Thinking with Agents

AI tools for teaching and research

Thinking with
Agents

AI tools for teaching and research

Erkmen G. Aslim & Emily Beam

UVM Economics Bootcamp Schedule

Apr 22

Getting Started with AI Tools

11:00–12:30 · Old Mill A500

Download slides ↓

Apr 27

Research Pipelines & Automation

11:00–12:30 · Old Mill A500

Before You Arrive

No installation needed. See the Getting Set Up guide if you want to try things on your own afterward. For broader reading, see Outside Resources.

Session 1: Getting Started with AI Tools

April 22, 11:00–12:30, Old Mill A500

Deck	Format
Session 1: Agentic AI Bootcamp (Aslim & Beam)	PDF

What we’ll cover

• What AI tools exist and the difference between chat-based and agentic tools
• Context windows, standing instructions, and planning — the key concepts
• What we’ve actually used these for (and what was fun but saved zero time)
• Voice files: making AI output sound like you
• Skills: reusable workflows you can share
• Live demos: website redesign and custom skill creation

Before next time (April 27)

• Try using an AI tool for one real task this week
• Install the tools from the prep guide if you haven’t already
• Think of a research or teaching task you’d like to automate

Session 2: AI for Research and Advanced Teaching

April 27, 11:00–12:30, Old Mill A500 — Chaining steps into workflows: research pipelines, slide creation, teaching applications, and automation.

Slides will be posted here after the session.

What we’ll cover

• How to chain AI steps into a documented workflow (plan, execute, review, clear, repeat)
• Creating slides from rough notes
• Teaching applications: assignments, rubrics, study guides
• Research pipeline
• Web scraping and automated grading