Beginnings: Experiential Learning for In-Service Teachers: Augmenting Teaching and Learning with Generative AI

About This Grant

This project addresses the critical gap in K–12 educator preparation for integrating rapidly evolving generative AI (GenAI) tools into classroom practice. While GenAI promises to transform learning environments, most secondary teachers lack both the technical proficiency and pedagogical frameworks to leverage these technologies effectively and safely. This project will develop and deliver a four-week experiential learning in AI and MerryQuery (ExLAIM) program by bringing together in-service K-12 teachers, undergraduate computing majors, and industry mentors to co-design AI-integrated curricula, assessments, and implementation plans tailored to classroom contexts. Building on evidence-based strategies in project-based and active learning, participants will engage in a learn-apply-reflect cycle, using MerryQuery, a retrieval-augmented generation chatbot, to scaffold lesson planning and assessment design. Participants will work in groups to iteratively prototype AI-enhanced instructional modules that integrate safety considerations, outlier detection, and reliability checks for classroom implementation. Structured mentorship with faculty, graduate students, and industry mentors, along with peer collaboration, will reinforce skill acquisition and facilitate integration into emerging technology careers. The project’s intellectual merit lies in uniting cutting-edge AI tool development with constructivist teacher learning, generating novel insights into how GenAI can be embedded within K–12 pedagogies to enhance instructional effectiveness. Broader impacts include expanding access to AI-focused professional development for educators in under-resourced and geographically dispersed school districts in North Carolina, developing graduate and undergraduate students who can work across disciplines, strengthening cross-sector partnerships, and creating open-access curricular resources shared nationally to other teachers through the Computer Science Teachers Association. By empowering educators and undergraduate students as AI leaders, this initiative will foster a sustainable pipeline of AI-literate students and prepare them for future STEM careers at the intersection of human and artificial intelligence. This project is co-funded by the NSF IUSE: EDU Program which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of undergraduate STEM education for all students. The ExLENT program, supported by the NSF TIP and EDU directorates, seeks to support experiential learning opportunities for individuals to increase their interest in and access to career pathways in emerging technology fields. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.