STEM-based Artificial Intelligence Learning in General Education for Non-Engineering Undergraduate Students

• Published in: Educational Technology ＆ Society Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 224 - 237
• Main Authors: Lin, Chun-Hung, Yu, Chih-Chang, Shih, Po-Kang, Wu, Leon Yufeng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palmerston North International Forum of Educational Technology ＆ Society 01.07.2021; International Forum of Educational Technology & Society
• Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; artificial intelligence literacy; College students; Deep learning; Digital literacy; Engineering education; Ethics; Foreign Countries; General Education; Instructional Effectiveness; Knowledge Level; Learning Activities; Literacy; Machine learning; Majors (Students); Mathematics; Methods; non-engineering students; Nonmajors; Sciences education; Special Issue Articles; STEM Education; Students; Study and teaching; Teaching Methods; Technical education; Undergraduate Students; Undergraduate study; Web services; Taiwan; Non-engineering students; STEM education; Artificial intelligence literacy; Artificial intelligence; General education
• DOI: 10.30191/ETS.202107_24(3).0016
• ISSN: 1176-3647; 1436-4522

This article describes STEM education with artificial intelligence (AI) learning, particularly for non-engineering undergraduate students. In the designed three-week learning activities, students were encouraged to put their ideas about AI into practice through two hands-on activities, utilizing a provided deep learning-based web service. This study designed pre-test and post-test surveys to investigate the performance of students in different aspects of AI. With 328 students involved in these learning activities, we discovered from the surveys that the proposed learning method can effectively improve AI literacy among non-engineering students. This study also found that students' AI literacy correlated significantly with their awareness of AI ethical issues and that the STEM-based AI curriculum increased the awareness of AI ethical issues among low-AI-literate learners. This article discusses the association between learning activities and different aspects of AI learning. The proposed method can be used by teachers who want to introduce AI knowledge into general education courses.