The Approach
Most AI education stops at awareness: what large language models are, how they work, whether they belong in the classroom. That conversation matters — but it is not where fluency comes from.
ART 490 is built around a different premise. Students spend the majority of each session doing what professionals do: using AI tools to solve real problems, evaluating what works, iterating when it doesn’t, and building something they can defend to a real audience.
This practice has a name: vibe coding — a method in which AI serves as the primary development partner, and the human brings the direction, judgment, and taste that no AI can supply on its own.
The critical thinking dimension is not separate from the building. It is embedded in every decision: Which tool is right for this task? Is this output trustworthy? What does this result actually mean? How do I explain this to someone who knows nothing about AI?
Students who develop genuine AI fluency become stronger thinkers overall — because fluency demands better questions, honest self-evaluation, and accountability for what they produce in collaboration with AI tools.
“This course does not pretend to teach a fixed body of knowledge. It teaches students how to learn in a field that does not hold still.”
Past Student Work
A fully functional peer-to-peer buying and selling platform built for the SVSU campus community.
A networked gaming environment supporting simultaneous multiplayer sessions, built from scratch.
An interactive narrative experience with branching logic and original world-building.
A fully realized brand presence with integrated video, streaming, and merchandise functionality.
These were not simulations or prototypes. They were functional applications built by students who had no prior development experience. The weekly commitment structure and AI-as-partner method are what make that level of output possible in a single semester.
How Each Session Works
10–15 min
Each session opens with one song from Kyle Bylin’s original AI history musical — a Hamilton-style work tracing artificial intelligence through its key figures. Discussion follows.
15–20 min
Faculty and students review what has happened in AI since the previous session — new tools, significant releases, emerging debates. The curriculum follows the field, not the other way around.
15–20 min
The class experiments live with a specific AI tool — sometimes led by an instructor, sometimes by a student sharing something they have discovered or paid for themselves.
60–75 min
The heart of the course. Each student presents progress, receives feedback, and commits publicly to what they will complete before the next session. This engine produces the work.
Final Presentations
Projects in this course are not presented only to the instructor. Every student presents their work to three distinct real-world audiences across the semester — a professional communication challenge that is itself part of the curriculum.
K–12 Educators & Administrators
Students present their projects and AI fluency skills to a non-technical audience. The goal is to demonstrate what AI-assisted creative work looks like and what it means for future students.
University Faculty
Students present to SVSU faculty as part of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning programming — modeling what AI fluency looks like in practice at the undergraduate level.
The Public
The broadest and most formal context. Projects must be polished, explainable, and defensible to anyone who walks up to the table — from a fellow student to a university administrator.
The Teaching Team
Instructor — UI/UX & Design
20+ years of UI/UX design experience, including work as a creative director for Nike, Disney, Sony, and Microsoft Xbox. Founder of Cardinal Solutions, SVSU’s experiential learning program. Recipient of the 2024 NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence. Actively experiments with Claude Code and AI automation workflows.
Instructor — Art & Foundations
Artist and Faculty Fellow with SVSU’s International Programs. Co-facilitates course discussions and shares his own ongoing AI experiments alongside Johnson — modeling collaborative and iterative learning for students. An early adopter of AI in creative practice since 2022.
AI Librarian — Research & Assessment
SVSU’s Research and Assessment Librarian, with degrees in music and UX/UI design, and a published author. Developed the course’s opening structure: an original musical — written, composed, and performed in the style of Hamilton — tracing the history of AI through its key figures. Currently in development as a full theatrical production.
Blake Johnson holds the Anthropic Academy AI Fluency for Educators certificate — a credential issued by Anthropic, the creator of Claude. Designed for educators leading AI integration at their institutions, it reflects structured knowledge of how to apply AI tools responsibly and effectively in educational contexts. It is one component of a larger body of work that includes course development, faculty training, and ongoing public presentations since 2022.
We offer keynotes, half-day workshops, faculty development sessions, and multi-session programs. Every engagement is built around your audience, your context, and your goals.
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