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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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Undergraduate Facilitators as Role Models for Middle School Learners within an AI Summer Camp
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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- Award ID(s):
- 2048480
- PAR ID:
- 10497843
- Publisher / Repository:
- ACM
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
- ISBN:
- 9798400704246
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1888 to 1888
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Portland OR USA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3626253.3635395
