Over the summer, the Woodland Hills School District partnered with researchers from the University of Florida to co-develop curriculum centered on artificial intelligence. Woodland Hills educators, as well as teachers from Miami-Dade County in Florida, have been piloting the curriculum, and the research is starting to garner significant attention.
The research was recently accepted at SIGCSE (Special Interest Group Computer Science Education), which is considered one of the most prestigious computer science research and education conferences in the world. This year’s SIGCSE symposium is being held in Pittsburgh at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center from February 26 to March 1, 2025. The conference is a hub of computer science innovation and serves as a forum for educators and researchers to share new ideas for teaching across all grade levels.
Researchers Dr. Maya Israel, Dr. Nicole Hutchins, and Latoya Chandler will demonstrate a hands-on robotics module at the symposium alongside Jason McKenna, Yuhan Lin, and Aimee DeFoe from VEX Robotics. Woodland Hills has partnered with VEX Robotics over the last three years to incorporate robotics into the curriculum from K-12.
“We’re just happy to be at the forefront of discussions regarding AI and computer science at the elementary level,” said Dr. Eddie Willson, Assistant to the Superintendent for Curriculum for the Woodland Hills School District. “Part of what’s great about the research is they’re taking the feedback from our educators to refine and finalize the curriculum. We’re a critical part of that feedback loop.”
A reviewer of the submission for SIGCSE cited the integration of elementary school teachers as part of the process as particularly noteworthy. Third grade teachers Rhonda Smith, Wendy Story, and Hannah Thompson, second grade teachers Tamika McGee and William Wilson, first grade teacher Desiree White-Price, and special education teacher Danielle McCoy all took part in the professional development over the summer.
Woodland Hills teachers will continue to pilot the curriculum throughout the year and share their feedback with the researchers.