NSF FF: Planning: Foundations of AI Literacy through Core Subject Orientation

Award ID: 2627509

This FINDERS Foundry award incorporates AI instruction into K-12 core subjects like English, math, science, and social studies to prepare students for a world where AI is part of everyday life. Currently, students are exposed to AI in apps or tools without guidance on how it works or how to use it responsibly. This project incorporates ageappropriate AI co-design classroom modules with teachers, families, and students that will that match state digitalliteracy standards, supporting curiosity and responsible use. Building AI literacy through tools that fit into existing curriculum to mirror real-world opportunities in emerging technologies. This FINDERS Foundry award generates design principles, pilot data, and implementation guidance to document effective strategies for embedding AI literacy into everyday coursework. The team identified priority AI literacy concepts that fit within existing instructional sequences, draft adaptable lessons, and iteratively refined through classroom feedback. Co-design work maps instructional modules to extant K12 Digital Literacy Standards, develops teacherprofessionallearning materials and establishes measures that capture both student understanding and teacher confidence in teaching responsibleAI topics. The resulting design knowledge will support scalability of the platform across learning environments and domains. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Lindsay Portnoy