AI is a field that is generating a lot of interest right now. The capabilities of generative AI are getting everyone excited and reflective at the same time, and the field of education is not exempt. In particular, those involved in education are thinking of how to incorporate AI in schools to prepare students for the future job market and an increasingly technologically-focused society. However, there’s a difference between using AI tools and the teaching and learning of AI as a subject. Young people are going to need some awareness of the subject content in order to be fully prepared for the future.
For this reason, it is equally important for teachers to be prepared too! The AI Roadmap published by the UK AI Council in 2020 declared that “a comprehensive programme aimed at all teachers and with a clear deadline for completion would enable every teacher confidently to get to grips with AI concepts in ways that are relevant to their own teaching.” While we are not sure that this programme is yet being implemented in the UK, it’s important to investigate the extent to which teachers are prepared to teach AI effectively in the classroom.
That is why, as part of my PhD studies at the University of Cambridge, I want to understand teachers’ motivation to teach AI-related concepts in schools, teacher development training programmes, and teaching resources available to them in the UK.
My research questions are:
- To what extent are teachers motivated to teach AI concepts and skills?
- What is teachers’ preparedness to teach AI in schools?
Sign up to our new AI study
I write to invite teachers in the UK to contribute to this study by volunteering to participate in an online interview (using MS Teams) which will last approximately 30–45 minutes. You don’t need to have experience teaching AI in school. The study has been approved by the ethics committee of the University of Cambridge, and we will anonymise all data.
I’m interested to hear
- whether you are interested in AI as a subject,
- what you think the opportunities and barriers are for teaching it in school, and
- what sort of training or professional development you think you might need.
Your contribution to this research will increase the level to which we understand the teacher’s perspective on the teaching and learning of AI.
I would be grateful if you could register your interest in participating in this interview by following the link to the consent form. When you sign up, I will send you further information about the study, a consent form to sign, and a link to suggest a time and date that suit you.
In return for your contribution, we will be able to send you early findings of the research by email if you’d like to stay in touch.