Collaborative Research: RAPID: Integrating Culturally Relevant Project-based AI Learning into High School STEM Education

人工智能(AI)的指数级扩张对未来AI劳动力的发展产生了巨大的需求。阻碍将人工智能广泛纳入K-12课程的几个关键挑战，包括缺乏人工智能教师发展和K-12人工智能教育的全面教学框架。该项目旨在通过实施和审查具有文化相关性的基于项目的人工智能综合学习框架，让来自北达科他州和阿拉巴马州南部这两个地理区域的高中生参与人工智能的学习，这两个地区有大量人口来自历史上被边缘化的群体。该框架将人工智能学习与学生在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)课堂上的学习经验联系起来，培养他们跨学科解决问题的技能。为了培养学生对人工智能的个人兴趣，他们的学习是在个人经验的背景下进行的。这项建议是为了回应尊敬的同事信函(DCL)：在正式和非正式环境中迅速加速对K-12教育中人工智能的研究(NSF 23-097)，并由学生和教师创新技术体验(ITEST)计划资助，该计划支持一些项目，这些项目建立对实践、计划要素、背景和过程的理解，有助于提高学生对科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)以及信息和通信技术(ICT)职业的知识和兴趣。该项目包括两个部分：(1)高中教师培训，(2)教师课堂实施。17名教师将参加小组和个人动手练习、身临其境的工作坊、反思和讨论以及演讲。研究人员将进行混合方法设计研究，考察教师培训结果。在脚手架和研究人员的支持下，教师们将在北达科他州和阿拉巴马州南部的高中开发和教授AI-STEM生物学和微积分预科课程。多通道数据收集和分析将用于研究学生解决问题的技能、跨学科知识使用和课堂参与的感知、认知和动觉过程，以及这些过程如何影响学生的STEM和AI学习和兴趣发展。这项研究有很大的潜力帮助我们了解如何有效地支持历史上被边缘化的学生对人工智能的兴趣和学习。这一奖项反映了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。

The exponential expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) has created a significant demand on future AI workforce development. Several key challenges exist hindering the widespread incorporation of AI into K-12 curricula, including the lack of teacher development in AI and a comprehensive pedagogical framework for K-12 AI education. This project aims to engage high-school students from North Dakota and southern Alabama, two geographical areas with large populations from historically marginalized groups, in the learning of AI by implementing and examining a culturally relevant project-based AI-integrated learning framework. The framework connects AI learning with students' learning experiences in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classes, fostering the growth of their interdisciplinary problem-solving skills. To develop students' individual interest in AI, their learning is situated within the context of personal experiences. This proposal was received in response to the Dear Colleague Letter (DCL): Rapidly Accelerating Research on Artificial Intelligence in K-12 Education in Formal and Informal Settings (NSF 23-097) and 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.The project includes two components: (1) training of high-school teachers, and (2) teachers' classroom implementation. Seventeen teachers will participate in small group and individual hands-on practices, immersive workshops, reflection and discussion, and presentations. Researchers will carry out mixed-method design research examining teacher training outcome. With scaffolding and support from researchers, teachers will develop and teach AI-STEM integrated lessons in biology and pre-calculus at their own high schools in North Dakota and southern Alabama. Multimodal data collection and analysis will be used for researching the perceptual, cognitive, and kinesthetic processes about students' problem-solving skills, interdisciplinary knowledge use, and classroom participation, as well as how these processes affect students' STEM and AI learning and interest development. This research has significant potential to contribute to our knowledge on how to effectively support historically marginalized students' interest in and learning of AI.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.