Designing and implementing an AI education program for learners with diverse background at scale
Andrés F. Salazar-Gómez, Aikaterini Bagiati, Nicholas Minicucci, Kathleen D. Kennedy, Xiaoxue Du, Cynthia Breazeal
Abstract
This Research to Practice Full Paper presents an AI Education program. In January 2021 MIT entered into an agreement with the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to design and offer a new educational research program focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) training. The goal of this collaboration is to design and advance educational research activities that promote maximum learning outcomes at scale for learners with diverse roles and educational backgrounds, ranging from Air Force and DoD personnel to the general public. This program is expected to offer different learning tracks addressing different groups of USAF employees based on their unique professional needs and backgrounds. The first pilot is currently underway and will provide the research team with data and insights that will inform the next iteration of the program, with the ultimate goal of formulating recommendations for the USAF and general public on how to reach large numbers of learners at scale in an optimum way. Currently, the program offers three different learning journeys for each of three different cohorts of USAF employees (i.e., leaders, developers, and users). These learning journeys span from online asynchronous and synchronous courses to in-person activities. Our research goals focus on exploring and understanding the learner experience via the study and analysis of AI content and curriculum, pedagogical approaches, learning modalities, and technological innovations to deliver learning experiences at scale. Key research activities involve evaluating a range of existing digital AI courses, mapping out the landscape of educational needs and competencies, and developing and piloting experiential learning experiences (to advance innovative technology-enabled training and learning technologies and methods). This paper discusses how preliminary research findings from this first pilot are informing the design and implementation of the next program iteration. The research provides insights that will benefit AI learners across the US while supporting the DoD’s objective to develop elite and world-class AI-ready services.