Fall 1 (September–October) 2025
Course Description
Companies are investing billions of dollars in visions of what AI can do for people. Are these visions aligned with human flourishing? How can visions encounter reality? This project-based course teaches students to collaboratively discern the visions, assumptions, and design decisions behind current AI systems, while they design, implement and evaluate their own AI-powered applications with a human-centered approach. Students will practice creating systems that augment human capabilities rather than replacing them, with a focus on practical skills across the full development lifecycle and an emphasis on technology that promotes wholeness, well-being, and right relationships between people.
Student Learning Outcomes
By the end of this 7-week course, students will be able to:
- Analyze existing AI systems to identify underlying values, assumptions, and potential impacts on human flourishing
- Design AI-augmented user experiences that enhance rather than replace human capabilities and promote human well-being
- Implement functional prototypes integrating AI models with interactive interfaces
- Evaluate AI systems using both quantitative and qualitative user-centered methods
- Apply ethical frameworks such as the Design Norms and virtue ethics to AI development, considering privacy, transparency, user agency, and social impact
- Collaborate effectively on technical projects with diverse perspectives and skills
- Communicate design decisions through documentation and presentations
As a Fall 1 course, we meet a total of 19 times. This course will be very hands-on, with some activity most every day. Details are given on the meetings page.
In our readings, we will also engage various perspectives on the active debate about whether today’s AI is good, or good for us.
Prerequisites: Students should have taken at least one (ideally two) classes that involve either programming or enterprise software systems (e.g., INFO 301) – at Calvin or otherwise. Familiarity with web development concepts is helpful but not required; readings and resources will be provided to support learning.
Grading
The assessments in this course have two goals: (1) to form a community where we can think deeply about human-centered AI and (2) to help each student form a portfolio of work that can outlast this class.
At the end of the course, you will write a brief self-assessment that includes a proposal for a final grade. You will discuss it with the instructor to at a final check-in meeting.
Components that will be considered in your final grade include:
- Project (see below)
- At-home practice activities
- Thoughtful engagement in class activities
- Engagement with readings and discussion forums
- Giving and receiving feedback
- Check-ins (on paper, every class meeting)
We will be using Perusall for readings for asking questions and discussing readings together. We use it because it can help build critical thinking skills, engage with peers, and build metacognition. We will use its automated grading system as a working example of a supposedly “human-centered” AI system and evaluate its claims.
Academic Integrity
As the Calvin Academic Integrity Policy says, “At Calvin, the student-faculty relationship is based on trust and mutual respect.”
Designing and engaging AI from a human-centered perspective is a fundamentally collaborative endeavor. Collaboration brings the benefits of multiple perspectives, needed to tackle complex problems faithfully and responsibly. But teamwork also brings the risk of one person doing all of the “learning” for the other. Thus:
- Collaboration on all activities is encouraged. For integrity, humility, and gratitude, you should acknowledge any help you receive by name in your submission.
- When asking for help (and everyone should ask for help when they need it), try to solve the problem on your own first. This is critical. Then, when you ask for help, share what you’ve tried and what leads you to think it’s not working. (not just “It’s not working!!”)
I encourage you to use AI tools thoughtfully as part of your learning process in this class. We worked together to draft these guidelines for how we should use AI in this class:
- Use AI together. Rather than one-person-one-chatbot, invite others to see and critique your use of AI.
- Use AI critically.
- Push back on it. It’s probably not wrong but misguided.
- Don’t just submit AI’s output as your own.
- Use AI transparently. Document how you used AI.
Special Circumstances
Occasionally there are special circumstances that require that course policies be adjusted for a particular student. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the student to inform us of the situation as soon as possible, so that the appropriate arrangements can be made. This includes, but is not limited to, students with documented disabilities.
Calvin University is committed to providing access to all students. If you need additional accommodations to succeed in this class, please contact Disability Services in the Center for Student Success (disabilityservices@calvin.edu) as soon as possible to explore what arrangements can be made. The three of us (student, instructor, and Disability Services) will work together to come up with an appropriate solution.
We will give a grade of Incomplete (I) only in unusual circumstances that have been confirmed by the Student Life office.
Wellness
A wide range of things can interfere with your learning: trouble concentrating, stress/anxiety, relationship troubles, family situations, food or housing insecurity, substance use, and many more. You are encouraged to care well for yourself by keeping a consistent sleep schedule, eating well, avoiding drugs and alcohol, exercising, and taking time to relax and connect with friends and family.
Also, learning how to ask for help is an important part of the college experience. Many people on campus are eager to support you. The Center for Counseling and Wellness sees one out of five students each year and can connect you with a variety of mental health resources on and off campus. You can also reach out to your instructor, another faculty/staff, a friend, or a family member you trust for help getting connected to support. You are not alone, and help is available!
Primary Project
Students will conduct an integrated analysis of AI system design through three connected activities:
- Critical Analysis of some existing AI system: examine how the design choices that went into it impact human flourishing; envision alternative approaches
- Technical Evaluation of a simplified version (that you build) of the system’s core AI functionality
- User-Centered Design: prototype a complete interaction and iterate on it through feedback of various kinds.
Students may choose from provided template projects or propose their own with instructor approval. Final presentations (final 3 days of class) will be open to the broader campus community.
Details about the project are available on the projects page.
How does this differ from CS 375/376?
I also teach CS 375 and 376. Those courses emphasize how modern AI systems work, breaking it down into the math and programming details needed to interface with these systems at a low or medium level. The focus is on the AI, with some considerations of the human context.
This course inverts the emphasis: we focus on human contexts of AI, breaking down the product design of AI systems into what AI capabilities they depend on and how a company can learn whether it’s valuable for people.