As generative AI increasingly automates the "final product," higher education faces a crisis of cognitive atrophy. When AI provides solutions instantly, it skips the "earned struggle" essential for long-term retention. This session introduces Somagraphic Learning™: a human-first visual cognitive framework designed to bridge the Clarity Gap between AI data volume and human sense-making capacity.

Moving beyond traditional "AI-first" workflows, this interactive presentation demonstrates how to reposition AI as a "Follower" rather than a "Leader". Participants will engage with the Shape-Emotion Grammar™, a pre-verbal language that uses perceptual cues like circles for safety, boxes for structure, and arrows for movement to anchor understanding before a single prompt is typed.

We will workshop a virtual "Attempt → Map → Refine" process, where learners externalize ideas through hand-drawn motion (on paper or digital whiteboards) before utilizing AI for optimization. By the end of this session, educators will possess a replicable strategy to protect the "Human Edge", ensure academic integrity through somatic principles, and foster a "soul-made" environment where technology supports, rather than replaces, the human mind.

View Devika's TEACHx session profile: https://sched.co/2LDn7
Video session stream: https://northwestern.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=8a16ee5f-87f0-49dc-acf7-b44901492f86

● Event: Conference (TEACHx 2026, Northwestern University)
● Mode: 45 min Online Interactive Presentation
● Audience: Instructors, students, learning designers, and technology specialists from higher education institutions interested in showcasing innovative experiments and collaborations in teaching and learning with technology.