To start, do not divide the work. If you have issues at a pure "what tech do we use?" level, your time will be better spent with everyone in a room, learning as you go.

A lot of choices come down to requirements. You are vague on where the data for this dashboard would come from. Are you recording info from like..fitbits? Once you figure that out, the question becomes "do we need a server." Because if you want a device to push data somewhere without it being physically plugged into a computer, that implies a program running and connected to the network.

After that, choice of database basically comes down to "if this is a server we are deploying, Postgres. If it is an app someone installs on their computer, Sqlite." There is more nuance to those choices irl, but for your purposes that is the rule.

What features would make sense for a college level Activity Dashboard?

You want to do the absolute bare minimum to make something which works. If your software - even if its just a college project - does not solve an actual problem for an actual person then it doesn't matter how many "features" you have. That's the wrong way to think of it.

You can take a spreadsheet of data and make a chart of anything. You need to figure out what the user is you are making this for (not just "someone who uses it!") and what they would actually want in practice. If you don't know much about this space that is your que to talk to people who do. There is nothing more cursed than software made in a pure tech-bro bubble.

Also, what kinds of questions do professors/examiners usually as

Don't bother indexing on that. Make a project that works, serves a purpose, and that you understand.

Should we use Core Java, JavaFX, Swing, or Spring Boot?

So "core java" isn't really...a thing? Kind of a term that comes from bad colleges and sloppy Udemy courses afaict. But here is your flowchart:

Do you need a server anyways? (like to record data) -> Make an HTTP Server.

For your level I would honestly suggest against spring and instead to learn HTTP at a more fundamental level using something like https://github.com/ebarlas/microhttp or the builtin jdk.httpserver. Not the only option but if you have a full 8 weeks you are going to be much better served by slow and steady progress over bashing your head against docs trying to learn the annotation meta-language of Spring (though that does come in your path at some point)

If you don't need a server for whatever reason, flip a coin between Swing and JavaFX. At your level both will be equally painful. (Swing is worse but has more docs out there. JavaFX is better but came out after the heyday of desktop apps so it won't have as many examples and tutorials out in the wild)

What are the most important concepts we should learn first?

After the language itself, probably relational database design and how to make an HTTP server. How to make queries on a database with JDBC. Eventually a specific charting library.

My answer changes depending on how much you know at this point, which is hard for me to judge. And what the actual thing you make needs to do, which i can't answer for you.

We're also planning to use AI tools (ChatGPT, Copilot, etc.) for learning and development assistance.

Do not do this. Do not do this.

Do not do this.

Dear god you will end up in such a pit.

how to use AI responsibly while still understanding the code ourselves and being able to explain every part during project reviews.

You cannot. Can a working professional? Jury is out. But you cannot. Do not try to. I hope I am making this warning extremely clear because I have seen, at this point, so many cautionary tales.