From Learners to Leaders: K–12 Teachers’ Experiences of Integrating AI Into Their Classrooms

• In Event: Integrating AI Education in K–12 Humanities Curricula: Opportunities, Challenges, Design Considerations, and Promising Solutions

Abstract

Objectives or purposes: AI education has become crucial for equipping youth with the skills they need in the 21st century. Meanwhile, more empirical research is necessary to understand K-12 teachers’ perspectives and experiences in integrating AI education into their classrooms. This study aims to explore perceived opportunities and challenges after teachers participated in a professional development workshop and integrated an AI curriculum into their classrooms.

Theoretical framework: This study follows the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework (Koehler & Mishra, 2006) to examine K-12 teachers’ knowledge and experiences on integrating the AI curriculum. TPACK is particularly valuable as it emphasizes the connection between teachers’ knowledge and their AI teaching practices.

Methods and Data Sources: Seven teachers (i.e., two middle school computer science teachers, one eighth-grade English teacher, and four high school English Language Arts teachers) received professional development training on integrating the StoryQ AI curriculum into their classrooms. After the training, each teacher implemented the curriculum in their classrooms for approximately seven days (45 minutes each day). To investigate teachers’ experiences, we collected multiple sources of data, including teachers’ classroom implementation reflections, professional development surveys, post-workshop interviews, and post-classroom implementation interviews. We analyzed these data sources by following qualitative approaches (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

Results: Our analyses demonstrated that teachers recognized close connections between teaching AI concepts and their subject matters. Before the classroom implementations, ELA teachers wanted to showcase how AI analyzes text, values word choices, and makes decisions. From that perspective, they believed that integrating an AI curriculum into their classroom would foster their students’ ELA skills. Similarly, CS teachers valued providing their students with experiences of learning AI from a multidisciplinary perspective. Therefore, they were motivated to teach AI concepts in their classrooms. During the classroom implementations, each teacher leveraged their expertise in pedagogy and content to enrich their students’ AI learning experiences. In post-implementation interviews, teachers shared learning opportunities and challenges in integrating the AI curriculum into their classrooms. In terms of opportunities, teachers acknowledged the impact of the curriculum on learning the working mechanisms of AI technologies, fostering students’ critical thinking abilities, and introducing them to various career possibilities. However, understanding the technical terms and working within time constraints were cited as challenges. Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge played a significant role in addressing those challenges, with some teachers preparing additional presentations to introduce key terms and concepts from the curriculum. Following the classroom implementations, all teachers expressed a willingness to teach AI concepts again if their curriculum allowed it, indicating a positive reception and enthusiasm for continuing AI education in their classrooms.

Significance: Teacher education researchers and AI curriculum developers can use insights from this study to better understand the challenges and opportunities faced by teachers when integrating AI concepts into their classrooms, and to develop more effective and supportive strategies for preparing K-12 teachers in incorporating AI education into their existing curriculum.

Authors

• Cansu Tatar, Northern Illinois University

• Franziska Bickel, North Carolina State University

• Jie Chao, The Concord Consortium

• Carolyn Penstein Rose, Carnegie Mellon University