Generative Artificial Intelligence as a Collaborative Designer for Elementary Computer Science Education

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming ubiquitous in our everyday lives. In the United States, AI has increasingly been recognized as an important part of computer science (CS) standards for elementary school students. Prior research work has shown that AI-related content can be taught at upper elementary grade levels. However, classroom-ready, standards-aligned materials for CS in the context of AI remain limited at the elementary level. This paper showcases how educators may use generative AI to design standards-aligned materials for teaching CS and AI in elementary schools. Specifically, this paper presents a design case in which generative AI (Google Gemini) serves as a collaborative designer to co-author four comic-based stories for grades 4–6. The four comic stories, titled “The AI Journey with Milo and Zada,” “Zappy the AI Robot,” “The AI Adventures,” and “Think Like an Engineer,” are mapped to specific AI standards in the Alabama Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS) Course of Study. This work provides a replicable example of using generative AI to co-design standards-aligned instructional materials with responsible use of AI. This work is also useful for instructional designers, elementary school teachers, and policymakers in elementary computer science education.