Computer ScienceComputingHigh schoolKey Stages 4 and 5
How to use AI to teach computer science
To use AI to teach computer science, put the concept and a check question in your lesson plan, then let an AI tutor explain it at each student's level and show you who understood. A free Flint activity on how malware spreads comes with this guide.
Jemel Fanfan | Founding Member at Flint
"Flint has been invaluable for introducing new concepts and assessing student understanding. My high flyers love how they can deep-dive into course content with an AI expert. Other students who need more attention can get a one-on-one tutor."
Matthew Davis, Computer science teacher at The Episcopal AcademyWhy this matters
In one computer science class, a student who has coded since middle school sits next to one opening a code editor for the first time. One explanation of a new concept loses both of them, and the teacher has to wait for quiz day to find out.
How to use AI in computer science lesson plans
In a computer science lesson plan, an AI tutor can do the part of differentiated instruction a teacher can't do for 30 students at once. Differentiated instruction is an approach in which teachers adjust their curriculum and instruction to maximize the learning of all students, assessing each student's readiness and grouping by needs and interests (IRIS Center, Vanderbilt University).
- Write the concept and one check question into the activity
- Have the AI tutor start at each student's level and explain with their interests
- Read who understood on the activity page before the next lesson
In this guide's activity, the concept is how a worm spreads. In the chats below, Sparky, Flint's AI tutor, asks each student what they already know, explains the worm with an example from their interest, and asks a check question before moving on.
One malware concept, explained to two different students
Both students are in the same activity, learning how a worm spreads. Each has their own chat with Sparky.
Ava
Ava
I'm really into video games, and I don't really know what malware is yet.
Sparky
Understanding check
Ava
Only the first one. Nobody opened anything.Sparky
Ava
Oh. The ones missing the update.Wrong first answer, right after one hint
Marcus
Marcus
I play basketball, and I already know what a virus is.Sparky
Understanding check
Marcus
Installing every security update.Sparky
Skipped the basics, moved to a harder question
Ava's hint sends her back to the simulator she just tried. Marcus skips the definition he already knows and gets a harder question with a short video. Sparky can make interactive simulators, narrated videos and images inside a student's chat when a picture explains the idea better than text. The students and chats are examples we wrote for this page. In Flint, Sparky learns a student's interests from what the student says in the chat, and can save them as memories to use in later chats. Students can see and delete their own memories in Settings.
How to check for understanding across the class
Sparky checks each student's understanding as they go. The activity page shows who needs help right now, what the class understood, and what to reteach next.
Example activity page
After a class works through the malware lesson
The school and students are made up for this page. Add a rubric and Sparky grades each chat for you.
Set up the activity for free
The malware activity is in Flint's public library, with Sparky's role, guidelines and greeting already written. Open it, duplicate it into a free Flint account, and assign it to a class. Every student gets their own chat with Sparky, and the activity page fills in as they work.
To have Sparky use each student's interests, as in the chats above, add this line to the activity's guidelines. It isn't in the library copy.
Example guideline
Before the first topic, ask the student what they're into outside class and whether they've learned about malware before. Explain each topic at that level, with an example from their interest, and ask one question to check their understanding before moving on.
For middle school, see how to run coding projects in middle school. For more computer science activities, see Flint for computer science.
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Test PrepExam prepMiddle schoolKey Stage 3
How to use interleaving
How to use interleaving in class: what interleaved practice is, why mixing problem types helps students choose a method, and three steps a teacher takes. In a free Flint activity, Sparky makes each student a mixed review deck and asks them to name each problem type before solving.
Test PrepExam prepMiddle schoolKey Stage 3
How to use retrieval practice
How to use retrieval practice in three steps: ask students what they remember before you review, have them write the answer before they check it, and come back to what they missed. Shown with a free Flint flashcard activity where students answer each card from memory and Sparky follows up on the cards they guessed.
