9:00 AM – 10:55 AM | Presentations Part 1

Conference Opening

The Future as a Tool in Business and Education

Can the future be learned? Or perhaps predicted? Maybe even designed?
In this talk, I will demonstrate how the logic of futures thinking helps various organizations navigate change by actively shaping strategies, business models, and educational programs. Using specific tools, I will show how working with signals of change, scenarios, and backcasting becomes a method for building resilience, fostering innovation, and engaging teams. And why, according to the UN, future literacy is becoming one of the key competencies of the future.

Lessons learnt about creativity spaces: CERN IdeaSquare

The aim of this talk is to share with the audience a reflection on the key lessons learned from a decade of experience at CERN IdeaSquare. Over the past ten years, IdeaSquare has served as a unique experimental space within CERN, where innovation, collaboration, and education intersect. This presentation will explore some of the core insights that have emerged from this journey. The talk will adopt a thematic structure, weaving together a series of conceptual "strokes" or focal points. These start with the foundational purpose behind IdeaSquare, what drives it. The theme of pedagogy will be central, examining how learning processes have been designed, disrupted, and reimagined in this unconventional educational setting. Another significant thread will be the difficulty of being different, highlighting the tensions and opportunities that come with challenging traditional academic norms. This includes reflecting on what it takes to sustain a space that thrives on experimentation and sometimes goes against the grain of standard practices. Finally, the talk will engage with the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence, particularly in the context of learning environments and how and why the role of teachers and educators will be more important than ever. Overall, this talk aims not only to share experiences but to spark thinking and dialogue, therefore inviting the audience to as well share in the context of education, innovation, and the human role in an increasingly automated world.

11:05 AM – 12:45 PM | Presentations Part 2

Enhancing students’ self-directed learning in Challenge-based learning curricula

Details coming soon.

"Rat34", "Skibidi" — sounds strange? That’s just the beginning.

3LAB: The Innovation Studio at III High School in Gdynia is a real-world social platform with its own ethical code — an educational ecosystem, a community that shares knowledge, time, and skills, and supports the development of innovative projects. It’s a space where all studio-created content is shared under Creative Commons licenses. It’s the table we all gather around — the starting point of our journey. It’s the people sitting at that table, creating and following shared “recipes.”
It’s ethics, ideas, processes, and solutions. It’s modeling, concepts, and strategies. It’s trends, cross-sector analysis, management, and coordination. It’s task forces tailored to real-time needs.

We may not be interested in the casinos of Las Vegas, but Danny Ocean’s way of working isn’t foreign to us. Extreme research drones, flexible endoscopes, smart bottles, lunar base models, medical inventions, community projects designed for pandemics and crises...

This community includes students, alumni, scientists, experts, teachers, school staff, foundations, universities, agencies, institutions, private companies, and friends. The initiative is aimed primarily at students of III High School in Gdynia, but we also welcome guests from other schools — even elementary ones. If a student knocks on our door, we’re happy to take them in.

What we do goes far beyond the official curriculum. The scope of our activities has no limits. We’ve reached the stratosphere. And that’s what our story is about — an unexpected puzzle, where we’re not just a single important piece, but play many key roles.

12:55 PM – 2:35 PM | Presentations Part 3

The More We Measure, the Less We See What Truly Matters: Why the Traditional Grading Model Has Run Its Course. Learning Processes in the Age of GenAI – Insights from Research

The traditional assessment model, focused on end results, is losing its developmental and diagnostic value — and this isn’t a new problem. Large language models can generate correct answers, but they create an illusion of mastery and act as scaffolding that replaces deep thinking. The more we focus on measuring outcomes, the less we see the learning process itself — what the learner is grappling with, and who they are becoming in the process. We need a new way of thinking about assessment, one that includes the path to the goal, self-reflection, and the ethical use of AI as part of cognitive development.This session will explore how to design assessment strategies that are resistant to the illusion of mastery and the outsourcing of thought. We’ll also consider whether working with language models has shifted Bloom’s linear taxonomy of learning objectives into a looping, process-oriented model — one where creating is no longer just a final stage.

