Join EDC at SITE 2026
EDC educational R&D leaders will present at SITE 2026, the 37th Annual International Conference of the Society for Informational Technology and Teacher Education on March 23 to 27 in Philadelphia. Our team will share findings from work on the effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, scaling computer science (CS) education in middle school, learning math in elementary school by coding a robot, quantum education for preservice teachers, and AI-enhanced software developers.
Elementary School Students’ Perceptions of Mathematics After Using Robot-Coding Mathematics Tasks
Tuesday, March 24 (3:40–4:00 p.m., Homer). This session will spotlight findings from a study by Ashley Lewis Presser and Irina Lyublinskaya of Teachers College that engaged early elementary students in focus groups to explore their experiences learning mathematics through coding with the Finch robot. While younger students connected activities to counting and basic operations, older students made deeper links to fractions, area, and multiplication. Coding concepts were developing, but collaboration and problem-solving were challenging.
Learning Fundamental AI Concepts through Blocks-Based Programming Projects
Wednesday, March 25 (4:15–5:15 p.m., Wyeth C Rounds). In a “Bring Your Laptop” session, Jane Kang and Mary Fries of Beauty and Joy of Computing will help participants explore basic concepts underlying AI and how it works. Participants will become familiar with generative AI, machine learning, and supervised learning; train an image recognition model and use it to create a program that responds to user images; and learn how to build a generative AI program and see how it works on text, music, and drawings.
Integrating AI Into College Programs
Thursday, March 26 (11:30–12:30 p.m., Wyeth C Rounds). Joyce Malyn-Smith will discuss a National Science Foundation-funded R&D project that she leads with Kirsten Peterson to build capacity to integrate AI literacy into curricula, support faculty learning, and strengthen pathways from two-year to four-year CS and AI programs. She’ll spotlight the AI Literacy Implementation Studio, a professional learning experience that helps community college faculty translate AI literacy modules into instructional practice.
Building Sustainable CS Programs in Middle Schools
Thursday, March 26 (3:40–4:00 p.m., Whistler B). Joyce Malyn-Smith will present a paper co-authored with EDC colleagues Anne Wang and Neil Schiavo that shares findings from a successful collaboration between EDC and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to support districts in implementing sustainable CS programs for all middle school students. As part of this project, EDC published a free online “Programming the Acceleration of Computing Education” toolkit for districts nationwide.
Building Awareness of Quantum Education for Preservice Teachers
Friday, March 27 (10:15–11:15 a.m., Wyeth C Rounds). Join Jane Kang, Mary Fries, Joyce Malyn-Smith, and Yolanda Lozano from the Computer Science Alliance in exploring the key role of preservice teacher education programs in improving public awareness of quantum information science (QIS) and encouraging students across fields to consider a role in the QIS field. It all starts with supporting teachers in understanding QIS and providing opportunities to explore K–12 level low-cost quantum labs and activities.
Profile of an AI-Enhanced Software Engineer
Friday, March 27 (11:30–11:50 a.m., Warhol). Joyce Malyn-Smith will present a paper she co-authored with Irene Lee that focuses on research EDC and Google co-led on the need to upskill software developers to be prepared for the use of AI in the industry. EDC adapted the resulting workflow of an AI-Enhanced Software Engineer into our IAVES Framework for AI-Human Interaction that is used by educators to help faculty and students broaden interaction with AI while keeping humans at the center of the partnership.
Learn more about EDC’s STEM Education & Workforce Development initiatives.
