2026 Science x AI x Engineering Workshop
Thank you so much for attending!
The workshop might be over, but the learning continues! Below, you can find information on the different speakers, breakout rooms, gallery walk tables, and resources from the day.
Keynote Speaker
Casey Cuny
2024 California Teacher of the Year
Casey Cuny is the 2024 California Teacher of the Year. Cuny teaches 10th-grade honors English and Senior mythology and folklore at Valencia High School in Santa Clarita, California. He serves as English Department Chair and the school’s Instructional Coach. He also teaches at National University in the Master of Education program, working with teachers from all over the country, and he was recently awarded the 2025 National University Academic Excellence Delphi Award.Ìý
Workshop Activities
ÌýControlling a Bionic Arm with Your Muscle Activity
This session was a hands-on experience with the robotic arm we use throughout the neural engineering curriculum. Participants conducted inquiry-driven experimentation and utilized EMG sensors to control the robotic arm using muscle activity.
Ido Davidesco, Ph.D
Director of the Lab-to-Classroom Research Group
Lynch School of Education and Human Development
Na’ama Av-Shalom, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Scholar
Lynch School of Education and Human Development
Design and Engineering Process
Aaron M. Kyle, Ph.D.
Professor of the Practice in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
Duke University
This session provided a short overview of the engineering design process and how it can be used by teacheirs and their students to enhance computational thinking, followed by an interactive discussion about the interplay between design and CT.
AI and Computational Thinking
This session introduced CLUE, a collaborative platform that uses AI to support deep reasoning rather than shortcut it. Participants investigated Dataflow programming of sensors and the way these programs and the surrounding platform can support students in live CT reasoning challenges.
Backyard Brains
Timothy Marzullo |Ìýtim@backyardbrains.com
Timothy Marzullo is a co-founder and scientist at Backyard Brains, dedicated to showing students of all ages how the electrical signals of life work and also connecting them to robotics. The equipment of Backyard Brains is in over 100 countries and 5000 educational institutions all over the world.
Mobile Design Studio (MODS) in CLUE
Leslie Bondaryk |Ìýlbondaryk@concord.org
Mobile Design Studio (MODS) in CLUE: The MODS project is creating a curriculum and collaborative tools for engaging secondary school students in front-end design. Students are given background in water conservation problems and drivers, and are asked to define and ideate stakeholders, environments and solutions for their community. They are given support from Ada Insight, an AI expert in front-end design, and from Ivan Idea, an AI collaborative teammate. We are assessing whether the tools and AI support can help young students generate and review design ideas that combine scientific, technical engineering, and social contextual considerations.
Teachable Machine: Classifying Trees with AI
Instructional Coach, Ashburnham Westminster Regional School
Tiffany Davis | tdavis@awrsd.org
Teachable Machine: Using Leaves to Classify Trees (fifth-grade lesson that integrates science and digital learning/AI. Fifth-grade students explore how the data used to train an AI model shape the results a user gets. This lesson is part of a larger fifth-grade unit on photosynthesis (science) and representing and interpreting data (math) in which students collect, analyze, and share data on the length of the growing season for trees in the schoolyard.
Data by VoiceÌý
Lynn Stevens | lstephens@concord.org
Making data exploration accessible for blind and low-vision learners using AI.Ìý
Brain Healthy & Curriculum Support AI Tool
Cate Schultz & Maya Balik | cate.schultz@bc.edu
Brain Healthy is a high school curriculum and community science research program that engages students in hands-on, data-driven learning about brain health and neural plasticity, exploring how experiences such as stress, physical activity, and mindfulness affect the brain and body. The booth featured a pilot research project on the use of AI-supported curriculum tools, developed in collaboration with researcher and former teacher Maya Bialik, focused on understanding teacher needs, supporting educator agency, and enhancing responsive, lesson planning.
AI Education Across the Curriculum
Jie Chao | jchao@concord.orgÌý
AI, as a highly interdisciplinary field, can be explored in greater depth through disciplinary studies such as mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA). This presentation will introduce a coherent set of curriculum modules designed for high school math, ELA, and history students to examine the inner working of language-based AI, such as text classification and text generation models, and consider ways to use AI to solve real-world problems.
Using Google Gems to Assess Science Assessments
Mark Healy | Science Department Chair, Needham Public Schools | mark_healey@needham.k12.ma.us
Using Google Gems to assess (science & engineering) assessments in terms of how well they address MA standards and district priorities.
The Lynch School is a Massachusetts-approved provider of Professional Development Points (PDPs). 6 PDPs will be provided upon completion of the workshop sessions and all workshop assignments. There is an optional online course that follows the workshop, where teachers have the opportunity to earn an additional 4 PDPs and a certificate in Science and Education in AI. We encourage non-Massachusetts practitioners and educators to also participate in these opportunities. Non-Massachusetts participants will receive a certificate of completion that can be applied towards state-specific professional development requirements.
Please note that participants will not receive academic credit nor a transcript documenting their participation in this workshop series through Boston College. However, all participants will be awarded a certificate of completion in ÌýScience and Education in AIÌýand Professional Development points to apply to their professional development plans.
2026 Workshop Photos
Photo Credits: Rebekah Che
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Photo Credit:ÌýMatt Healey
