Designing AI-Incorporated Learning Experiences that Support Active Learning

As AI tools increasingly enter classrooms and individual learning environments, students are interacting more frequently with AI tutors, chatbots, and AI-powered learning systems. While these tools can provide convenient support, poorly designed AI interactions may lead to frustration, confusion, or unhelpful learning experiences.

Beyond these immediate issues, deeper learning challenges can emerge:

• Cognitive overload: when the amount or complexity of information exceeds a learner’s working memory capacity, making it harder to process and understand

• Cognitive offloading: when learners rely on AI to perform thinking tasks they would otherwise engage in, potentially weakening their own reasoning and understanding over time

At the same time, many AI-supported learning experiences remain overly passive, focusing on information delivery or simple Q&A, rather than supporting active thinking, exploration, and interaction. This challenge invites participants to rethink how AI can support active, interactive, and cognitively meaningful learning, where students remain engaged as participants in the learning process.

Secondary school students interacting with AI-assisted learning systems in classroom or independent study contexts. Solutions should consider how AI can support students in managing information, maintaining active engagement in learning, and developing the skills to use AI effectively and responsibly as part of their learning process.

Participants are invited to design AI-assisted and interactive learning experiences. Learning experiences in this challenge can go beyond simple AI agents, and may include structured learning workflows, interactive components, or mini-app style elements that actively involve learners.

Solutions should consider how to support students in:

• Managing information effectively to avoid cognitive overload
• Maintaining active thinking and engagement through the student learning experience
• Actively participating in the learning process through interaction, decision-making, or exploration
• Developing AI literacy, including abilities to engage critically with AI-generated information and use AI as part of their cognitive learning process.

Cogniti is an AI platform developed by Professor Danny Liu and the Educational Innovation team at the University of Sydney. It enables educators and builders to create customisable AI agents and interactive learning experiences, including mini-app style components (e.g. HTML-based activities, simulations, and learning tools)

A key strength of Cogniti is its systematic controllability. Users can precisely configure how AI behaves within a learning experience, including:

• Depth of AI’s reasoning and explanation
• Response style and pacing
• Use of supporting knowledge and data sources
• Integration with structured tasks or interactive components
• No Coding required for educators to use

Cogniti allows participants to design more intentional and pedagogically aligned learning experiences, rather than relying on generic AI outputs

You are encouraged to use Cogniti as the core platform for designing and delivering your learning experience. Other tools or technologies may be used where helpful (e.g. for content generation, assets, or supporting components), but the final learning experience should be implemented and presented through Cogniti.

• You are free to contextualise this learning experience any ONE specific subject, topic, or learning context and demonstrate how you create a meaningful learning experience
• Think about what the student is doing during the learning process, not just what the AI is saying
• Explore combinations of AI + interaction + structured activities

💡 Possible directions (for inspiration only):

• Mini interactive learning experiences (e.g. quizzes, games, simulations)
• AI-guided learning flows with embedded tasks or checkpoints
• Scenario-based or decision-based learning experiences
• Games/Mini-Apps/Learning Challenges that encourage thinking rather than over-reliance on AI

• A prototype demonstrating the product design (presented on the demo day)
• A 2-3 minute video and pitch deck explaining the design of your solution
• The demonstration is required to include Cogniti Agent(s) for this challenge

Note: Teams may develop custom-built interfaces (e.g. web-based UI or prototypes) that serve as an external user experience layer around their Cogniti agent.