A Shortcut to Educational Immersion: Scrollytelling and Videotelling in (Not Only) Higher Education

In the face of rapidly evolving ways students absorb information, there is an increasing need to redefine teaching approaches — especially in academic settings. Traditional methods often fall short of the expectations of a generation raised in a world of short-form content, interactivity, and instant access to knowledge.

This session aims to address these challenges by presenting two modern narrative approaches — scrollytelling and videotelling — as effective tools for enhancing engagement, focus, and knowledge retention. Both techniques are grounded in well-established pedagogical theories and adapted to the realities of contemporary education.

The presentation consists of three main parts:

1. Context and Diagnosis – An analysis of modern students' learning styles and the cognitive impact of social media on their habits and attention spans.
2. Scrollytelling – An introduction to this narrative technique based on scrollable, multimedia-rich stories, including examples of educational materials built in this format.
3. AI-powered Videotelling – A look into the potential of creating engaging video content using cutting-edge tools such as avatar generators, text-to-video platforms, and AI-assisted video editing software.

As part of the session, we will also present an original educational model — the Immersive Narrative Strategy (INS) — which integrates scrollytelling and videotelling with activating methods such as Case-Based Learning, Problem-Based Learning, and Socratic questioning. The session combines theory and practice — all discussed concepts will be illustrated with real-life implementations and live demonstrations of selected tools.

2:45 PM – 4:15 PM | Good Practices Session

Don’t Wait – Act. On a Community That’s Changing Teaching Here and Now

In the face of technological shifts and growing systemic pressure, university teachers are increasingly left to face challenges alone. That’s why building a community of practice, mutual support, and knowledge-sharing is becoming essential. Without it, each of us fights individually — instead of transforming the system together.

This session aims to show that we don’t need to wait for top-down reforms — change can begin locally, right here and now. I’ll present concrete examples of grassroots teaching initiatives implemented by lecturers — members of our AI in Teaching Ambassadors Network — that have made a real impact on students.

In the second part, I plan to share reactions from both students and faculty to these teaching practices, carried out in the spirit of methodical engagement and care. We may even ask ambassadors to conduct a short student survey, so we can include specific voices and feedback.

While the AI as Your Teaching Assistant course will serve as a point of reference, it won’t be the main topic. I’ll share a link to the course materials for those interested, but my focus will be on the outcomes — the actions and transformations it has inspired over the past two years.

CRAFT + AI: How to Practice Future Skills in Higher Education Before They Disappear

In my session, I will present my original didactic model CRAFT (Critical–Reflective–Action-Oriented–Flexible–Thinking), developed in response to the growing need to foster future skills in higher education. The model was created from the belief that critical thinking, reflection, creativity, and collaboration—the foundations of 21st-century learning—are increasingly being replaced by formulaic tasks and the automation of the teaching process.

In a world where students often use AI to generate “assignment-ready” work rather than to support their thinking process, learning becomes superficial.

During the session, I will demonstrate how to use AI as a tool that supports thinking, action, and reflection—not as a shortcut. Participants will gain access to a GPT-powered virtual assistant designed to help generate lesson scenarios aligned with the CRAFT model and select prompts that foster the development of future skills.

In addition, I will share practical templates, micro-tasks, and examples of AI applications. The aim is not only to inspire but also to provide ready-to-use tools that can be implemented immediately. This is an invitation for educators who want to teach in harmony with technology—without giving up on thinking.

Teaching Thinking, Not Repeating: Design Thinking and Artificial Intelligence as Catalysts for Critical Thinking

In the age of AI, education should focus on developing critical thinking, rather than merely transmitting knowledge. During this workshop, participants will explore practical applications of the Design Thinking methodology combined with AI tools in educational practice. The session will showcase examples of problem analysis, formulating meaningful questions, and creative challenge-solving — all essential skills for conscious thinking and action in the information age. The workshop will take the form of an interactive session, incorporating teamwork and guided reflection.

4:25 PM | Forum Summary and Closing

Do you have a topic worth presenting?

If you’re leading a project worth showcasing or would like to share your expert knowledge, submit your presentation proposal for this year’s Academic Quality Forum. Please send your submissions to:

Sabina Ratajczak, PhD

akademickie.forum@wsb.edu.pl