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Background: The number of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy studies in K‐12 education has recently increased, with most research focusing on primary and secondary education contexts. Little research focuses on AI literacy programs in early childhood education. Objectives: The aim of this mixed‐methods study is to examine the feasibility of an AI literacy program called "AI4KG" and explore how it might affect kindergarteners' perceptions of robots and attitudes towards engineering and science. Methods: A total of 26 child–parent dyads recruited from a Hong Kong kindergarten were involved in this study, consisting of 26 children (Mage = 4 years, SD = 0.28) and their parents. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through surveys and interviews designed to explore children's perceptions of robots and attitudes towards engineering and science, and parents' perceptions of the AI4KG intervention. Results: It is found that children have increased their perceptions of robots after the AI literacy program, but the AI4KG curriculum had no significant effects on kindergarten children's engineering and science attitudes. Most parents (22 out of 26) agreed that their children's AI knowledge, AI skills, and AI attitudes have been enhanced after learning through the AI4KG curriculum. Conclusions: This study suggests that the AI4KG curriculum is potentially effective in promoting early AI literacy and favourable attitudes towards the technology, but further research is needed to develop age‐appropriate measures and assess its long‐term impact on children's education and career paths. Lay Description: What is currently known about this topic?: AI literacy is becoming important as AI transforms society, but few studies have explored AI literacy in early childhood education.Prior research found AI activities can positively influence older children's views of robots and engineering. What does this paper add?: It evaluates an 8‐week AI literacy curriculum called AI4KG for kindergarteners in Hong Kong.The curriculum used tools like Teachable Machine and taught concepts through play and storytelling.It improved children's perceptions of robots but did not significantly impact engineering/science attitudes.Parents perceived improvements in children's AI knowledge, skills, and attitudes after the curriculum. Implications for practice/policy: The curriculum provides an example for developing age‐appropriate AI literacy activities.More rigorous research on impacts over time is needed, but results suggest potential benefits of AI literacy in early childhood.Policymakers could consider incorporating AI literacy into kindergarten curricula to prepare children for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The substantial growth in gamification research has connected gamified learning to enhanced engagement, improved performance, and greater motivation. Similar to gamification, personalized learning analytics dashboards can enhance student engagement. Objectives: This study explores the student experiences and academic achievements using a gamified dashboard in a large, introductory STEM course. Methods: We examined two groups of students enrolled in different sections of a one‐semester‐long physical geology course with a total enrollment of 223 students. The only difference between the groups was that one had access to the dashboard. The data collection included students' assignments, overall performances, and exam scores. Students in both sections completed a Science Literacy Concept Inventory survey at the beginning and end of the term. Additionally, students completed an end‐of‐term survey containing open‐ended questions on their experience and interactions with specific elements. Results: Students shared mostly positive comments about their experience with the dashboard, and the final grade of students with access to the dashboard was 13% higher, on average, compared to their peers in the non‐dashboard section. Conclusion: With low costs and little time invested, gamified dashboards could have a significant impact on student performance in large STEM lecture courses. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Leaner dashboards that provide personalized feedback are linked to improved student performance in undergraduate STEM courses. However, students may be reticent to adopt dashboards, especially students in the middle range of the performance distribution, for whom the impact of the dashboard may be most significant.Prior research on gamification in STEM courses suggests that adding gameful elements like progress trackers, badges, and rewards can increase students' engagement in undergraduate coursework.The combination of personalized learning in dashboards and the motivational experience of gamification should boost student engagement, dashboard adoption, and ultimately foster academic achievement. What this paper adds: In this paper, we examine the differences in academic performance between students with and without access to a gamified learning dashboard in an undergraduate Geology course.We observe that students with access to the dashboard (the treatment group), outperform students without access (the control group). The greatest benefit is observed for students who use the dashboard more frequently.Students reported that the progress tracker, the badges, and the rewards all incentivized their use and provided useful feedback about their performance. Students who did not adopt the dashboard expressed a need for more detail about the tool and its purpose. Implications for practice and/or policy: Instructors and instructional designers for large enrollment undergraduate STEM courses should consider the affordances of gamified learner dashboards for increasing engagement and for providing synchronous feedback about learners' strategies in the course.Aligning the dashboard to the content of the curriculum—by ensuring that badges reflect key concepts‐ encouraged participation and helped students identify the utility of the tool. Dashboards should be personalized to individuals and to the course.Adding gameful elements in a low‐cost intervention for increasing adoption and engagement of dashboards in large enrollment introductory courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The surge of online platforms has generated interest in how specialized platforms support formal and informal learning in various disciplinary domains. Knowledge is still limited regarding how undergraduate students navigate and use platforms to learn. Objectives: This study explores computer and software engineering students' learning practices, wherein online platforms are used as resources for both curricular learning activities and students' interest‐driven learning. Methods: The learning practices of 73 students were examined using a mixed‐methods design and a conceptualization of practices accounting for the context and purpose of their enactment. The dataset includes students' self‐reports on domain‐specific learning activities, three‐month‐long web‐browsing history of multiple platforms and stimulated‐recall interviews. The data were analysed through latent class and thematic analyses. Results and Conclusion: Five distinct patterns were found in the use of online platforms. These patterns show that different types of platforms were used purposely and in combination during curricular and interest‐driven activities aimed at learning software development. Moreover, students' purposes were driven by both the need to progress in their learning activities and the development of their interest in software development. The findings highlight the complexity of students' learning with online platforms, which develop quite extensively beyond curricular boundaries. Implications: The findings stress the need to recognize that undergraduate students' learning practices involve multiple online platforms and activities beyond the formal curriculum and that these play a key role in developing students' interests in learning software development. Moreover, our findings indicate the importance of taking into account the way students' learning practices unfold within platforms and how these relate to domain‐specific practices. