This interactive professional development workshop empowers educators with the knowledge and tools to leverage Generative AI—such as ChatGPT and Gemini—for designing inclusive, equitable K–12 social studies curricula. Rooted in pluralistic pedagogy, the session explores how AI can assist in generating historically accurate, standards-aligned content that highlights the voices and contributions of Black, Asian American, Indigenous, Latinx, and other historically marginalized communities. Participants will gain a foundational understanding of how AI-assisted instruction works, including the rationale behind prompt engineering and effective strategies for designing prompts that yield high-quality, inclusive responses. The session also covers strategies to guard against potential biases in AI-generated content, as such biases can often be amplified by the internet-sourced training data used to develop these models. Through hands-on activities and collaborative discussions, educators will learn how to integrate AI thoughtfully into their lesson planning process—enhancing instructional design, supporting student engagement, and encouraging critical inquiry into U.S. history from multiple perspectives. By the end of the workshop, participants will walk away with concrete tools, sample prompts, and adaptable strategies for incorporating AI into the development of high-quality, pluralistic social studies lessons that reflect the richness and diversity of American experiences.

Presenters: Dr. Ying Lu & Dr. Kim Pinckney.