Elementary (PK5)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbots powered by a large language model (LLM) are entering young children's learning and play, yet little is known about how young children construe these agents or how such construals relate to engagement. We examined anthropomorphism of a social AI chatbot during collaborative storytelling and asked how children's attributions related to their behavior and prefrontal activation. Children at ages 5-6 (N = 23) completed three storytelling sessions: interacting with (1) an AI chatbot only, (2) a parent only, and (3) the AI and a parent together.

Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming how children interact with technology, particularly in education and creative domains. A growing body of research has explored the impacts of generative AI on users, highlighting both its potential benefits and associated risks. Much of the existing literature has focussed on adults and teens, leaving significant gaps in our understanding of how younger children, aged 8 – 12, engage with and are affected by these technologies.

This paper explores the challenge of achieving consistent effectiveness in integrating Mathematics Education Technology (MET) in K-12 classrooms, focusing on factors such as technology type, timing, and instructional strategies. It highlights the difficulties novice teachers face in optimizing MET compared to experienced educators, emphasizing the need to better understand the ideal duration and application of MET in various teaching settings. This study proposes using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to predict and optimize MET effectiveness, aiming to enhance student achievement.

Abstract Background: Youth are increasingly experiencing psychological distress. Schools are ideal settings for disseminating mental health support, but they are often insufficiently resourced to do so. Digital mental health tools represent a unique avenue to address this gap. The Alongside digital program is one such tool, intended as a universal prevention and early intervention.

Simulated Students offer a valuable methodological framework for evaluating pedagogical approaches and modelling diverse learner profiles, tasks which are otherwise challenging to undertake systematically in real-world settings. Recent research has increasingly focused on developing such simulated agents to capture a range of learning styles, cognitive development pathways, and social behaviours. Among contemporary simulation techniques, the integration of large language models (LLMs) into educational research has emerged as a particularly versatile and scalable paradigm.

With the rapid advancement of conversational and diffusion-based AI, there is a growing adoption of AI in educational services, ranging from grading and assessment tools to personalized learning systems that provide targeted support for students. However, this adaptability has yet to fully extend to the domain of children's speech, where existing models often fail due to their reliance on datasets designed for clear, articulate adult speech.

STEAM education in many parts of the Global South remains abstract and weakly connected to learners sociocultural realities. This study examines how human experts evaluate the capacity of Generative AI (GenAI) to contextualize STEAM instruction in these settings. Using a convergent mixed-methods design grounded in human-centered and culturally responsive pedagogy, four STEAM education experts reviewed standardized Ghana NaCCA lesson plans and GenAI-generated lessons created with a customized Culturally Responsive Lesson Planner (CRLP).

Data Driven Classroom Interviews (DDCIs) are an interviewing technique that is facilitated by recent technological developments in the learning analytics community.

The interdisciplinary research domain of Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) has a long history of developing Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) by integrating insights from technological advancements, educational theories, and cognitive psychology. The remarkable success of generative AI (GenAI) models has accelerated the development of large language model (LLM)-powered ITSs, which have potential to imitate human-like, pedagogically rich, and cognitively demanding tutoring.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming elementary STEM education, yet evidence remains fragmented. This systematic review synthesizes 258 studies (2020-2025) examining AI applications across eight categories: intelligent tutoring systems (45% of studies), learning analytics (18%), automated assessment (12%), computer vision (8%), educational robotics (7%), multimodal sensing (6%), AI-enhanced extended reality (XR) (4%), and adaptive content generation.