Collaborative Research: Integrating AI Learning into Middle School Science through Natural Language Processing

这个项目回应了人们越来越多的认识，即所有年龄段的学习者都应该有机会接触和学习人工智能(AI)。在人工智能的众多子领域中，自然语言处理(NLP)是增长最快的领域之一。NLP专注于如何自动理解口语或文本数据，每天都有数十亿次这样的文本或语音交流被记录在网上。在历史上，使用NLP需要广泛的编码专业知识和对机器学习的深刻理解，但最近的进展和项目组的工作为将真实的、情景的NLP学习带入中学课堂奠定了基础。该项目突出了如何将伦理和伦理推理应用于相关的当地问题来教授NLP，并将调查如何通过基于问题的学习将人工智能通过NLP整合到关于天气系统和周期的中学科学中。研究小组将与教师进行参与式共同设计，并将为12名教师和1000多名学生提供潜在的变革性体验，利用佛罗里达州和印第安纳州多学区、两州努力中的现有合作伙伴关系，在拥有约50%非裔美国学生和大多数学生有资格享受免费午餐或减价午餐的不同学校。该项目由学生和教师创新技术体验计划(ITEST)资助，该计划支持建立对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解的项目，这些项目有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)和信息和通信技术(ICT)职业的知识和兴趣。研究人员将调查如何调整教师专业发展和参与式共同设计，以支持教师的能力和准备意识，将真实的、基于问题的NLP经验带入科学课堂。对于学生来说，该项目的假设是，这些创新的经历将培养学生对STEM职业的能力和态度。该项目以下列研究问题为指导。(1)(A)参与式合作设计的哪些方面有助于支持科学教师发展人工智能教育和NLP能力？(B)现有的专业发展战略可以以哪些方式支持人工智能综合科学学习？(C)在整个过程中出现了哪些新的战略？(2)(A)通过与教师的参与式共同设计，出现了哪些类型的人工智能集成科学学习活动？(B)需要哪些具体的适应来确保活动对学生个人、当地和文化相关？(3)综合NLP和科学如何支持学习者的能力(NLP和科学方面的知识和技能)和伦理推理？以及(4)综合NLP和科学如何支持学生建立高质量的参与和培养对STEM职业的积极态度(兴趣、身份和坚持的意图)？该项目将使用混合方法设计来调查这些问题：来自教师和学生的定性数据将包括叙事描述、对教学实践的观察，以及对教师关于他们为教授人工智能综合科学所做的准备和自我效能的采访；定量数据将包括对教师和学生进行的人工智能综合科学的知识和技能评估。该项目的成果将包括(1)上述研究问题的实证结果和(2)整合到NGSS标准一致的中学科学中的创新NLP课程。该课程将是该项目三年来通过与教师共同设计而反复完善的结果。该课程、配套材料和学习环境将公开并免费提供。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project responds to the growing recognition that learners of all ages should have the opportunity to engage with and learn about artificial intelligence (AI). Of AI's many subfields, natural language processing (NLP) is one of the fastest growing. NLP focuses on how to automatically understand spoken or textual data, and billions of these textual or spoken exchanges are recorded online every day. Historically, using NLP required extensive coding expertise and a deep understanding of machine learning, but recent advances and work by the project team have laid the foundation for bringing authentic, situated NLP learning into middle school classrooms. The project foregrounds how to teach NLP with ethics and ethical reasoning applied to relevant local issues and will investigate how to integrate AI learning through NLP into middle school science on weather systems and cycles through problem-based learning. The research team will carry out participatory co-design with teachers and will provide potentially transformative experiences to twelve teachers and over one thousand students, leveraging existing partnerships within a multi-district, two-state effort in Florida, and Indiana in diverse schools with approximately 50% African-American students and the majority of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. This project is funded by the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students' knowledge and interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technology (ICT) careers.Researchers will investigate the ways in which teacher professional development and participatory co-design can be tailored to support teachers' competencies and sense of preparedness to bring authentic, problem-based NLP experiences into science classrooms. For students, the project’s hypothesis is that these innovative experiences will foster competencies and attitudes toward STEM careers. The project is guided by the following research questions. (1) (a) What aspects of participatory co-design are helpful for supporting science teachers' development of AI education and NLP proficiencies? (b) In what ways can existing professional development strategies support AI-integrated science learning? (c) What new strategies emerge throughout the process? (2) (a) What kinds of AI-integrated science learning activities emerge from participatory co-design with teachers? (b) What specific adaptations are necessary to ensure activities are personally, locally, and culturally relevant for students? (3) How does integrated NLP and science support learner competencies (knowledge and skills in NLP and science) and ethical reasoning?; and (4) How does integrated NLP and science support students in establishing high quality engagement and fostering positive attitudes toward STEM careers (interest, identity, and intention to persist)? The project will investigate these questions using a mixed-methods design: qualitative data from teachers and students will include narrative accounts, observations of teaching practices, and interviews with teachers about their preparedness and self-efficacy for teaching AI-integrated science; quantitative data will include knowledge and skills assessments for AI-integrated science administered to both teachers and students. The project's deliverables will include (1) empirical findings from the above research questions and (2) an innovative NLP curriculum integrated into NGSS standards-aligned middle school science. The curriculum will be the outcome of iterative refinement over three years of the project through co-design with teachers. This curriculum, accompanying materials, and learning environment will be made publicly and freely available.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.