renAIssance: Cogniti Champions & Conversations

Cogniti Champions & Conversations

Capability, confidence & community for AI-enabled teaching

Domain 4: Capability

Note: Cogniti Champions & Conversations is a domain-aligned project, as part of the renAIssance program.

The Cogniti Champions and Conversations Project is a university-wide initiative designed to build capability in AI-enabled teaching through experimentation, exploration and collaboration using Cogniti in real teaching contexts.

Dr Christopher Moore

Academic Lead - Cogniti Champions & Conversations

Contact: renaissance-program@uow.edu.au

Project Overview

Through an open expression-of-interest process, UOW will appoint 10-12 Cogniti Champions per Faculty (from UOW Australia campuses) and from across UOW College Australia (30–36 in total). These academics will explore AI-enabled learning design, student support, assessment scaffolding, and other pedagogical applications. Their work will be amplified through cross-institution communities of practice and open Cogniti Conversations that inspire new approaches and build confidence in AI-enhanced teaching.

Why this matters

Generic tools offer limited control and introduce accuracy, privacy, and integrity risks. Cogniti will provide an educator-designed alternative that enables contextualised, pedagogically grounded experimentation. As AI reshapes learning and teaching, educators will need hands-on opportunities to explore how these technologies can enhance pedagogy in their own subjects and disciplines.

What Cogniti Champions and Conversations Project delivers

30–36 trained Cogniti Champions
At least one Cogniti agent deployed by each Champion
A university-wide Cogniti Conversations series
A shared repository of case studies and exemplars

How it works

Cogniti Champions will receive structured training delivered by Professor Danny Liu and supported by UoW Educational Excellence. Throughout the year, they will receive ongoing pedagogical and technical support as they design, test, and refine Cogniti agents in authentic teaching environments. Their work will be shared through communities of practice and Cogniti Conversations, fostering institution-wide engagement.

Strategic outcome

Cogniti Champions and Conversations will build a confident, connected educator community leading responsible, discipline-aligned AI adoption. The project will translate innovation into everyday teaching practice at scale.

Project timeline

Mar

EOI's Open for Cogniti Champion Network

Apr-May

Cogniti Champion Agent Design commences

Jun-Oct

Cogniti Conversation Series with UOW staff

Nov

Showcase at renAIssance Week

Dec

Cogniti Platform & Agent Model Evaluation informing UOW AI-Enabled Education Blueprint

Get involved

Introducing Monthly Lunchtime AI Conversations

The renAIssance program is launching Lunchtime AI Conversations, a monthly, informal session open to everyone at UOW. Each session opens with a short, practical talk from a colleague about how they are working with AI in their teaching or research, followed by open discussion.

Bring any question, concern, or topic you want to raise, whether it sits in learning, research, or admin. No prior experience with AI is assumed. Sessions run online for about 50 minutes. They are meant as a relaxed, low-pressure space to hear what colleagues are trying, ask what is on your mind, and think together about what AI means for the way we work.

Session 1

[Completed] 'From Curiosity to Confidence | My Journey Teaching in an AI-Enabled Future' with Clare Roden (ASB)
Wednesday, 26 August 2026, 12 - 1 pm

Session 2

Thinking with AI: Learning, Reasoning and Judgement with Sarah Digan (ASB)
Monday, 21 September 2026, 12-1pm

Join Dr Sarah Digan from the School of Education for an informal lunchtime conversation exploring how learners engage with generative AI when working with information, data and evidence.
Drawing on her work with pre-service teachers, Sarah will share emerging insights into how students use AI as they work through complex problems, make sense of evidence and develop their own ideas. The discussion will consider both the opportunities and the tensions: when does AI support thinking and learning, and when might it begin to do too much of the thinking for us?

The session will then open into a broader conversation about what this means for teaching and learning. How can we encourage learners to question, evaluate and reason with AI-generated information? And what kinds of judgement and critical thinking become increasingly important as AI becomes part of everyday learning?

Bring your lunch, your curiosity, and your questions! No prior AI experience is required.

resistAInce media series

Each episode, hosted by Associate Professor Christopher Moore, brings guests into conversation to develop ideas, follow connections across disciplines and contexts, and situate AI within the longer histories of teaching, learning, and research at the University of Wollongong.