Engaging Students from Rural Communities in AI Education with Game-Based Learning

Alex Goslen, Anisha Gupta, Smrithi Muthukrishnan, Raven Midgett, Wookhee Min, Jessica Vandenberg, Veronica Cateté, Bradford W. Mott

Abstract: As the presence of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies increases throughout everyday life, so does the need to engage rural communities in AI learning experiences, as these communities often have limited access to such educational opportunities. This work presents three game-based learning activities rooted in core AI concepts: natural language processing, search, and reinforcement learning. These activities were implemented in a summer camp with middle grades students in a rural area of the USA. We share an overview of the activities, as well as key observations and takeaways from student responses in post-activity surveys.