.
The council wants to enable physics educators to transition from content-centric instruction to transformational mentorship, a council official said.
“The course would build teacher capacity to design and facilitate experiential, interdisciplinary, and entrepreneurial learning environments and aims to empower CISCE teachers as future educators, capable of nurturing AI-native learners equipped for self-actualisation and meaningful contribution to society,” Joseph Emmanuel, chief executive and secretary, told Metro in a text message.
AI-enabled teaching refers to the use of artificial intelligence as a supportive tool for instructional delivery, assessment and content generation.
AI-native teaching, in contrast, represents a systematic pedagogical transformation, wherein learners are prepared to collaborate effectively with AI systems while simultaneously developing AI-complementary capabilities such as critical thinking, creativity, ethical reasoning and entrepreneurial insight, a council official said.
“In essence, AI-native education moves beyond tool usage to redefining learning processes for the AI-interated world,” the official said.
The CISCE course will equip teachers to promote effective use of AI as a thinking, coding, creative, and personal assistant while retaining the teacher’s identity, the council said in the circular.
The course aims to apply principles of physics to introduce design thinking and real-world problem-solving, strengthen teachers’ ability to develop start-up concepts grounded in the fundamental laws of physics, and support them in designing physics laboratories aligned with AI-driven and entrepreneurial education.
The course would enable teachers to equip educators with the ability to derive “seed ideas (know-why) and seed skills (know-how) from the CISCE physics syllabus and enable teachers to adopt entrepreneurial pedagogy to foster an entrepreneurial identity among learners, the council said.
The council has aligned itself with the NEP (National Education Policy), 2020, to equip teachers with digital pedagogy skills to effectively utilise technology for engaging and interactive learning, the council said.
AI is making its presence felt across teaching content, methodology, and evaluation, said Suman Chakraborty, director, IIT Kharagpur.
“When it comes to content, AI is technology-oriented, and there is not much scope for misuse. The AI is used for transaction of teaching and learning; the same AI tool is accessible to a student as well,” said Chakraborty.
It is widely acknowledged that AI has the potential to revolutionise education, with students across classes increasingly using AI tools to complete assignments and prepare speeches and presentations.
A student might use ChatGPT to understand a physics concept or a history question. There is no point in objecting to it, or the student will be left behind. However, if the student lacks maturity or sufficient knowledge of the subject, the implications could be many, said Suman Chakraborty.
“AI can be used to improve teaching and learning, and simultaneously safeguard against the consequences of building a wrong conceptual foundation or the danger of being dragged into unethical practices using AI,” he added.
AI can support students who wish to move beyond core subjects into innovation and entrepreneurship, assisting them in areas ranging from business creation to a wide range of related activities, he said.