Collaborative Research: Advancing Latino Children’s Science Learning through Community Co-Design of AI-Enhanced Bilingual E-Books

August 1st, 2024 - July 31st, 2028 | PROJECT

Early childhood years are critical for developing the foundational knowledge, skills, and attitudes for later success in STEM. Young children learn science best when they actively engage with topics that are meaningful to their everyday lives. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help in developing science learning content and making it more interactive, but inherent social, racial, and linguistic biases in AI-generated materials make this undertaking risky. Our project involves direct participation from parents in under-resourced Latino families in co-designing AI-based educational materials. Their participation can help reduce potential biases in the produced materials. University and community partners will jointly work with AI to first create bilingual science stories rooted in Latino identity and then to make those stories interactive. This initiative leverages storytelling's major form of cultural capital in the Latino community to foster children's scientific curiosity and engagement, while also helping build community members' AI literacy skills. The project will contribute important knowledge about how AI can be effectively and equitably harnessed by and with diverse communities in support of their values and education, aligning with key National Science Foundation objectives.

The project utilizes participatory design with Latino families in California and Michigan to create 24 Spanish-English culturally relevant e-books for Latino children aged 4-7, employing generative AI for rapid, iterative content development. The e-books will feature a bilingual AI-powered conversational agent that allows children to dialogue directly with the story characters, as well as family discussion prompts to encourage parent-child interaction. After the 24 interactive e-books are piloted and iteratively improved, a randomized control trial will be carried out with 120 Latino families to evaluate the impact of e-book use on children's science knowledge and engagement and on parent-child science communication. Subsequent improvements will prepare the e-books for free national distribution, significantly broadening STEM learning opportunities for diverse children, particularly in Latino communities.

Project Website(s)

(no project website provided)

Team Members

Ying Xu, Principal Investigator, Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Teresa Satterfield, Co-Principal Investigator, Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Mark Warschauer, Principal Investigator, University of California-Irvine
Andres Bustamante, Co-Principal Investigator, University of California-Irvine

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL), Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)
Award Number: 2415883
Funding Amount: $619,404.00

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL), Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST)
Award Number: 2415882
Funding Amount: $1,380,596.00

Tags

Access and Inclusion: English Language Learners | Ethnic | Racial | Hispanic | Latinx Communities
Audience: Educators | Teachers | Elementary School Children (6-10) | Families | Learning Researchers | Parents | Caregivers | Pre-K Children (0-5)
Discipline: Education and learning science | General STEM
Resource Type: Project Descriptions | Projects
Environment Type: Informal | Formal Connections | K-12 Programs | Pre-K | Early Childhood Programs