DrFiammetta Caccavale

I am a Postdoc Researcher working at the intersection of artificial intelligence and higher education. My research focuses on understanding how emerging AI technologies, particularly generative AI and large language models (LLMs), can be meaningfully and responsibly integrated into university teaching and learning.

I have a background spanning linguistics, cognitive science, data science, and engineering education. I hold a PhD from the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where I investigated the use of digital technologies, programming, and artificial intelligence in (bio)chemical engineering education.

Prior to my PhD, I completed an MSc in IT & Cognition at the University of Copenhagen and a BSc in Literature at the University of Padova. I also worked as a data scientist, an experience that continues to inform my applied and interdisciplinary approach to AI research.

My research has evolved from exploring how computational tools and AI can support engineering education to broader questions about the role of generative AI in higher education. I am particularly interested in how AI systems can support students and educators, how their educational value can be evaluated, and how their use affects learning, assessment, teaching practices, and the student–educator relationship.

My current research is supported by a Villum International Postdoc grant through the GAIned (Generative AI in Education) project. As part of this project, I investigate the pedagogical potential of generative AI and develop research methods and frameworks for understanding how these technologies can be incorporated into higher education. During the project, I am based at Imperial College London, in the Wellbeing Technologies Lab. I will return to DTU for the last years of the project.

Across my work, I combine perspectives from AI and machine learning with insights from linguistics, cognitive science, and educational research. I am particularly interested in moving beyond questions of what AI can do towards understanding when, why, and under what conditions AI can genuinely contribute to meaningful teaching and learning.