A&S Teaching & Learning Community of Practice 2025-26: Bridging Academia and Real-World Practice: From AI Tools to Life Science Research Skills

This session features the following two presentations:

Presenter: Denys Linkov, Sessional Lecturer, Department of Computer Science

In a fast moving world, course material and industry applications often diverge. For Computer Science and Machine Learning courses in particular, this evolutionary speed often leads to courses being constantly revised or inevitably dated. This divergence further impacts the constant tension that graduating classes of students feel every year; learning for academia or learning for an industry job. This talk will cover industry usage of Gen AI tooling, such as coding assistants and generative prototyping, along with the opportunities to teach students to leverage the tooling. It will also contrast Gen AI system innovations happening within industry labs and academic settings that can be adapted for modernizing ML systems based courses.

Building Skills, Community, and Confidence in Life Science Undergraduates 

Presenters:

Colleen Dockstader, Associate Professor, Human Biology; Program Director, Health Studies 
Jasty Singh, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream; Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies, Department of Immunology 

The Human Biology Lab Bootcamp is a free, two-week experiential training program that has supported more than 250 life sciences undergraduates over six years. Open to all, it requires no prior research experience and focuses on building career-ready skills through collaboration and hands-on learning in an environment that simulates the experience of a research project in a basic science lab.
Held after spring exams, participants work in small groups on an 80-hour molecular cloning and protein assay project. Guided by Facilitators, they take ownership of their experiments, selecting methods and refining protocols. Workshops on ethics, career development, and entrepreneurship enhance their professional skills.

Bootcamp embraces inquiry-based learning and normalizes failure as part of the scientific process. With no grades or evaluations, participants thrive in a low-pressure, high-engagement environment. They report increased confidence, resilience, and clarity in their academic and career paths, often continuing into research, technical roles, or graduate studies.

For more upcoming CoP sessions, visit our Quercus site.