4775 Views (as of 05/2023)
  1. J. Adam Scribner
  2. https://education.indiana.edu/about/directory/profiles/scribner-j-adam.html
  3. Director of STEM Education Initiatives
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. Indiana University
  1. Krista Glazewski
  2. Professor and Department Chair
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. Indiana University
  1. Cindy Hmelo-Silver
  2. Barbara B. Jacobs Chair and Distinguished Professor
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. Indiana University
  1. Anne Leftwich
  2. http://@anneleftwich
  3. Associate Professor
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. Indiana University
  1. James Lester
  2. http://www.cei.ncsu.edu/people/lester/
  3. Distinguished University Professor
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. North Carolina State University
  1. Bradford Mott
  2. Sr. Research Scientist
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. North Carolina State University

PrimaryAI: Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Upper Elementary Science ...

NSF Awards: 1934128, 1934153

2021 (see original presentation & discussion)

Grades K-6

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a technology that is profoundly reshaping our society and enabling rapid improvements in STEM industries. This has generated an increased demand for fostering an AI-literate populace as well as a growing recognition of the importance of promoting K-12 students’ awareness of, and interest in, AI. Although efforts are beginning to incorporate AI learning within K-12 education, there are very few programs exploring how to introduce young learners to AI. PrimaryAI examines how to teach students in 3rd - 5th grade about AI and how to support teachers to integrate AI learning experiences in their classrooms. Our team of faculty researchers, practitioners, and game designers have developed game-based AI lessons that utilize immersive problem-based learning. The lessons were co-designed by elementary teachers to ensure that the project addresses student needs and aligns with state and national science and computer science standards.

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Discussion from the 2021 STEM For All Video Showcase (19 posts)
  • Icon for: J. Adam Scribner

    J. Adam Scribner

    Lead Presenter
    Director of STEM Education Initiatives
    May 10, 2021 | 03:51 p.m.

    Thank you very much for visiting our video, PrimaryAI. We are currently in year two of our three-year project and have just started classroom implementations with the initial iteration of our game-based and problem-based program. In PrimaryAI, elementary students learn about and apply artificial intelligence (AI) to help an endangered species, the Yellow-Eyed Penguin. Throughout the project, students learn about life science concepts such as habitats and environmental change, and AI concepts including AI planning, machine learning, computer vision, and AI ethics. Please feel free to comment on any aspect of our project.  

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    Bernard Yett
    Minji Jeon
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor
    May 11, 2021 | 09:58 a.m.

    What ethical situations around AI do you think are important for elementary students to know and think about? We would love your suggestions!

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    Minji Jeon
  • Icon for: Andres Colubri

    Andres Colubri

    Facilitator
    Assistant Professor
    May 11, 2021 | 11:53 a.m.

    Hi, first of all, I checked the website after watching the video, it looks you are creating an amazing platform! The 3D environments look really engaging, what are you using to create it?

    In relation to Anne's question, I think that AI brings some very pressing questions about accountability. If we let AI systems to
    "make decisions" for us, then who's responsible when something goes wrong? Also, it is very important in my view that we don't take predictions from such systems as final truths, since these are models that have many methodological and data limitations. Being able to open the "black box" of a ML/AI algorithm is really important, and particularly in the context of your project, where you are aiming to teach students about life sciences through AI agents, to allow students how these "decisions" are made by the algorithm, ultimately driven by data and also by the choices made by the people who designed the systems.

     

     
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    Minji Jeon
    J. Adam Scribner
    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor
    May 11, 2021 | 02:35 p.m.

    These are such great points! As for the system, I'm going to let @JamesLester and @BradfordMott answer that question. :)

    In terms of the AI part, this is one of the reasons we started with AI Planning - to show students that the BlackBox ultimately makes the actual plan, but that we can provide initial guidance with a planner. As we take on ML and Computer Vision, this will give us more opportunities to engage in discussions around how the decisions are made by algorithms and data and how that impacts our daily lives!

