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As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes ubiquitous in children’s lives, it is crucial to introduce newand effective ways to teach the younger generation about AI. This study describes the experience of training undergraduate students as middle school AI summer camp facilitators. These undergraduates participated in a professional development session prior to camp for 9 days (54 hours), and then facilitated AI learning and camp activities within the two-week camp. Our findings indicate that the undergraduate facilitators benefited greatly from this experience, in turn providing benefits to the middle school learners. The undergraduates developed both professional and conceptual skills. By interacting with the facilitators as “near-peers”, the students learned about AI in a fun, engaging, and supportive way. These findings contribute to our understanding of how to effectively teach young learners about complex AI concepts.
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Impact of PDP on Training for Astronomical Instrumentation
The Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE) Professional Development Program (PDP) has led to the generation of several activities geared toward training in astronomical instrumentation. These include activities developed for the Center for Adaptive Optics summer school and the AstroTech Instrumentation Summer School. The goal of these activities has been to provide the participants with hands-on experience to convey challenging concepts in instrumentation. The inclusion of practices from PDP led to activities that prioritized inquiry-based approaches over the more traditional formulaic lab-based training and activities. Our panel will review the design of these activities and discuss approaches that increase the likelihood of achieving the learning goals. We will also discuss ways in which these activities can help encourage students with little previous experience in instrumentation to consider additional studies in instrumentation. Finally, we will reflect on the importance of facilitators for these activities and the role PDP plays in training facilitators.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1743117
- PAR ID:
- 10387817
- Editor(s):
- Seagroves, Scott; Barnes, Austin; Metevier, Anne; Porter, Jason; Hunter, Lisa
- Publisher / Repository:
- Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators (ISEE)
- Date Published:
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 333-340
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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This paper describes the development of a facilitator training program that prepares volunteers to offer interactive workshops to build professional skills. This effort to “train the trainers” is part of the CyberAmbassadors workforce development project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The overarching goal of the CyberAmbassadors project is to develop professional skills training that helps participants collaborate more effectively in interdisciplinary settings. The core curriculum for participants includes 20+ hours of materials and activities to build communications, teamwork, and leadership skills. The “train the trainers” project described here is a complementary effort to prepare STEM professionals to facilitate these CyberAmbassadors professional skills trainings for their own workplaces and communities. The facilitator training program was developed and tested with two cohorts, totaling more than 50 participants. Over the course of two days of in-person training, new facilitators had opportunities to experience the core curriculum as participants; to practice facilitation skills and lead group activities; to discuss practical and logistical aspects of offering training in their own communities; and to become familiar with the underlying pedagogy, learning goals, and modular structure of the professional skills curriculum. Surveys were used to collect feedback and evaluate participants’ satisfaction with the CyberAmbassadors professional skills curriculum; their self-assessment of facilitation and professional skills before and after the training; and feedback on the facilitator training experience. Responses from the first cohort of participants were used to refine the facilitator training program and it was offered to a second group of volunteers six months later. In the intervening time, several facilitators from the first cohort implemented CyberAmbassadors trainings at academic institutions, professional conferences, and industry workplaces. Participant surveys were used to provide feedback to the volunteer facilitators and to assist the project coordinators in identifying areas where additional training or support might be helpful. These lessons were used to improve the facilitator training program for the second cohort, and we recruited some of the original volunteers to help lead the second “train the trainers” experience. This approach both provides newer facilitators with additional experience and expands the number of individuals who can “train the trainers” and help to propagate the program for future participants. In addition to describing the experiences and results from this “train the trainers” effort, this paper details the information, planning tools, and supports that are incorporated throughout the CyberAmbassadors professional skills curriculum materials to assist facilitators in offering these trainings. Lessons learned from this project can be adapted to other professional education efforts, both in terms of preparing new instructors and in helping trained facilitators better understand and meet the needs of their audience.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Proceeding:
- https://doi.org/10.58021/S5K016
