Teaching Machine Learning in Middle School towards a Sustainable Education: A Case Study in the Greek Educational Context

In today's pervasive technological landscape, Machine Learning (ML), as a branch of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has been integrated into various aspects of our lives, yet its mechanisms remain enigmatic to most. ML and AI are now cornerstones for a sustainable future; therefore, it is imperative to expand computational education with activities targeting a basic understanding of ML. In present, AI and ML are still absent from the Greek curriculum. To address this gap, an introductory AI course focusing on ML has been designed for middle school students. The course, introduces neural network fundamentals and guides pupils to create a classification model which is able to classify audio messages, using the Machine Learning for Kids (ML4Kids) tool and Scratch programming language. The course is tested on three groups of 12 students aged 13-15. It can be offered as an extracurricular option, or it can be integrated into school curricula. As a result of the proposed intervention, the pupils understand basic ML concepts and gain the ability to build classification models, while the course also sparks their interest and enthusiasm for mastering ML.