{"id":144716,"date":"2026-06-05T11:03:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T15:03:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?post_type=bu-article&p=144716"},"modified":"2026-06-09T11:23:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:23:30","slug":"john-mccahan-medical-campus-education-conference-focused-on-ai-in-health-sciences-education","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/news-events\/articles\/2026\/john-mccahan-medical-campus-education-conference-focused-on-ai-in-health-sciences-education\/","title":{"rendered":"John McCahan Medical Campus Education Conference Focused on AI In Health Sciences Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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If you were a little late to the 21st<\/sup> Annual McCahan Day keynote lecture on artificial intelligence, you would have encountered the sound of metal rings clanking on tabletops. You might have wondered if you\u2019d accidentally wandered into a meeting of amateur magicians as more than 100 attendees, mostly PhDs, struggled to figure out the \u201cmagic\u201d of a ring sliding down a metal chain suspended from the magician\u2019s fingers that stops short of the tabletop, held by a knot that mysteriously appears at the last second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not math, just a simple sleight of hand and the value is not in finding the answer, but in the process of discovery, said keynote speaker Thomas \u201cTJ\u201d McKenna<\/a>, PhD, a clinical assistant professor of science education, program director of AI and Education, and director of the Center for STEM Professional Learning at Scale at BU\u2019s Wheelock College of Education and Human Development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKenna is focused on how artificial intelligence can support, not replace, teacher expertise. His lecture, \u201cLearning Endures, Tools Evolve: Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI,\u201d made the case that decisions about AI should start with how people learn, not with what the technology can do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Noting that some in his audience quickly turned to their phones for the answer, McKenna likened that to employing a robot to do your gym workout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to get muscles. The work still happens, but it’s not me doing it, and it’s not me benefiting from it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The John F. McCahan Medical Campus Education Conference is an annual two-day event highlighting research in health sciences education and held to honor McCahan, who served as associate dean for academic affairs at the medical school for three decades. This year\u2019s theme focused on the use of artificial intelligence in health sciences education.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AI use in education is often perceived as a monolithic entity, but McKenna said it is composed of different tools with varied purposes and outcomes. The architecture of an AI model \u2013 what it was built to answer and how it gets its answers \u2013 is itself a pedagogical choice, McKenna said, and faculty need to be involved in design and procurement decisions rather than serve as end users of choices made elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKenna, who received Boston University’s 2026 Gitner Family Award for Innovation in Teaching with Technology<\/a>, speaks from experience as a designer. He has built AI coaching tools used by science educators in more than 33 states that demonstrate his central argument: design decides pedagogy. Some coaching tools provide answers only from expert-vetted curriculum knowledge, while other tools are built to sustain inquiry, coaching teachers and students to stay in the question to better understand its complexity and layers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of AI as a moderator, a dialogue coach, a critic, and not just as an answer machine.\u201d<\/p>TJ McKenna, PhD<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe educational unit of value moves away from a polished answer into something where you can feel comfortable staying in the question long enough for something deeper to emerge, and to be comfortable engaging, talking, arguing with people to get to those answers,” said McKenna. \u201cThink of AI as a moderator, a dialogue coach, a critic, and not just as an answer machine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caroline Brinkert<\/a>, MS, CCC-SLP, a lecturer at BU\u2019s Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, along with Benjamin Keating<\/a>, PhD, David Farelo<\/a>, PhD, and Erin Baumann<\/a>, PhD, from BU\u2019s Institute for Excellence in Teaching & Learning<\/a>, discussed \u201cCreating A Game Plan for AI in Teaching and Learning.\u201d Through lectures, a case study and a roundtable discussion, they presented the TILT framework (Transparency in Learning and Teaching) as a tool to ensure that students understand the rationale behind assignments, how an assignment is relevant to their learning, what steps are needed to complete the assignment, and how the work will be evaluated. Brinkert’s case study used the AI Assessment Scale, supplemental to the TILT framework, to openly communicate with students about the role of AI in a given assignment and the rationale for accepted use. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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McCahan Day includes faculty, fellows and students from the Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Goldman School of Dental Medicine and School of Public Health. The first day of the conference was devoted to online presentations by educational AI vendors. The second day included lectures, workshops, vendor exhibits and awards presentations. Workshops included:   <\/p>\n\n\n\n