Neither COVID nor IRBs nor faulty Zoom calls stay this institute from our mission. The NSF AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming (iSAT) had a busy first year, despite the numerous challenges set by starting an institute in the midst of a pandemic. Within the first three months of launch, we built up our infrastructure and kickstarted our essential activities. By six months, we developed  a grant program for our students and postdocs, who are now busy at work on their iSAT-funded projects.

At eight months we filled our External Advisory Board with a star-studded team of researchers and began implementing their feedback on our institue in earnest. Our annual report on our progress to the National Science Foundation  was  due hot on the heels of our annual EAB meeting, and all hands were on deck to draft our 350 page report! We virtually met with several NSF members to give an overview of our first eight months, and gave a deeper diver into the research of our three strands, which made for a busy (and consequentially, newsletter-less) third quarter.

In the few months leading up to our one year as an institute, we got researchers into classrooms to work with teachers on our Sensor Immersion Curriculum. We formed a cross-strand team dedicated to collecting classroom data to help develop our AI Partner. This team collected student collaboration data with different microphones to inform future data collections. We also finished our first Learning Futures Workshop to help design the future of AI with young people and our first co-design workshops with teachers and students to develop our storyline unit.

Want to learn more about what all of this means for the future of AI in education? Check out our Strand 1, Strand 2, and Strand 3 updates!