Before the public launch of ChatGPT and the widespread interest in AI education in schools, a team of researchers from NC State and Indiana University had a bold idea: teach elementary school students about AI. The researchers themselves did not quite fully understand how students might be given the tools to learn about AI, but they knew it was becoming a valuable skillset to learn. 

“At the time, we considered the expertise of our team in educational technology and AI. And the signal on the horizon was that AI was increasingly becoming more and more important in our daily lives. The result was our idea for PrimaryAI,” said Krista Glazewski, Friday Institute executive director and associate dean for translational research in the NC State College of Education.

“Although AI didn’t appear to address a core K-12 subject when we drafted the initial proposal in 2019, in hindsight, our assessment now seems remarkably forward-thinking,” said Cindy Hmelo-Silver, associate dean of research in the School of Education at Indiana University. 

That original project was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and has since been tested in rural classrooms in southern Indiana.

Now, a 4-year, $3.5 million project (with NC State’s portion of $1,909,468) funded by the NSF’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Teachers and Students (ITEST) program will enable researchers to grow the program, fostering rural students’ interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) while equipping them with fundamental AI knowledge they will need to thrive in the future. With this new award, more than 5,000 upper elementary students and 60 partner teachers across rural areas of Alabama, Indiana and North Carolina will participate in the program. Research supported through this work will advance foundational knowledge in K-12 AI education by integrating immersive inquiry-based learning pedagogies. 

“What began as an experiment in curiosity has grown into a national model for scaling responsible AI in education,” said Anne Ottenbreit-Leftwich, associate vice president for learning technologies at Indiana University. “PrimaryAI’s expansion shows that when evidence-based innovation is designed with educators, its impact can endure and evolve.” 

“This award represents the longevity of our commitment to advancing AI education in ways that reach every learner,” said Glazewski. “By scaling this work into rural communities across three states, we are equipping educators with tools and practices that ensure innovation is not confined to a few places but becomes a shared and sustainable opportunity for all schools.”

This project resides at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and is led by principal investigator (PI) Glazewski, along with NC State co-PIs James Lester, Bradford Mott and Jessica Vandenberg from the Department of Computer Science in the NC State College of Engineering. This NC State-led project also includes researchers from the University of Alabama and Indiana University. 

“This award complements some of the exciting AI education work already happening in Alabama, represents a concrete investment in Alabama’s future and ensures that students in rural communities have access to AI education,” said Amy Hutchison, Fayard Endowed Chair and director of the Digital, Computational and Data Literacies Lab at the University of Alabama. “We aim to provide educators with the resources they need to build local capacity for AI education and prepare students for the high-demand skills that they will increasingly need in the future.” 

The project, entitled “PrimaryAI: Scaling Up AI Education for Rural Upper Elementary Students with Immersive Problem-Based Learning,” will allow researchers to scale the PrimaryAI curriculum, building on the earlier success of this curriculum initiative for upper elementary learners in grades three to five. Through the original project, kids learned how computers see, learn and plan—gaining real knowledge about AI while also developing curiosity, ethical frameworks and responsibility in how technology is used. 

Ultimately, what the research team initially learned convinced them that children could grasp foundational concepts in AI. This project leverages pedagogies from science inquiry and game-based learning to solve a real world problem. In an immersive, game-based learning environment, students solve a real-world problem: how to use their knowledge of AI to understand the world of the endangered yellow-eyed penguin, including the threats to their survival. Since the yellow-eyed penguin is notoriously shy, students program a robo-penguin in the world to study the penguin, their habits and the threats.

During this grant project, the research team will investigate key factors that influence successful scaling of an AI education curriculum across multiple state contexts. Efforts will center on the interplay among teacher professional development, localized classroom adaptation, collaborative design methods, and student learning and interest. These dimensions are essential for understanding the conditions for implementation and mechanisms that sustain and expand the use of AI curricula on a large scale in rural upper elementary classrooms.

“As AI continues to transform society, it’s essential that researchers work in direct partnership with teachers to design highly effective educational experiences around AI for elementary students,” said James Lester, Goodnight Distinguished University Professor and director of the Center for Educational Informatics.

The research will investigate three primary research questions: (1) What AI concepts serve as entry points for rural teachers to integrate AI into instruction, considering local contexts and individual pathways? (2) What are the impacts on student outcomes for learning, engagement and STEM interest across rural contexts? and (3) How do local factors in each state’s rural context influence the reception, implementation and outcomes of PrimaryAI?

Funding is awarded through the NSF’s ITEST program, which supports projects that build understandings of practices, program elements, contexts and processes contributing to increasing students’ knowledge and interest in STEM and information and communication technology careers.

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¹ This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grants DRL‑1934128 and DRL‑1934153. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.