Tammy Dysing, professor and program coordinator for the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program in Shenango, Pennsylvania, Professor and program coordinator was recently awarded the 2025 Teacher Engagement Award from Technology and Pennsylvania State Educational Learning (TLT).
TLT's mission is to explore new and emerging technologies and find collaborative ways to innovate and transform the teaching and learning strategies of Pennsylvania faculty and students. The theme of the 2025 Fanculty Engagement Awards is “Generated Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Education, including Microsoft Copilot 365.” According to the release, Faculty Award winners will work with TLT to experiment with AI-driven tools to help them plan courses, design content and deliver instruction.
“I explored innovative educational technology, worked with TLT, and worked with colleagues on using AI tools to increase education and creativity,” states the main focus of integrating generative AI into the classes she teaches.
“We use ChatGpt and Microsoft Copilot to support course planning, improve presentations, develop new challenges, and align course content with certification requirements,” Divens said. “These tools streamlined my preparation and helped me design more engaging and effective learning materials.”
According to the 2025-26 Student Voice Survey of Inside Higher Ed, 85% of participating students claimed they used generator AI for their coursework last year. As part of the same survey, 43% of students felt somewhat positive or very positive about the use of AI faculty, as long as it was thought-provoked and instruction was more relevant and efficient.
Divenns is going to do just that.
“We leveraged AI image generation through Adobe Express and ChatGpt to create introductory videos for the courses and create humorous or creative content to increase student engagement,” says Divens. “These efforts have enriched both educational design and classroom experience.”
The Faculty Engagement Award winners work with TLT's educational designers and technology support staff to identify the most effective intra-class use of a particular technology. Additionally, TLT researchers may assess the impact of this technology and share relevant findings from the program with the Pennsylvania State community.
