Upper Peninsula Teaching & Learning Conference - 2026

The current generation of college students are accustomed to apps, internet searching and AI to answer questions. With the push towards Artificial Intelligence fluency in the classroom and workplace, how do we develop critical thinking skills related to data analysis?
 
Recent news articles in the Wall Street Journal highlight this environment with a WSJ article on UC – San Diego noting that 1 in 12 incoming freshmen can’t do middle school math. According to another article “AI will get better and better, but the most important skill in the white-collar field now is critical thinking” How do we get junior employees to learn without AI so that they have the cognitive skills to do more complex jobs 1-5 years into the workforce?
 
60% of my current students self-reported little or no Excel experience before starting my introduction to decision science class. Follow-on courses focus on business analytics and higher level critical thinking skills, will they have the skills necessary to succeed? Using Excel allows students to see the data and mathematical relationships clearly without being obscured by complex code. The challenges of working in Excel to teach critical mathematical and thinking skills will be presented with a structured discussion of what needs to be done in the future.