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Online platforms are mostly used by teaching staff in undergraduate education to support student learning during formal curricular tasks.Research knowledge is limited mostly to specific features of social networking platforms, such as Facebook Groups or instant messaging technologies.Students informally use interest‐driven activities and both social and domain‐specific platforms to support their learning.Research on students' interest in using massive open online courses suggested that students' learning is motivated by academic success, prospective economic opportunities, and personal interests. What this paper adds?: Students combine various types of online platforms purposely (e.g., search engines or Q&A sites), many of which are domain‐specific (e.g., Stack Overflow).Students use online platforms informally during work on curricular tasks to, for example, collaborate, solve problems, and understand concepts or methods.Domain‐specific (e.g., software engineering) platforms are used during other study‐related leisure and entrepreneurial activities.Online platforms play a key role in how students develop their interests in learning. Through them, students connect not only with other students but also with professionals, companies, and information about them. Implications of study findings for practitioners: Curriculum developers and faculty should consider preparing students to use disparate types of online platforms beyond what is included in the curriculum.Curriculum developers should also consider other activities beyond the classroom that are study‐related and meaningful for students and their learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning a foreign language requires interaction with language input while involved in a task. Given that problem‐based learning (PBL) offers hands‐on application in realistic contexts, and that virtual reality (VR) enables learners to interact with multiple modalities of information, this study examines how the integration of VR technology into PBL contexts affects students' motivation for, problem‐solving during, and vocabulary acquisition in learning English as a foreign language (EFL). A total of 84 engineering majors who enrolled in a course of English for specific purposes were randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group. Students in the experimental group participated in a VR‐assisted PBL context, in which they were to view a PBL scenario using VR technology and then to create VR videos about solving the given problems. Those in the control group participated in a PBL context without the use of VR technology for viewing and solving the identical scenario. After the intervention, all the students wrote a problem‐solving analysis, took a vocabulary knowledge test, completed a learning motivation questionnaire, and participated in individual interviews. The results showed that the students in the experimental group significantly outperformed those in the control group in terms of vocabulary acquisition, and were more motivated to learn English related to their future careers, whereas there was no significant difference in the problem‐solving performance of the two groups. Implications of these findings highlight the value of engaging EFL learners in immersive environments for contextualized learning through the integrated use of VR and PBL. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic?: Virtual reality (VR) technology has been shown to enhance students' knowledge and skills in STEM fields.Problem‐based learning (PBL) has been widely used in medical education but not so much in foreign language education.English as a foreign language (EFL) students usually have very limited access to the target language beyond the classroom, thus lack a motivating reason for them to learn English after graduation. What this paper adds?: The VR‐assisted PBL approach proposed in this study was found to significantly enhance the EFL students' specialized vocabulary knowledge.The VR‐assisted PBL approach was found to motivate and sustain the EFL students' interest in career English.Exposing the EFL students to PBL contexts was capable of developing their problem‐solving performance, regardless of VR integration. Implications for practice and/or policy: The proposed approach has the potential to facilitate student learning in EFL education, particularly English for occupational purposes.EFL educators may apply the VR‐assisted PBL approach to narrow the gap between language classrooms and workplace contexts by immersing students in authentic contexts that were relevant to their occupational knowledge and workplace English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that educational robotics (ER) may impact student learning, especially in relation to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) areas. In the STEM framework, particularly for younger children, the "E" and the "T" are considered to be missing letters, because few studies have concentrated on teaching and evaluating technology and engineering through ER activities. This study aimed to develop and test the efficacy of an ER protocol to teach robotics in a sample of 389 students, hypothesizing that girls would be as successful as boys. A Robotics Questionnaire assessing the basics of robotics was developed for this study. A Wilcoxon nonparametric test was performed in order to evaluate improvements (p < 0.05). A Mann–Whitney nonparametric test was performed in order to test the presence of gender differences (p < 0.05). Data indicated significant improvements for all the age ranges considered. No gender differences were found. In order to evaluate the efficacy of a didactic intervention utilizing ER, it is important to assess the impact on children's technological and engineering (robotics, in particular) knowledge. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Studies have shown that educational robotics (ER) has a potential impact on student learning.In the STEM framework, the "E" and the "T" are considered the STEM missing letters.What this paper adds: This study aims at developing and testing the efficacy of an ER protocol to teach robotics.The hypothesis that girls will be equally successful than boys is explored too, and no gender differences were found.Implications for practice and/or policy: Our results suggest that ER can be utilized to learn robotics, bringing technology in the schools.ER could be considered as a tool able to contribute to girl's involvement in STEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]