Integrating AI literacy within Social Studies: An Argument, a Framework, and a Call to Action (Poster 4)

• In Event: AI in Social Studies Education: Tools for Thoughtful Practice With Generative Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

We argue that social studies can and should be a curricular home for teaching both with and about AI. Given the social studies curricular aims of “civic competence and the maintenance and enhancement of a free and democratic society” (NCSS, 2016, p. 180), teaching about AI is essential. Given the expansive nature of social studies content, “the study of human enterprise across space and time” (Ross, 2006, p. 2), teaching with AI is appealing. To accomplish both of these ends, we must first define AI literacy, link it to the aims of social studies education, and articulate how to integrate AI literacy within social studies instruction. We will synthesize a definition of AI literacy, frame it within the core tasks of social studies instruction, and provide illustrative examples at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Each sample lesson will engage the proposed AI literacy framework, align with social studies standards, and demonstrate how to teach both with and about generative artificial intelligence. The lessons will address both the positive and negative potential impacts of AI, inculcating an appropriate technoskeptical stance (Krutka et al., 2020) towards AI for both teachers and students.

Authors

• Thomas C. Hammond, Lehigh University

• Zilong Pan, Lehigh University

• Julie Oltman, Lehigh University