Navigating Teaching in the Age of AI: Sprints for Authentic STEM Experiences

Challenge

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how scientists, engineers, and mathematicians work and what students need to learn. Teachers need opportunities to investigate these changes and make informed decisions about whether and how AI can support student thinking. Many rural STEM teachers work in small or single-person departments, with limited access to sustained professional learning. Their expertise must also shape the classroom materials and professional development being created in response to AI, so these resources reflect the needs of rural students and teaching conditions.

To address this need, EDC and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are leading the “Navigating Teaching in the Age of AI: Sprints for Authentic STEM Experiences” R&D project. In the project, we are developing scalable, replicable professional learning to support rural teachers in using AI in ways that strengthen students’ critical thinking skills and position students to become STEM innovators in their communities, driving sustainable economic growth.

Key Activities

Working closely with rural middle school and high school STEM teachers as co-designers and expert advisors, our team is carrying out the following activities:

• Engaging 40 rural middle school and high school STEM teachers from approximately 10 Upper Midwest districts in three online professional learning sprints
• Facilitating small design groups in which teachers investigate instructional challenges, develop lessons, and refine materials using evidence from their classrooms
• Working with teachers to develop practical guidance for evaluating AI tools and deciding when and how to use them in STEM instruction
• Supporting teachers in creating professional learning resources and leading a free public online forum for other educators
• Studying teacher learning, changes in lesson design, and students’ STEM reasoning and responsible AI use

Impact

The project will:

• Build the capacity of 40 teachers to improve the STEM learning, AI fluency, and career readiness of thousands of students
• Prepare 40 teachers to engage other teachers in the professional learning model
• Widely share a replicable professional learning model and materials that rural schools nationwide can use
• Contribute new knowledge about how sprint-based professional learning can support teachers during rapid technological change