AI for Students · Beginner

AI for Students

Use AI thoughtfully as a learning partner while strengthening independent thinking and creativity.
LevelBeginnerDuration12 hoursFormatLive online cohortSchedule6 live online sessions × 2 hours, including guided hands-on lab time in every session

Course overview

What you'll learn

This course helps students use AI as a learning partner without outsourcing their thinking. You practise explaining concepts, checking sources, researching, and creating projects while following your institution's academic-integrity rules. Sessions use examples from many fields of study, and you complete a project where you can explain what you decided yourself.

Who it's for

Students

By the end you will be able to

  • Explain in your own words how a language model generates text and why it can be wrong
  • Verify ten AI-generated claims against reliable sources and record the result of each check
  • Create a personal study system with summaries, flashcards, and practice questions built from your own notes
  • Write and revise a short piece of work while documenting exactly where AI was and was not used
  • Identify examples of bias or missing perspectives in AI output and describe how to correct for them
  • Complete a project and present the decisions you made independently of AI

Industry use cases

Examples from the work you do

Engineering

Ask an assistant to explain a circuit or mechanics concept in different ways, then solve problems by hand and compare reasoning.

Commerce and business

Summarise a company annual report with Gemini or ChatGPT, then verify key figures against the original document.

Humanities and social sciences

Use an assistant to challenge an essay argument and identify counterpoints, while writing and citing the essay yourself.

Sciences

Plan a lab report outline and have AI explain statistical terms, then check the method against your course notes.

Design and creative arts

Generate mood-board prompts and early concept variations, then create and document an original final piece.

Medicine and health sciences

Build quiz questions from lecture notes for revision, checking every answer against a textbook and never using AI for patient decisions.

Syllabus

6 modules, 12 hours.

Every module ends with a hands-on lab you can apply to your own work.

01AI Explorer: How AI Works2 hours

Build a clear understanding of what generative AI is, how it learns patterns, and where it fails.

  • Patterns, data, and prediction explained in plain language
  • What a chatbot is and what it is not: no understanding, no guaranteed truth
  • Hallucinations and confident mistakes with live examples
  • Everyday AI around you: recommendations, translation, search
  • Free-tier tools and age or terms-of-use rules for each

Hands-on lab: Ask an assistant five questions from your own subject, mark which answers are right, partly right, or wrong, and explain why.

02AI Practitioner: Learning with AI2 hours

Use AI as a tutor and study partner in ways that deepen understanding rather than replace effort.

  • Asking for explanations at different levels and with analogies
  • Self-testing: AI-generated quizzes and flashcards from your notes
  • Using NotebookLM to study from your own materials with citations
  • The learn-first, ask-second habit and avoiding answer-copying
  • Checking your institution's rules on permitted AI use
  • Prompting for feedback on your own work rather than for finished work

Hands-on lab: Build a revision pack from your own lecture notes, answer the questions without help, then use AI to review your answers.

03Verification, Research, and Critical Thinking2 hours

Learn to check facts, trace sources, and judge the quality of information before you rely on it.

  • Lateral reading and checking claims across sources
  • Using Perplexity and library databases while opening every cited source
  • Spotting invented citations and quotes
  • Bias, stereotypes, and missing perspectives in AI output
  • Deepfakes and manipulated media basics
  • Keeping a verification log

Hands-on lab: Fact-check a short AI-written article on a topic from your course, correcting errors and recording each source.

04AI Creator: Writing, Presenting, and Making2 hours

Create original work with AI support while keeping your voice and being open about how you used it.

  • Brainstorming and outlining versus writing for you
  • Revising your own draft using targeted feedback prompts
  • Citing and acknowledging AI assistance honestly
  • Creating slides and visuals in Canva
  • Copyright and image-use basics
  • Plagiarism, detection tools, and why they are unreliable as proof

Hands-on lab: Write a short piece yourself, use AI only for feedback, and attach an AI-use statement listing every prompt that shaped the work.

05Privacy, Safety, and Wellbeing2 hours

Protect your personal information and keep healthy habits when using AI tools.

  • What not to share: personal details, classmates' information, private documents
  • Data settings, chat history, and account safety
  • Overreliance, procrastination, and keeping practice skills sharp
  • Using AI chatbots for personal advice: limits and when to talk to a person
  • Respectful use: harassment, impersonation, and fake content

Hands-on lab: Create a personal AI-use code with your own rules for privacy, honesty, and limits, and test it on three scenarios.

06AI Innovator: Project Studio2 hours

Plan and present a project in your own field where you can show what you decided and why.

  • Choosing a real problem in your discipline
  • Breaking a project into steps and deciding where AI helps
  • Collecting and acknowledging sources and data responsibly
  • Preparing a short demonstration
  • Reflecting on what AI got wrong and what you changed

Hands-on lab: Present your project to the group and answer questions about your reasoning, sources, and corrections.

Capstone project

Build something you'll use

Complete a project in your own field of study, such as a study guide, research brief, design concept, or data exploration, using AI for defined supporting tasks only. Submit the work, a verification log, an AI-use statement, and a short reflection on where your own judgment changed the result. Present it live and answer questions without notes from the assistant.

Tools and requirements

What you'll work with

ChatGPTClaudeGeminiPerplexityNotebookLMCanvaGoogle Docs and Sheets

Prerequisites

  • Be a current student at school, college, or university level
  • Access to a computer or tablet with internet

Frequently asked questions

Before you book.

How do I book this course?

Select "Book a seat" and complete the short form. We email you the next cohort dates, timings and fees, and your seat is secured when you confirm. Requesting a seat is free.

How is the course delivered?

Live and online. The 12 hours run as 6 live online sessions × 2 hours, including guided hands-on lab time in every session, led by an instructor, with hands-on labs in every session.

What do I need to join?

Be a current student at school, college, or university level Access to a computer or tablet with internet

Can my team take this course together?

Yes. We can run this course for a team with examples from your own roles and tools. Send a team request through the contact page.

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