Artificial intelligence (AI) literacy education for university students: interactive teaching activities

Artificial intelligence literacy has been proposed to define the competencies that students need to acquire to meet AI in their future daily and working lives. This study aims to explore how university students’ conceptual understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) literacy evolves throughout the course. It seeks to contribute to the growing body of research on AI literacy among university students. The necessity for this study arises from the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence and the increasing prominence of machine learning. As a result, graduates must develop AI competencies to effectively contribute to the future society. The research was conducted with students (N = 35) who were students of information security technology and computer programming at a university in Istanbul in the Fall semesters of 2023 and 2024, who had no prior knowledge or limited knowledge on the subject. For the education, three-hour lessons on AI literacy were given for 8 weeks. The participants were asked to fill out quantitative questionnaires as pre-test and post-test before and after the education. Quantitative data were analyzed using a paired sample t-test. The results indicate a significant increase in students’ AI knowledge and their awareness of the importance of AI literacy and digital literacy. This study also summarizes key activities that provide interactive and participatory learning experiences in AI, aiming to assist educators in designing and implementing AI literacy courses within the broader framework of digital literacy.