Patricia A. Young Ph.D.
Professor | Culture-Based AI & Learning
University of Maryland
Baltimore County
Biography
Dr. Patricia A. Young is a scholar, administrator, and innovator whose research trajectory examines artificial intelligence, culture-based design, human learning and educational technology. Her work investigates how AI can serve diverse learners equitably developing frameworks that minimize algorithmic bias and ensure intelligent systems recognize diverse cultural approaches to learning.
Dr. Young is the 2023 recipient of Indiana University Bloomington's School of Education Dean's Medallion, a lifetime achievement award honoring distinguished contributions to the betterment of society through education. She has served as a public intellectual on AI, publishing in The Conversation: "Should AI be permitted in college classrooms? 4 scholars weigh in" (2023) and "The future of college will involve fewer professors" (2021). Currently, she works as a fellow with Handshake training AI tutors.
Dr. Young developed the Culture Based Model, a comprehensive framework for building culture-based information and communication technologies, documented in her book Instructional Design Frameworks & Intercultural Models (2009) and recognized in the field's seminal text Survey of Instructional Design Models (Dousay & Branch, 2022). In 2011, she applied this framework to AI in the article "The Significance of the Culture Based Model in Designing Culturally-Aware Tutoring Systems" (Artificial Intelligence & Society) demonstrating how systematic cultural frameworks minimize designer bias in intelligent systems.
Her latest book Human Specialization in Design & Technology: The Current Wave for Learning, Culture, Industry and Beyond (2021) tracks the global shift toward specialized designs serving specific human needs, with Chapter 5 examining AI's evolution toward human-centered specialization. This book won the 2021 Outstanding Publication Award from the Association for Educational Communications & Technology.
Dr. Young's seminal article "Integrating Culture in the Design of ICTs" (British Journal of Educational Technology, 2008) won the Outstanding Journal Article Award from the Design & Development Division of the Association for Educational Communications & Technology. She built Proticy, a cloud-based learning analytics platform, and is the first woman and African American to serve as editor of the internationally ranked journal Educational Technology Research and Development, a role she held for ten years.
An experienced administrator, Dr. Young served as Department Chair at UMBC where she managed a multimillion-dollar budget and large personnel team, implemented collaborative governance reforms, and led strategic recruitment initiatives. As Program Director of Elementary Education, she directed curriculum development, managed accreditation processes, and advised graduate and undergraduate students. She has chaired numerous faculty search committees, mentored tenure-line faculty through promotion and tenure, and served on college and university-level committees addressing strategic planning, curriculum, and faculty affairs. Her leadership approach emphasizes systematic process improvement, transparent communication, and building collaborative scholarly communities.
Her career spans Howard University, California State University Fullerton, Henan University in China, and multiple community colleges. She holds a Ph.D. in Education with a focus in Language, Literacy and Culture from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Young continues to forge new trails in AI, educational technology, and serving humanity.
Published 2021
Human Specialization in Design and Technology:
The Current Wave for Learning, Culture, Industry and Beyond
Abstract
We are living in an age that without the human ingenuity to innovate we will cease to exist. Human Specialization exemplifies the natural, but inevitable, evolution to innovate specifically for human needs and conditions. This cultural phenomenon is being enacted across business, manufacturing, science, technology and education industries through trends such as standardization, customization, personalization and specialization. This text grounds its development in the field of Educational Technology to disclose the intricacies of human innovation or lack thereof. Section 1 explores the what and how of human innovation looking broadly across industries, the history of personalization, and COVID-19. Section 2 provides narratives on the current state of Educational Technology and forecasts future outcomes. Some of the topics include: The future professor, public schools, equity & access, XR Technologies, artificial intelligence and more. The book concludes with solutions and a path forward through human specialization.