With the increasing prevalence of large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, there is a growing need to integrate natural language processing (NLP) into K-12 education to better prepare young learners for the future AI landscape. NLP, a sub-field of AI that serves as the foundation of LLMs and many advanced AI applications, holds the potential to enrich learning in core subjects in K-12 classrooms. In this experience report, we present our efforts to integrate NLP into science classrooms with 98 middle school students across two US states, aiming to increase students’ experience and engagement with NLP models through textual data analyses and visualizations. We designed learning activities, developed an NLP-based interactive visualization platform, and facilitated classroom learning in close collaboration with middle school science teachers. This experience report aims to contribute to the growing body of work on integrating NLP into K-12 education by providing insights and practical guidelines for practitioners, researchers, and curriculum designers.
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This content will become publicly available on February 25, 2025
An Effectiveness Study of Teacher-Led AI Literacy Curriculum in K-12 Classrooms.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly pervaded and reshaped almost all walks of life, but efforts to promote AI literacy in K-12 schools remain limited. There is a knowledge gap in how to prepare teachers to teach AI literacy in inclusive classrooms and how teacher-led classroom implementations can impact students. This paper reports a comparison study to investigate the effectiveness of an AI literacy curriculum when taught by classroom teachers. The experimental group included 89 middle school students who learned an AI literacy curriculum during regular school hours. The comparison group consisted of 69 students who did not learn the curriculum. Both groups completed the same pre and post-test. The results show that students in the experimental group developed a deeper understanding of AI concepts and more positive attitudes toward AI and its impact on future careers after the curriculum than those in the comparison group. This shows that the teacher-led classroom implementation successfully equipped students with a conceptual understanding of AI. Students achieved significant gains in recognizing how AI is relevant to their lives and felt empowered to thrive in the age of AI. Overall this study confirms the potential of preparing K-12 classroom teachers to offer AI education in classrooms in order to reach learners of diverse backgrounds and broaden participation in AI literacy education among young learners.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2048746
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10493258
- Publisher / Repository:
- Proceedings of the EAAI-24: The 14th Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence.
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the EAAI-24: The 14th Symposium on Educational Advances in Artificial Intelligence.
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Vancouver, Canada
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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