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Developing Machine Learning Algorithm Literacy with Novel Plugged and Unplugged Approaches

Published: 03 March 2023 Publication History

Abstract

Data science and machine learning should not only be research areas for scientists and researchers but should also be accessible and understandable to the general audience. Enabling students to understand the details behind the technology will support them in becoming aware consumers and encourage them to become active participants. In this paper, we present instructional materials developed for introducing students to two key machine learning algorithms: decision trees and k-nearest neighbors. The materials were tested in a middle school's afterschool artificial intelligence program with four participating students aged 12 to 13. A combination of hands-on activities, innovative technology, and intuitive examples facilitated student learning. With hand-drawn decision trees and penguin species classifications, students used the algorithms to solve problems and anticipate other possible applications. We present the technology used, curriculum materials developed, and classroom structure. Following the guidelines from AI4K12 and introducing foundational machine learning algorithms, we hope to foster student interest in STEM fields.

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        cover image ACM Conferences
        SIGCSE 2023: Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1
        March 2023
        1481 pages
        ISBN:9781450394314
        DOI:10.1145/3545945
        Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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        Published: 03 March 2023

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        • (2025)Larger than Life In-Class Demonstrations for Introductory Machine LearningProceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3641554.3701803(220-226)Online publication date: 12-Feb-2025
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