We are delighted to announce that the Raspberry Pi Computing Education Research Centre, part of the Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge, is playing a key role in an exciting new programme of work aimed at supporting the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI) leaders and building a more diverse, inclusive AI ecosystem.

The Research Centre has been selected by DeepMind, a leading AI company, to conduct an independent evaluation of their AI school education programme

DeepMind school engagement programme

DeepMind is partnering with six education charities and social enterprises in the UK to co-create a bespoke education programme to help tackle the gaps in STEM education and boost existing programmes through funding, volunteering, and the development of new AI resources.

The goal is to give young people – particularly those from groups that are underrepresented in STEM – the opportunity to learn about AI and the way it is changing the world, and to build their motivation and confidence to go on to study AI-related subjects and pursue a career in AI.

Evaluation of the programme

As the independent evaluators, we will be working with DeepMind and their partners to measure the impact of this two-year programme, and helping DeepMind to understand the effect of different pilot interventions when it comes to school-level AI education. 

Building the evidence base on AI education

AI and data literacy education is one of our key research themes at the Raspberry Pi Computing Education Research Centre, and we already have a series of research projects underway investigating how best to learn and teach the fundamentals of these topics. These include a systematic literature review, a pilot teachers’ survey and the development of a framework for categorising AI teaching resources, professional development and research.

We’re very excited to now have the chance to work with DeepMind and their partner organisations to build the evidence base around AI education and contribute to this important new area of computing education.