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Dec 19, 2024
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Hour of Code (HoC) activities primarily focus on perception and machine learning aspects of AI, with limited hands-on engagement and uneven coverage of the five big ideas of AI education.

Hour of Code (HoC) activities primarily focus on perception and machine learning aspects of AI, with limited hands-on engagement and uneven coverage of the five big ideas of AI education.

Objective: To examine how Hour of Code activities engage with the five big ideas of AI, particularly focusing on machine learning and societal impact.

Methods:

  • Content analysis of 47 AI-related HoC activities for middle and high school students
  • Collaborative coding by three researchers using the five big ideas framework
  • Analysis of instructional approaches (hands-on vs. telling)
  • Examination of how activities address machine learning concepts and societal impact

Key Findings:

  • Of 557 beginner activities, only 38 (6.82%) were labeled as AI-related
  • 83.33% of activities focused on perception, followed by learning (75%)
  • Limited coverage of natural interaction (41.67%), societal impact (41.67%), and representation/reasoning (13.89%)
  • Most activities relied on "telling" rather than hands-on exploration
  • Some activities labeled as AI-related did not actually engage with AI concepts
  • Only two activities integrated all five big ideas of AI

Implications:

  • Need for broader coverage of AI concepts beyond just perception and learning
  • Importance of developing more hands-on and collaborative activities
  • Need for clearer definition and labeling of AI-related activities
  • Opportunity to better integrate societal impact discussions with technical concepts

Limitations:

  • Analysis focused only on content rather than actual implementation
  • Study examined only publicly available activities
  • Limited to middle and high school activities
  • Small sample size of AI-related activities

Future Directions:

  • Develop more unplugged and collaborative AI activities
  • Create tools that make AI concepts more accessible to novices
  • Expand beyond data-centric approaches to include learning algorithms
  • Better integrate societal impact discussions into technical content
  • Design activities that address everyday algorithmic bias encounters

Title and Authors: "What Can Youth Learn About in One Hour? Examining How Hour of Code Activities Address the Five Big Ideas of Artificial Intelligence" by Luis Morales-Navarro, Yasmin B. Kafai, Eric Yang, Asep Suryana

Published On: December 16, 2024

Published By: arXiv

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