Comparing 2 Years of Empowering Families to Solve Real-World Problems with AI.

Over the course of 2 years a global technology education nonprofit engaged ~ 20,000 under-resourced 3rd-8th grade students, parents and educators from 13 countries in a multi-week AI competition. Families worked together with the help of educators to identify meaningful problems in their communities and developed AI-prototypes to address them. Key findings included: (1) Identifying a high level of interest in underserved communities to develop and apply AI-literacy skills; (2) Determining curricular and program implementation elements that enable families to apply AI knowledge and skills to real problems; (3) Identifying effective methods of engaging industry mentors to support participants; (4) Measuring and identifying changes in self-efficacy and ability to apply AI-based tools to real-world problems; (5) Determining effective curricula around value-sensitive design and ethical innovation.

A Differentiated Discussion About AI Education K-12.

AI Education for K-12 and in particular AI literacy gained huge interest recently due to the significantly influence in daily life, society, and economy. In this paper we discuss this topic of early AI education along four dimensions: (1) formal versus informal education, (2) cooperation of researchers in AI and education, (3) the level of education, and (4) concepts and tools.

Strategies for Disseminating Information on Biomedical Research on Autism to Hispanic Parents.

Low income Hispanic families experience multiple barriers to accessing evidence-based information on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). This study utilized a mixed-strategy intervention to create access to information in published bio-medical research articles on ASD by distilling the content into parent-friendly English- and Spanish-language ASD Science Briefs and presenting them to participants using two socially-oriented dissemination methods. There was a main effect for short-term knowledge gains associated with the Science Briefs but no effect for the dissemination method. After 5 months, participants reported utilizing the information learned and 90% wanted to read more Science Briefs. These preliminary findings highlight the potential benefits of distilling biomedical research articles on ASD into parent-friendly educational products for currently underserved Hispanic parents.