AI breaking new ground in the faculty's pedagogical development

As Uppsala University's allocates the 2025 Project Funding for Pedagogical Development, three grants are awarded to initiatives at the Faculty of Pharmacy. Among them is AI apps and avatars to aid better conversations with patients, aiming to strengthen pharmacy students' opportunities to practice and receive individualized feedback on patient communication.

“In collaboration with groups in Australia and the Netherlands, we will use AI to develop simulated patients and customers able to act as a sounding board for students' communication training and provide immediate feedback on the outcome. The project has begun and our ambition is to test a more systematic version already in 2026,” says Karin Svensberg, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Pharmacy.

In the project AI as a study partner: a chatbot supporting personalised learning and data-driven teaching, Jonas Rydfjord, Lecturer at the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, will develop a constantly available sounding board for students. The new chatbot, linked to a knowledge bank in general and organic chemistry, will allow students to ask unlimited questions regarding everything from Bohr's atomic model to reaction mechanisms. The chatbot then reacts like a teacher – or "annoying parent" – that instead of simply generating answers promotes a healthy learning process. In parallel, anonymous data is aggregated at the group level, providing formative feedback to course leaders and teachers.

“When answers come within seconds, students have the opportunity to try half-finished ideas that they otherwise would keep to themselves. It will give us a unique glimpse into their thinking process and allow us to confront misunderstandings before they are cemented. I believe that this type of adaptive guidance can elevate the entire learning process,” says Jonas Rydfjord, who together with his team, plans to launch a pilot in spring 2026.

In the project Using AI in Systematic Reviews, Maria Melinder, Director of Studies in Pharmacoepidemiology, will test if and how generative AI can be utilized to support students' work with systematic literature reviews, a mandatory component in the Master of Science Programme in Pharmacy's 5th semester.

“Staying updated with science can be quite a challenge, but today AI supports the sum up and overview of new literature. This requires the ability to formulate prompts that lead AI to generate qualitative material, as well as the competence to critically review both studies and AI-generated information. We will now map available tools and develop course components that we hope to implement in teaching in spring 2026,” says Maria Melinder at the Department of Pharmacy.

In total, Uppsala University allocates SEK 2 million to stimulate and support pedagogical development and innovation. The recipients are expected to disseminate results and experiences from their work at the Uppsala University's Learning and Teaching Conference and other relevant conferences and/or publications in suitable journals.

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: Mikael Wallerstedt a o