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    Minji Jeon
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor
    May 17, 2021 | 02:00 p.m.

    Hi Andres! I found out we are using the Unity cross-platform game engine to design the platform. Thanks again for your interest!

  • Icon for: Michael Chang

    Michael Chang

    Facilitator
    Postdoctoral Research
    May 11, 2021 | 12:14 p.m.

    I love the combination of learning AI with an ecological example! Similarly to Anne, I would love to hear more about how the curriculum you are developing merges learning about AI concepts with AI ethics. How does it factor into the scenarios involving saving the penguin species? Also, after using this platform, are students able to identify what parts of these scenarios can be directly attributed to AI concepts, and then bring those concerns into their everyday lived experiences with both technology and AI?

     
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    Minji Jeon
    J. Adam Scribner
    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor
    May 11, 2021 | 02:25 p.m.

    Thanks for this amazing question Michael! 

    The curriculum will have 4 quests. In our first Quest, we focus on AI planning. This allows us to delve into ideas about what AI is, and how initial states, goals states, and possible actions can be combined together to make possible plans. Students make a plan to take pictures and start collecting data on the yellow-eyed penguins. In the following quests, we plan on focusing on Machine Learning (Quest #2), Computer Vision (Quest #3), [we are still debating which one of those previous ideas will come first] and finally an AI ethical decision (Quest #4). Throughout each quest, we provide unplugged CS and Life Science activities before they take part in the online game Quest. 

    Throughout the process, students will participate in a science journal that will capture their ideas and hopefully guide them to making an ethical decision using AI!

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    Satabdi Basu
    Minji Jeon
  • Icon for: Shad Wachter

    Shad Wachter

    K-12 Teacher
    May 12, 2021 | 08:54 a.m.

    Thank you for your presentation.  As a technology literacy teacher for grades 3-5, this is right up my alley.  As many other schools did this year, we struggled with providing opportunities to our hybrid and cyber students in STEAM classes, so we relied on many online platforms for delivering hands on and exploratory activities (using BlocksCAD to teach 3D modeling, CoderZ to teach robotics, etc.).  AI is an emerging area that I think we will begin to explore next year.  Will your program be available to the public?  Are you looking for partners to help pilot and test your program?  How long does a typical Quest take?  I would love to connect you with our STEAM teachers! 

     
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    J. Adam Scribner
    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor
    May 12, 2021 | 10:25 a.m.

    Hi Shad! So glad that this could be beneficial for you and your students!

    Our program will definitely be available to the public by the end of next year. We are always looking for teachers to work with and partner with! My email is aleftwic@indiana.edu - and we can connect via email to provide you and your teachers with the additional materials and talk about testing it out. The lessons are designed to take approximately 45 minutes and there are 3-4 unplugged lessons and one simulation lesson in each QUEST.

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor
    May 12, 2021 | 10:19 a.m.

    For those interested, you can view the first unplugged lesson plan and slides here. 

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Brian Drayton

    Brian Drayton

    Co-Director
    May 12, 2021 | 03:00 p.m.

    I can see this is generating a lot of interest.  I have to say, I am wondering why this is so relevant for kids who may not have yet learned about actual organisms, about actual bodies, ethics in their own live,  and many things about their own communities.   Can you comment?

     

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    J. Adam Scribner
  • Icon for: J. Adam Scribner

    J. Adam Scribner

    Lead Presenter
    Director of STEM Education Initiatives
    May 12, 2021 | 04:08 p.m.

    Brian, thank you for your question and for viewing our video. Upper elementary students build their understanding of life science concepts through their experiences and observations of living things (and, in this case, simulations of living things). Our problem-based project tasks students to learn about the yellow-eyed penguin, what is causing their population to decline, and how humans can help. The project begins by surfacing student thinking about penguins and addressing misconceptions. For example, many students have the misconception that some organisms (like the endangered yellow-eyed penguin) can simply adapt - in intentional ways - to a changed environment. Ultimately, we are designing our project to both address misconceptions and build a foundational understanding of how humans and technology are impacting our world. 

