My UM
My UM
Search

Responsible use of AI at school starts with parents

It’s a fear shared by many parents and teachers: students who don’t do their schoolwork themselves, but have it done by AI tools such as ChatGPT. The concerns are not unfounded. Nonetheless, education also stands to gain a great deal from the safe and effective use of artificial intelligence. Parents, in particular, can play a crucial role, which is why they are actively involved in a new project to develop teaching materials about AI.


The project might never have come about if not for the nephew of Martijn Boussé, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Science and Engineering. The 12-year-old was struggling with maths. His father couldn’t help him with his homework, even after consulting ChatGPT. “At some point I was called in,” Boussé says. “That’s when I thought: we can do more. If we help parents with the technology, I make myself redundant.”

According to Boussé, there’s a lot to be gained by helping parents to properly support their children during the first three years of high school. “At that stage, parents still have a huge influence on their child’s learning journey. That’s why I think it’s essential to bring them along now.”

 

Keeping up

It’s no secret that schools themselves are struggling to keep pace with the rapid developments in AI. Pupils are often far ahead of the average teacher, says Linda Verlinden. She provides in-service training for teaching staff through the Stichting Voortgezet Onderwijs Parkstad Limburg (SVO|PL), a foundation that runs nine regional high schools.


“Very few schools have an AI policy in place yet,” she says. “What’s allowed, what do we want, what are we going to do with it? Students, meanwhile, know how AI can do their assignments for them, but they often don’t know how to use it well. Not ‘do my homework for me,’ but rather: ‘I’m struggling with this part of maths—can you explain how to solve these problems?’” When the university approached SVO|PL to take part in the project, the decision was easy.

 

Co-creation

The project, titled Artificial Intelligence for Parents: Learning Together, Discovering Together and Making Together, is funded by a Science Communication Grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). It brings together UM researchers with teachers, pupils and parents from the nine SVO|PL schools, ranging from practical secondary education to pre-university education. “We want all those parties around the table to create something that’s useful for everyone,” Boussé says. “Co-creation is one of the key principles.”
 

Three groups will be formed, focusing on maths and arithmetic, natural sciences, and technology and ICT. Each group will include academics, teachers, pupils and parents. Together, they’ll explore what they need to use AI effectively and responsibly. Once those needs are clear, they’ll work towards concrete solutions. Nothing is predetermined—both the route and the outcome are completely open.

Scientific literacy

“Perhaps we’ll discover there’s a need for an AI tutor, a chatbot that supports the learning process,” says Linda Rieswijk. She is a lecturer at the Faculty of Science and Engineering and, along with Boussé, one of the initiators of the project. “But it could just as easily turn out that it’s mainly about the right communication and explanation. There are already plenty of tools out there. The question is whether teachers, pupils and parents know how to find them.”

The project leaders are well aware that not all parents have an academic background or a high level of trust in academia. Strengthening scientific literacy is therefore the primary goal of the project. “By actively involving parents in a scientific process, we hope to increase their knowledge and, where needed, rebuild trust,” Rieswijk explains. At the same time, the project will produce concrete, directly applicable results, with both students and teachers reaping the benefits.

 

Equal opportunities

It’s unlikely that students will stop using AI for tests or assignments in the future. “But they can learn how to use it in a way that actually helps them,” Verlinden says. “Private tutoring costs around €35 an hour per subject, which isn’t affordable for everyone. So this is also about equal opportunities.”

Giving pupils and their parents access to the same information and materials about AI—regardless of income or educational background—can help to reduce that gap. “It’s great that this is happening in Parkstad, where there are large socioeconomic disparities,” Verlinden says. With UM set to open a new campus in Heerlen, the picture comes full circle. Boussé: “From a regional perspective, it’s for the best if we can increase knowledge about and trust in the university.”

Parents & AI presentation
Martijn Boussé

Text Jolien Linssen
Photography Paul van der Veer

Also read