RAPID: DRL AI: A Career-Driven AI Educational Program in Smart Manufacturing for Underserved High-school Students in the Alabama Black Belt Region

RAPID：DRL AI：针对阿拉巴马州黑带地区服务不足的高中生的智能制造领域职业驱动型人工智能教育计划

• 批准号: 2338987
• 负责人: Jia Liu
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: Auburn University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-12-01 至 2024-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2338987&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; DRL; AI; Career; Driven

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into advanced manufacturing has promising potential to revolutionize productivity and generate new jobs in smart manufacturing. There is an urgent need to investigate "what to teach" and "how to teach" AI in order to prepare future workforce with the necessary AI skills, as most K-12 educators and schools lack the knowledge and experience to teach students AI skills for smart manufacturing. This project will initiate an age-appropriate career-driven AI educational program for high-school students and evaluate its effectiveness. Education researchers will develop manufacturing specific AI learning modules to teach high school students about Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), the most accessible additive manufacturing (AM) process, that will be equipped with automatic real-time process monitoring, analysis and communication. Fifty rising high-school students from underserved school districts across the Black Belt region and rural low-income areas of Alabama, where 52.2% are African Americans and the median household annual income is $27,130, will be recruited to participate in a one-week summer camp. This AI in smart manufacturing education program will employ project-based learning to stimulate broader career interest among a diverse range of students. The 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 goal of the project is investigating age-appropriate equitable AI learning and inclusive teaching in the context of smart manufacturing. The research plan includes: (1) identify AI knowledge and skills required in smart manufacturing for high-school students; (2) experiment with project-based learning (PBL) pedagogy to prepare students to explore smart manufacturing and provide professional training in AI and smart manufacturing for teachers; (3) use a mixed method design with qualitative interview and worksheet data as well as quantitative pre-post knowledge assessment to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed AI educational intervention. In addition to the fifty underserved students, ten high-school teachers will be recruited to receive a three-day intensive professional training before the student summer camp and will facilitate the summer camp activities. These teachers will also develop a lesson plan for continuing the AI educational intervention at their respective schools. The resulting deliverables include the AI learning modules and the smart manufacturing centered PBL pedagogy. The experimental process in developing this AI intervention can be adapted for other AI educational efforts for underserved high schools. The insights gained on the effectiveness of the proposed AI educational intervention will provide valuable lessons for advancing age-appropriate, future career-oriented, and equitable AI education across different K-12 AI educational programs.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.

人工智能（AI）与先进制造业的融合具有彻底改变生产力并在智能制造领域创造新就业机会的巨大潜力。迫切需要研究“教什么”和“如何教”人工智能，以便为未来的劳动力提供必要的人工智能技能，因为大多数 K-12 教育工作者和学校缺乏教授学生人工智能技能的知识和经验。智能制造。该项目将为高中生启动一个适合年龄的职业驱动的人工智能教育计划，并评估其有效性。教育研究人员将开发制造特定的人工智能学习模块，向高中生教授熔丝制造 (FFF)，这是最容易理解的增材制造 (AM) 工艺，该工艺将配备自动实时工艺监控、分析和通信功能。来自黑带地区和阿拉巴马州农村低收入地区服务不足学区的 50 名即将升入高中的学生将被招募参加为期一周的暑期项目，其中 52.2% 是非裔美国人，家庭年收入中位数为 27,130 美元营。该人工智能智能制造教育项目将采用基于项目的学习来激发不同学生更广泛的职业兴趣。该提案是为了回应亲爱的同事信 (DCL)：“在正式和非正式环境中快速加速 K-12 教育中的人工智能研究 (NSF 23-097)”，并由学生和教师创新技术体验资助(ITEST) 计划，支持旨在加深对实践、计划要素、背景和流程的理解的项目，有助于增加学生对科学、技术、工程和数学 (STEM) 以及信息和通信的知识和兴趣该项目的目标是研究智能制造背景下适合年龄的公平人工智能学习和包容性教学。研究计划包括：（1）确定高中生智能制造所需的人工智能知识和技能； （2）尝试基于项目的学习（PBL）教学法，为学生探索智能制造做好准备，并为教师提供人工智能和智能制造方面的专业培训； （3）采用混合方法设计，结合定性访谈和工作表数据以及定量的岗前知识评估来评估所提出的人工智能教育干预的有效性。除了50名服务不足的学生外，还将招募10名高中教师在学生夏令营前接受为期三天的强化专业培训，为夏令营活动提供便利。这些教师还将制定课程计划，以便在各自的学校继续进行人工智能教育干预。由此产生的成果包括人工智能学习模块和以智能制造为中心的 PBL 教学法。开发这种人工智能干预的实验过程可以适用于服务不足的高中的其他人工智能教育工作。从拟议的人工智能教育干预措施的有效性中获得的见解将为在不同的 K-12 人工智能教育项目中推进适合年龄、以未来职业为导向且公平的人工智能教育提供宝贵的经验教训。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被视为值得通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。