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor
    May 12, 2021 | 05:21 p.m.

    I also think that AI and CS are impacting everything around us, including science, our communities and ethics. Furthermore, based on the elementary teachers we are currently working with, they volunteered to participate in the project because they (1) suggested that AI is pervasive in their students lives and they want to prepare them for it, as well as (2) the topics engage students more in these ideas around life science. This is based on the interviews we did with the teachers. Also, based on these interviews, teachers also mentioned that AI ethics gives them a space where they feel comfortable (negotiating conversations around ethical implementations and uses of AI). We have been impressed by how adept the students have been at engaging in ethical conversations thus far.

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Lance Bush

    Lance Bush

    President & CEO
    May 12, 2021 | 04:06 p.m.

    Great work in translating a topic that is typically thought of as difficult to grasp.  It is important and I like your model.  How well are you seeing teacher adoption of this type of learning and the topic?  

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    J. Adam Scribner
  • Icon for: J. Adam Scribner

    J. Adam Scribner

    Lead Presenter
    Director of STEM Education Initiatives
    May 12, 2021 | 04:39 p.m.

    Thank you for your question, Lance. We are still in the middle stages of development and the early stages of implementation. So far, we have only implemented PrimaryAI in our co-design teachers' classrooms, who have been with us from the start. We have been very pleased, however, with the results. We are hopeful that, by the time we start facilitating teacher professional development programs, we will have both a comprehensive curriculum and an effective professional development model that will aid teacher adoption and application. I can also tell you that we have had great interest in our program from elementary teachers - which tells us that they see the importance of teaching AI to their students. So we are excited going forward.   

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Krista Glazewski

    Krista Glazewski

    Co-Presenter
    Professor and Department Chair
    May 12, 2021 | 04:42 p.m.

    In order to develop in ways that are relevant for a wide range of contexts and prepare for wider scale, we have leveraged 2 distinct approaches: (1) co-design with teachers and (2) opportunity for teachers to locally adapt the lesson plans. Right now, we are working with 3 teachers intentionally selected to represent 3 different school contexts: rural, small city / suburban, and urban. The teachers have provided input and ideas at every step along the way. They have also offered guidance regarding lesson plans and unplugged activities. Furthermore, there is a lot that can be swapped out in the unplugged activities, such as different examples for introducing ideas. For example, because we are talking the role of invasive species in conservation, there are numerous ways teachers can bring in local relevance of invasive species. In some communities, an invasive species might be plants, but in other communities (e.g. Bloomington, IN), some consider our local deer population invasive. 

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Liz Lehman

    Liz Lehman

    Researcher
    May 13, 2021 | 02:21 p.m.

    Very interesting project! I love that you're tackling these topics with elementary kids!

    In our work with elementary teachers, they can sometimes be hesitant to teach topics that they don't feel they have enough knowledge on. I'm wondering how you and your co-design teachers have approached this, so that any teacher might feel comfortable teaching your curriculum?

     
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    J. Adam Scribner
    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Co-Presenter
    Associate Professor
    May 13, 2021 | 02:48 p.m.

    Brilliant point Liz! Our current elementary teachers are definitely helping us with this. As AI is a new area for any teacher, we are approaching it with heavily scaffolded Slide decks (with comments in the notes sections to help guide them), video modeled curriculum of one of our teachers teaching the material live to 4th grade students, and within the detailed lesson plans, there are also additional videos they can watch to prepare themselves on the AI content. 

  • Icon for: Deborah Seehorn

    Deborah Seehorn

    NC ECEP State Lead
    May 18, 2021 | 11:06 a.m.

    I love this project!  I will be interested to see how the project develops, especially student and teacher reactions and perspectives.

     
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    J. Adam Scribner
  • Further posting is closed as the event has ended.