Author Archives: bizcombuzz

AI: A New Teaching Tool

Dr. Farrah Arif had had it. The senior lecturer at the School of Business Management, Queen Mary University of London, decided it was time to do more than use AI as a topic of discussion. Instead, she integrated AI use into the learning process of her first-year students. Her goal was to teach them to evaluate, question, and reflect on AI outcomes, not simply present outputs.

The methodology to attain this objective hinged upon designing activities that would elevate AI from a shortcut or crutch to a tool for critical thinking. Arif used five elements to attain this outcome:

Encouraging interactive group sessions. Instead of traditional lectures, Arif asked students to use collaboration apps such as Mentimeter and Padlet to share ideas, respond to prompts, and analyze material during lectures, making her talks dynamic and participatory.
Learning by doing. Arif devised hands-on learning activities with specific AI tools so that students could learn to use them. (Not all incoming students had experience with AI apps.) The students did more than learn to use the apps; they were asked to assess their effectiveness and limitations. In addition, the assignments included an element of critical and ethical analysis.
Learning together. In small groups, students collaborated and interacted with peers. The setting allowed students to experience varied perspectives while they watched the importance of collaboration and communication in real time as they completed assignments.
Adding a flexible learning pace. Given that not all students in the course were at the same level of AI use and knowledge, Arif allowed them to practice and refine their work at their own pace.
Finishing up with a group project. Arif’s team project added a real-life experience element to students’ work. For this learning module, dshe tasked students with designing avatar-based influencer marketing campaigns for actual brands. Learners in Arif’s course developed 60-second AI-generated videos and created strategies that would build the videos into other promotional activities they designed.

The benefits of this framework are multifold. First, making AI central to the assignment had great appeal to today’s students. The team project also offered groups the freedom to choose a product to market from a multitude of industries. For example, one group decided to center its influencer campaign on a popular beverage for which the students created a virtual influencer script voicing key features consumers aged 18-34 sought in a beverage.

Next, the assignment provided assessment along the way from the instructor and peers, giving students time to revise and analyze.

Overall, this thoughtful, thorough learning module transcends the mere aptitude of using AI. Rather, students are guided throughout the course to think critically about AI use and outputs.

Perhaps even more important, this approach demonstrates to instructors the potential of AI as a pedagogical tool instead of a threat.

Source: Arif, F. (2026, August 4). Turning AI use into active learning. AACSB. http://www.aacsb.edu

Remote Work Causing Low Employment Rates Among Youth | Why Interviewers Like the “Your Weaknesses” Question | Hirers Now Want Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Majors

While AI gets a bad rap as a cause of unemployment among new grads, an analysis by the Federal Reserve found that the issue predates AI’s burst onto the scene. The real culprit is remote work, which became common during the pandemic in 2020. The practice still continues.

According to the Fed’s research, remote work today is responsible for 64 percent of lacking employment among recent college graduates. The reason is that working remotely cheats new workers out of receiving feedback and mentorship from more experienced colleagues. This is especially important for employees just starting to climb the corporate ladder.

The Fed illuminated another finding that affected remote workers. Even after firms required a return to the office in the latter years of the pandemic, the young remote workers were overlooked. Because they did not possess the skills they would have learned from working with colleagues in person, firms hired workers who wouldn’t require training regardless of age.

However, the picture changed rather dramatically when analyzing in-office jobs. Although new grad unemployment went up at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, it soon returned to baseline. Today, even accounting for AI, unemployment rates remain the same for young and experienced workers alike, as long as they work in house.

Coacci, J. (2026, June 1). Remote work may be fueling youth unemployment. The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com

Why Interviewers Like the “Your Weaknesses” Question

Nearly every interviewer ultimately asks candidates about their weaknesses; the answer to this question tells interviewers much more about the candidate than a lack of strength in specific skills or tasks does. Instead, responses to this question say a lot about an individual, including the following:

Self-awareness. How candidates evaluate their performance and identify areas to improve shows maturity.
Honesty and integrity. Being authentic and transparent provides hiring managers insight into a candidate’s work ethic and core beliefs.
Growth mindset. When candidates discuss skills to improve, they show a growth mindset, which is highly valued in the workplace.
Resilience. Discussing a setback or limitation shows grit and adaptability.

Herrity, J. (2026, May 18). A helpful list of example weaknesses for interviewing. Indeed.com. https://www.indeed.com

Hirers Now Want Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Majors

A college major has always been a big decision in students’ lives, but today it matters even more. In a labor market slow to hire where AI has made entry-level jobs more difficult to land, a major may be the most important item on a new-hire’s résumé.

LinkedIn data identified the 20 most common majors for hiring in industries typically related to a specific field (i.e., biology) and majors that allowed the versatility to pivot to other industries (i.e., communication.) For instance, engineering graduates leave college with a specific body of knowledge that focuses their choices for work. Social sciences and humanities majors, on the other hand, can adapt to a range of industries if they capitalize on their discipline’s versatility.

As an example, the data revealed that 60 percent of English majors found jobs outside traditional English major fields such as teaching or writing—most likely because they possessed uniquely human skills that cannot be duplicated by AI such as communication and critical thinking. That’s quite a turnaround for graduates of majors considered hopelessly unemployable not long ago.

Connley-Hampton, C. (2026, June 30). College majors with the most career opportunities. Careers Newsletter. Forbes. https://forbes.com

The New Burdens of Teaching in the Age of AI

Anyone teaching on a college campus today knows that AI has touched every aspect of our profession, from course design to student-professor relationships to homework and more. It is not a leap to say that today’s colleges are vastly different than they were just four years ago, when generative AI entered the equation.

To determine how instructors are coping, The Chronicle for Higher Education asked readers to submit their experiences with AI in their classrooms over the AY 2025-2026. What followed was a major article by senior writer Beth McMurtrie that took the pulse of how AI is affecting teaching and teachers.