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ActiveAI: The Effectiveness of an Interactive Tutoring System in Developing K-12 AI Literacy

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Technology Enhanced Learning for Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education (EC-TEL 2024)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 15159))

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Abstract

As we witness groundbreaking advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI), it is clear that the next generation must be equipped with AI literacy: the skill to interact, evaluate, and collaborate with AI systems. This study introduces ActiveAI, a scalable web-based tutoring system aligned with AI4K12’s five big ideas in AI, designed to foster AI literacy among K-12 students through active learning and interaction with intelligent agents. A controlled classroom study involving 171 middle school learners was conducted to assess the effectiveness of ActiveAI in fostering AI literacy skills and competency toward AI. Results showed that, compared to students in the tell-and-practice control condition, students who used ActiveAI exhibited higher post-test performance in the module about how next-word prediction and temperature work in large language models. Students also developed higher self-reported competence toward AI after using ActiveAI than in the control condition. We conclude by suggesting assessment designs that promote deeper engagement with AI concepts by addressing students’ common misconceptions, like “AI thinks just like humans”, in K-12 AI literacy education.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Ying-Jui Tseng, Gautam Yadav, Muzhe Wu, Yun-Shuo Chou, Claire Che Chen & Kenneth R. Koedinger

  2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Xinying Hou

  3. National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

    Chia-Chia Wu, Shi-Gang Chen, Yi-Jo Lin & Guanze Liao

Authors
  1. Ying-Jui Tseng
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  2. Gautam Yadav
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  3. Xinying Hou
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  6. Claire Che Chen
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  11. Kenneth R. Koedinger
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Correspondence to Ying-Jui Tseng .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Rafael Ferreira Mello

  2. Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Nikol Rummel

  3. FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen, Germany

    Ioana Jivet

  4. University for Continuing Education Krems, Krems an der Donau, Austria

    Gerti Pishtari

  5. University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain

    José A. Ruipérez Valiente

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Tseng, YJ. et al. (2024). ActiveAI: The Effectiveness of an Interactive Tutoring System in Developing K-12 AI Literacy. In: Ferreira Mello, R., Rummel, N., Jivet, I., Pishtari, G., Ruipérez Valiente, J.A. (eds) Technology Enhanced Learning for Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education. EC-TEL 2024. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 15159. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72315-5_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72315-5_31

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