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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Guide, Safety Net, Project Tester, and More: Investigating the Roles of Facilitators in an AI Summer Camp
Summer camps have become popular for introducing K-12 learners to computer science (CS) and artificial intelligence (AI) in informal learning environments. Facilitators play crucial roles in guiding and engaging learners in these contexts, but there is limited research on their roles in informal AI learning. This paper examines facilitators’ dialogues with campers in a middle school AI summer camp, identifying eight major facilitator roles. The roles differed depending on group dynamics and project phase. The paper provides empirical grounding to define facilitators’ roles in AI learning and guide the design of professional development for camp facilitators.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2048480
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10497836
- Publisher / Repository:
- International Society of the Learning Sciences
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 2013 to 2014
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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This study focuses on the informal learning methods that take place in an 8-day structured summer camp. The Appalachian GeoSTEMCamp infused outdoor adventure recreation with geology using an informal-formal learning methodology. The camp was designed to instruct middle school/high school students on earth and environmental sciences in a way that is challenging and interesting, promoting critical and creative thinking. The data adds to a growing body of literature suggesting informal education has an established place in STEM education.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2023.548176
