As an educator committed to integrating social justice and innovation into the classroom, I design teaching practices that foster empathy, critical thinking, and transformative action. My efforts have been recognized with the SPSSI Teaching Development Grant and the Action Teaching Award, which highlight my dedication to creating equitable learning environments that engage students in meaningful, community-oriented work. These recognitions also underscore the potential of innovative tools, such as generative AI, to amplify learning and foster inclusive, reflective educational experiences.
 
The SPSSI Teaching Development Grant supported the creation of the "Integrating Social Justice and Generative AI in Education" workshop series, a program designed to empower faculty to integrate these concepts into their teaching. The series emphasizes inclusive teaching practices, ethical considerations in AI use, and strategies for promoting equity in the classroom. Within this faculty learning community, participants explore the intersection of AI and social justice, designing culturally relevant and accessible course content using generative AI tools.
 
This initiative was inspired by my experience in writing a course textbook, Statistics in Psychology: An Equitable Approach, with the support of generative AI. The textbook was designed to integrate local, real-world examples and highlight equity issues relevant to our community. Through this framework, students learned to conduct statistical analyses with a focus on equity, bridging academic concepts with societal challenges and fostering critical engagement with the world around them.
 
The Action Teaching Award celebrates my “Voices for Change” unit, a project that integrates mental health and social justice into psychology courses. This unit was particularly inspiring for me. Students explored complex assignments by critically examining the societal impacts of stigma, discrimination, and systemic barriers on mental health, using generative AI tools like ChatGPT to enhance their analyses.
 
The Action Teaching Award celebrates my “Voices for Change” unit, which integrates mental health and social justice into psychology courses. This particular unit was inspirational to me for a variety of reasons; namely that students learned how to explore using generative AI to complete a complex assignment and they critically examined the societal impacts of stigma, discrimination, and systemic barriers on mental health, using generative AI to deepen their analysis. I saw first-hand how this approach allowed students to personalize their learning and engage with diverse perspectives, particularly benefiting first-generation and minority students.

One of the best parts of this assignment was through the creation and presentation of multimedia portfolios, students synthesized academic concepts with personal and community-based insights. Students presented complex social issues with compassion and care and it was remarkable to see how students used generative AI to craft assignments rich with meaning and focused on social justice.
 
This project inspired a forthcoming book chapter, Enhancing Student Success: How ChatGPT Supports Skill Growth, Learning Experiences, and Confidence Among First-Generation and Hispanic/Latino/a Students. The chapter will detail the results and implications of this initiative.
 
Central to my teaching philosophy is the belief that education should prepare students to be changemakers. My courses connect academic theories to real-world applications, encouraging students to engage with pressing social issues such as gentrification in Tucson, which we explored in my statistics class.
 
 Recognition through these awards inspires me to continue evolving my teaching practices. By integrating innovative tools like generative AI and focusing on equity, I hope to empower students and educators alike to critically engage with the world around them. I recognize that the integration of generative AI in education is a complex and nuanced topic. However, my hope is that this work will contribute to building a more just and inclusive society, where education inspires action and fosters systemic change for equity and justice.

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