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AI-supported course design for language proficiency development: Introducing the PPTTT framework
(Iowa State University Digital Press, 2026-06-17) Elbarbary, Ayman; Lima, Edna
Artificial intelligence (AI) offers significant potential for enhancing language instruction by personalizing learning experiences (Srinivasa et al., 2022) based on learner characteristics such as proficiency level and learning style (Ma, 2023), facilitating human-like interactions (Alawida et al., 2023; Klimova et al., 2024), demonstrating contextual understanding (Bansal et al., 2024), and creating opportunities for learners to engage with the target language in meaningful, real-world contexts. AI can also help increase engagement and motivation (Fuchs, 2023) and target the development of specific skills, including pronunciation and speaking. However, much of the existing work on AI in language education emphasizes individual tools or activities, with comparatively limited guidance on how AI can be systematically integrated into language course design. This paper addresses this gap by introducing the Planning, Preparing, Testing, Tailoring, and Treasuring (PPTTT) framework, a five-step AI-supported course design model developed for teaching Arabic as a foreign language. Building on established instructional design models such as ADDIE and the Holistic 4D Model, PPTTT positions AI as a co-designer throughout the planning, development, and refinement of language courses. The framework emphasizes learner profiling, proficiency-based outcomes, and the integration of communicative, culturally grounded tasks, with particular attention to pronunciation, fluency, and interaction. To illustrate the framework’s pedagogical potential, the paper presents a set of AI-mediated listening and speaking activities aligned with PPTTT stages. Although the framework is illustrated through Arabic, the pedagogical principles and AI applications are adaptable to a wide range of languages and instructional contexts.
Nuclear Roulette: Atoms for Peace at the Time of War
(Indiana University William T. Patten Foundation, 1/22/2026) Plokhii, Serhii
On February 24, 2022, the first day of Russia’s all-out attack on Ukraine, armored vehicles approached the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. Russian occupation of the plant, which would last thirty-five days, had begun. Only the dedication and resolve of Ukrainian personnel, who were held hostage and worked shifts for weeks instead of days, spared the world a new Chernobyl accident. Meanwhile, a much more dangerous situation developed at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, the largest such facility in Europe. Following an attack there in March 2022, the Russian military remains in control. In this lecture Serhii Plokhii discusses the challenges that the Russian takeover of the nuclear sites present to the world. We must face up to a new reality: there has already been warfare at two nuclear sites, and others are vulnerable. The lecture is based on Plokhii’s books, Chernobyl Roulette (2024) and The Nuclear Age: An Epic Race for Arms, Power and Survival (2025).
Quorum Sensing Across Domains: From Viruses to Bacteria to Eukaryotes
(Indiana University William T. Patten Foundation, 3/31/2026) Bassler, Bonnie
Bacteria communicate with one another via the production and detection of secreted signal molecules called autoinducers. This process, called “Quorum Sensing”, allows bacteria to synchronize behavior on a population-wide scale. Behaviors controlled by quorum sensing are unproductive when undertaken by an individual bacterium acting alone but become effective when undertaken in unison by the group. For example, quorum sensing controls virulence factor production and biofilm formation. Eukaryotes harboring quorum-sensing bacteria participate in these chemical conversations by providing the substrates bacteria need to make autoinducers. Quorum-sensing autoinducer information can be hijacked by viruses that infect and kill bacteria. Thus, interactions across the eukaryotic, bacterial, and viral domains all rely on quorum sensing. Quorum-sensing disruption strategies are being developed into new anti-microbials and phage therapies.
The Russo-Ukranian War through the Eyes of a Historian
(Indiana University William T. Patten Foundation, 1/20/2026) Plokhii, Serhii
Russia’s attack on Ukraine and the start of the largest European conflict since the end of World War II came as a shock to the world at large. Ukrainians have resisted a superior military; the West has united, while Russia has managed to overcome international isolation and continues the war that undermines the foundations of international order. Why did Putin start the war―and why has it unfolded in previously unimaginable ways, including the occupation of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant? The lecture will provide answers to these and other related questions by tracing the origins of the newest European war and explaining the reasons for the return of the Cold War to the very same part of the world where it ended thirty years earlier. The presentation will be based on Plokhii’s book, The Russo-Ukrainian-War: A Return of History (2023).
Tiny Conspiracies: How Bacteria Talk to Each Other
(Indiana University William T. Patten Foundation, 3/30/2026) Bassler, Bonnie
Bacteria are tiny ancient organisms. Harmful bacteria have the capacity to kill humans, animals, and plants, while beneficial bacteria play vital roles in keeping humans, animals, and plants alive. How do bacteria do it? They are so small yet they carry out such big jobs. The answer is that bacteria work in groups: They communicate, count their numbers, and act as collectives. This process is called “Quorum Sensing” and it allows bacteria to synchronize behavior on a population-wide scale. Bacterial behaviors controlled by quorum sensing are ones that are unproductive when undertaken by an individual bacterium acting alone but become effective when undertaken in unison by the group. For example, quorum sensing controls virulence, biofilm formation, and the exchange of DNA. Current biomedical research is focused on development of therapies to interfere with quorum sensing. Such therapies could be used to combat bacterial pathogenicity.

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