Paving the Way for Novices: How to Teach AI for K-12 Education in China

Authors

  • Jiachen Song Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University
  • Linan Zhang Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University
  • Jinglei Yu Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University
  • Yan Peng Shenzhen Honggui Primary School
  • Anyao Ma Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University
  • Yu Lu Advanced Innovation Center for Future Education, Beijing Normal University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v36i11.21565

Keywords:

K-12 Education, Artificial Intelligence, Curriculum Design

Abstract

In response to the trend that artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming the main driver for social and economic development, enhancing the readiness of learners in AI is significant and important. The state council and the ministry of education of China put AI education for K-12 schools on a high priority in order to foster local AI talents and reduce educational disparities. However, the AI knowledge and technical skills are still limited for not only students but also the school teachers. Furthermore, many local schools in China, especially in the rural areas, are lack of the necessary software and hardware for teaching AI. Hence, we designed and implemented a structured series of AI courses, built on an online block-based visual programming platform. The AI courses are free and easily accessible for all. We have conducted the experimental classes in a local school and collected the results. The results show that the learners in general gained significant learning progress on AI knowledge comprehension, aroused strong interests in AI, and increased the degree of satisfaction towards the course. Especially, our practices significantly increased computational thinking of the students who were initially staying at a lower level.

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Published

2022-06-28

How to Cite

Song, J., Zhang, L., Yu, J., Peng, Y., Ma, A., & Lu, Y. (2022). Paving the Way for Novices: How to Teach AI for K-12 Education in China. Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 36(11), 12852-12857. https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v36i11.21565