Teaching AI awareness in middle school classrooms: Design, implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubbles

The nascent digital footprints of adolescents make them particularly susceptible to being misrepresented by AI systems. We design, implement, and evaluate two educational modules on the causes and consequences of two particularly salient types of AI misrepresentation: algorithmic biases and filter b...

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Main Authors: Mehtab Iqbal, Khushbu Singh, Sushmita Khan, Oluwafemi Osho, Emily Sidnam-Mauch, Nicole Bannister, Kelly Caine, Bart Knijnenburg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X25000657
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author Mehtab Iqbal
Khushbu Singh
Sushmita Khan
Oluwafemi Osho
Emily Sidnam-Mauch
Nicole Bannister
Kelly Caine
Bart Knijnenburg
author_facet Mehtab Iqbal
Khushbu Singh
Sushmita Khan
Oluwafemi Osho
Emily Sidnam-Mauch
Nicole Bannister
Kelly Caine
Bart Knijnenburg
author_sort Mehtab Iqbal
collection DOAJ
description The nascent digital footprints of adolescents make them particularly susceptible to being misrepresented by AI systems. We design, implement, and evaluate two educational modules on the causes and consequences of two particularly salient types of AI misrepresentation: algorithmic biases and filter bubbles. We implement these modules in middle school math and computer science classrooms by integrating our materials with the existing curricula and curricular requirements of the partner school. This integration, as well as the many confounding factors of the classroom, are nontrivial problems that have heretofore not been considered in privacy education research and required us to adopt methodologies from learning sciences, particularly design-based research and backward design. Quantitative results of the pre-/post-test and qualitative assessments of open-ended questions find that students were engaged with the materials and exhibited substantial learning gains. The findings emphasize the need for tailored educational interventions and avenues for future research to address AI-related challenges.
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institution OA Journals
issn 2666-920X
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publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence
spelling doaj-art-5ddf7d26948949e491bbb464734839a22025-08-20T02:06:00ZengElsevierComputers and Education: Artificial Intelligence2666-920X2025-06-01810042510.1016/j.caeai.2025.100425Teaching AI awareness in middle school classrooms: Design, implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubblesMehtab Iqbal0Khushbu Singh1Sushmita Khan2Oluwafemi Osho3Emily Sidnam-Mauch4Nicole Bannister5Kelly Caine6Bart Knijnenburg7School of Computing, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA; Corresponding author.College of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USASchool of Computing, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USASchool of Computing, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USASchool of Computing, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USACollege of Education, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USASchool of Computing, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USASchool of Computing, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USAThe nascent digital footprints of adolescents make them particularly susceptible to being misrepresented by AI systems. We design, implement, and evaluate two educational modules on the causes and consequences of two particularly salient types of AI misrepresentation: algorithmic biases and filter bubbles. We implement these modules in middle school math and computer science classrooms by integrating our materials with the existing curricula and curricular requirements of the partner school. This integration, as well as the many confounding factors of the classroom, are nontrivial problems that have heretofore not been considered in privacy education research and required us to adopt methodologies from learning sciences, particularly design-based research and backward design. Quantitative results of the pre-/post-test and qualitative assessments of open-ended questions find that students were engaged with the materials and exhibited substantial learning gains. The findings emphasize the need for tailored educational interventions and avenues for future research to address AI-related challenges.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X25000657
spellingShingle Mehtab Iqbal
Khushbu Singh
Sushmita Khan
Oluwafemi Osho
Emily Sidnam-Mauch
Nicole Bannister
Kelly Caine
Bart Knijnenburg
Teaching AI awareness in middle school classrooms: Design, implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubbles
Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence
title Teaching AI awareness in middle school classrooms: Design, implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubbles
title_full Teaching AI awareness in middle school classrooms: Design, implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubbles
title_fullStr Teaching AI awareness in middle school classrooms: Design, implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubbles
title_full_unstemmed Teaching AI awareness in middle school classrooms: Design, implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubbles
title_short Teaching AI awareness in middle school classrooms: Design, implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubbles
title_sort teaching ai awareness in middle school classrooms design implementation and evaluation of two education modules on algorithmic bias and filter bubbles
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666920X25000657
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