Faculty-Student Partnership Brings AI Ethics to the Classroom
Julian Posada and Yair Guijosa-Torres ‘27
When AI became a recurring theme in Professor Julian Posada’s Information, Ethics, and Society class, he was intrigued. Realizing that few courses examine the ethics behind the technology, he determined change was needed. Supported by an AI Course Revision grant from Yale’s Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning, Posada joined forces with undergraduate Yair Guijosa-Torres ’27 through the Center’s Pedagogical Partners program to design a new course focused on AI and its societal implications.
“Instead of focusing on how AI tools can enhance the classroom experience,” Posada explains, “I wanted to create a class that was less focused on information science and more specific to AI ethics and societal issues.”
The Pedagogical Partners program brings instructors and undergraduate students together to collaborate on course design and teaching. The program focuses on creating a reflective space where students and instructors collaboratively think through the classroom experiences they hope to create. Malia Piper and Amanda Valdespino are members of the Poorvu Center’s Teaching Development and Initiatives team and supported Posada and Guijosa-Torres throughout the project. “Julian and Yair both brought incredible care and intention to their partnership,” they explained. “Faculty often tell us that they appreciate their partners’ insight into the student experience. Student partners are often excited to be making a positive impact on Yale College, while learning more about the teaching process.”
Guijosa-Torres first participated in the program in 2025 as a student partner, an experience that inspired him to learn more about course design. When the opportunity to partner with Posada emerged, he immediately applied.
Course Design Begins
Most pedagogical partnerships focus solely on making an existing course more engaging and effective for students over a single semester. Posada and Guijosa-Torres’ partnership, however, was a year-long collaboration that included both the design of AI, Ethics, and Society and its classroom instruction.
Before designing the new class, the team first set out to understand how AI was being taught at Yale and beyond. They researched existing syllabi and attended discussions to identify the topics most often covered, as well as those examined less frequently or not at all.
“Many AI courses focus solely on the technology,” Posada said, “without considering how it’s made or the societal impacts on, for example, electricity and water usage or disposal of devices in data centers. We felt strongly that these topics should be included in this course.”
Creating a welcoming environment for multidisciplinary perspectives was a key focus for the team. They invited guest speakers who offered real-world perspectives and created space for students to engage on a range of topics, from AI’s impact on privacy, the environment, and labor to data ethics and responsible innovation. Posada selected the course’s required readings, while Guijosa-Torres applied his perspective as a student to develop activities best illustrating each topic.
Particularly important for Guijosa-Torres was centering the course’s framework around students’ agency in their learning. He suggested offering students three potential options for their final projects: a report detailing an existing problem and potential solution; a community-oriented initiative; or an AI coding project.
“My experience gained through this program,” said Guijosa-Torres, “taught me that if students have agency over their own learning, and the ability to follow their curiosities about subjects that interest them, they are more compelled to complete a project and will learn beyond what is taught in the classroom.”
A Strong Start
AI, Ethics, and Society debuted in the spring of 2026 to strong student interest. Admission was highly competitive, with over 100 students from multidisciplinary backgrounds applying for 15 seats. This broad appeal confirmed Posada’s instincts that students across disciplines were eager to explore the topic.
“It’s important to have this class at Yale,” he said. “Courses in computer and data science are often highly technical, while social science courses don’t always engage with how technology intersects with the humanities and society. This course created a bridge allowing STEM students to examine AI’s broader social and ethical implications, while inviting students from the humanities and social sciences to analyze the technology through their own unique perspectives.”
Drawing on his prior experience as a Pedagogical Partner, Guijosa-Torres also proposed a mid-semester survey to assess students’ experience. Posada, Guijosa-Torres, and Teaching Fellow Sophia Cutler used the feedback to develop scaffolded assignments designed to build students’ skills over time. By semester’s end, students presented their final projects at Bulldog Days and Yale’s AI Symposium.
“For me, what stood out in the classroom was Julian’s care in his interactions with students,” reflected Guijosa-Torres. “The students felt appreciated, seen, and also challenged. To me, that is the beauty of a communal relationship that meets the needs of student learning.”
Impact Beyond the Classroom
In reflecting on the program, Posada and Guijosa-Torres agreed that the Pedagogical Partners program impacted their careers, as both an instructor and a student. For Posada, this experience allowed him to further his training as a teacher.
“As a researcher, you don’t always take classes in pedagogy,” Posada reflected. “We learn as we teach. Working with Yair was a great experience because he brought a very fresh mind to this class. Collaborating with him on discussions around assignments and exercises was a good learning experience for me, and I look forward to learning more from students in the future.”
For Guijosa-Torres, the program strengthened his desire to become an educator. This summer, he completed a Teaching Fellowship at Breakthrough New York. He will rejoin the Pedagogical Partners program next year as a Lead Mentor and ultimately plans to pursue a PhD to examine critical pedagogies in secondary education.
“It was impactful for me to see that our work shaping the classroom setting had a very powerful effect on the students and their learning,” said Guijosa-Torres. “My experiences have transformed my worldview and really made me value education so much.”
With opportunities available each semester, the Pedagogical Partners program will begin accepting student applications for Spring 2027 in October. Faculty interested in participating in the Spring 2027 or beyond should email askpoorvucenter@yale.edu.