Existing approaches to teaching artificial intelligence and machine
learning often focus on the use of pre-trained models or fine-tuning
an existing black-box architecture. We believe advanced ML topics,
such as optimization and adversarial examples, can be learned
by early high school age students given appropriate support. Our
approach focuses on enabling students to develop deep intuition
about these complex concepts by first making them accessible to
novices through interactive tools, pre-programmed games, and
carefully designed programming activities. Then, students are able
to engage with the concepts via meaningful, hands-on experiences
that span the entire ML process from data collection to model
optimization and inspection.
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Beyond black-boxes: teaching complex machine learning ideas through scaffolded interactive activities
Existing approaches to teaching artifcial intelligence and machine learning (ML) often focus on the use of pre-trained models or fne-tuning an existing black-box architecture. We
believe ML techniques and core ML topics, such as optimization and adversarial examples, can be designed for high school age students given appropriate support. Our curricular
approach focuses on teaching ML ideas by enabling students to develop deep intuition about these complex concepts by first making them accessible to novices through interactive
tools, pre-programmed games, and carefully designed programming activities. Then, students are able to engage with the concepts via meaningful, hands-on experiences that span the entire ML process from data collection to model optimization and inspection. This paper describes our AI & Cybersecurity for Teens suite of curricular activities aimed at high
school students and teachers.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2113803
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10463534
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Thirty-Seventh AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI-23)
- Volume:
- 37
- Issue:
- 13
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 15990-15998
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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