MACQUARIE SCHOOL

OF EDUCATION
Faculty of Arts

IBM AI Curriculum Framework

IBM CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
The best way to predict the future is to inspire the next generation of students to build it better.
The IBM AI Curriculum Framework provides a suite of global, open online resources for students, with
pedagogical support for teachers, to develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to understand AI and its
implications for society and the world, and to use AI to solve authentic problems now and in the future.

THE IBM AI CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK IS DESIGNED TO:

• be integrated into the school curriculum using interdisciplinary projects that span several subjects
• use a design-based approach to problem-solving with AI
• develop a professional learning community for teachers in partnership with industry
• provide collaborative global project opportunities for students
• recognise learning achievement through badging and accreditation
The IBM AI Curriculum Framework aims to help educators engage, challenge, provoke and inspire students aged 5 to 17,
across learning progressions, with entry points at any age.
By learning about AI, students may be able to have a better understanding of their strengths as humans, establish their
values, develop skills needed to solve problems and put AI to good use.
Students will have the opportunity to take action and apply learning through a Capstone Project.

MODULES AND LEARNING PROGRESSIONS

The IBM AI Curriculum Framework is a structured set of intended learning outcomes that broadly defines the theoretical
underpinnings, aims and content to be learned to guide more detailed planning, implementation and evaluation by
schools and school systems. It consists of the following strands and learning progressions for each strand.

Modules and Topics – Learning Progressions

Teacher PL Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

KNOWLEDGE
• What is AI
• History of AI
• Applications of AI
Foundational Level Intermediate Level Expert Level
SKILLS
• Design Thinking
Students will know and Students will apply, Students will apply,
• Critical and Creative
understand, through through guided and through independent
Thinking
guided participation, how independent participation, participation AI skills,
• Data Fluency to use AI skills, knowledge AI skills, knowledge and knowledge and values to
• Computational and values to solve values to solve problems. solve complex problems.
Thinking problems.

VALUES
• Ethical Decision
Making
• Bias Awareness

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IBM AI Curriculum Framework

Learning progressions will not necessarily be age- or year-dependent. Entry to each level will be determined by a student’s
current knowledge and experience.
The outcomes of the modules 1) Knowledge, 2) Skills and 3) Values are outlined in more detail in the following pages.

OUTCOMES – KNOWLEDGE MODULE

Knowledge Module Outcomes

Strand Overview Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

What is AI Students understand Students can Students can identify Students can evaluate
the key understand the key when AI methods situations where AI is
characteristics of characteristics of AI such as machine being used and
artificial intelligence and can differentiate learning are being determine its 'fit for
(AI) compared with AI from HI used in particular purpose'
human intelligence contexts and how
(HI) and how AI is they differ from
closely related to, but methods in related
distinct from the fields
domains of computer
science, data science,
robotics and other
related fields

History of AI Students understand Students can describe Students understand Students understand
past and present the historical the factors such as the effects technology
developments and development of AI to computer hardware, disruptions of the
uses of AI and its the present time the availability of past have had on
future implications to noting examples of large data sets, the society and in light of
society and the world its use by humans in development of this, can identify
different contexts mathematical potential future
techniques and other implications of AI on
developments that society and the world
have led to the
widespread use of AI

Applications of AI Students will explore Students can identify Students understand Students can identify
the various categories different categories of
how AI is used to different countries
of AI (e.g. visual AI (recommender
solve problems in priorities in AI and
recognition, natural systems, autonomous
language processing) systems, natural various how they are using AI
and how they are language processing, disciplines/industries for good
used image recognition,
etc.) and understand
how these are
experienced in
everyday life

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IBM AI Curriculum Framework

OUTCOMES – SKILLS MODULE

Skills Module Outcomes

Strand Overview Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Design Thinking Students can work Students can apply Students can work as Students can lead a
collaboratively within the DT framework to members of a team to team and use the DT
teams and use the solving a simple apply the DT framework to solve a
Design Thinking (DT) problem affecting framework to solve a problem and create a
process to come up an individual and problem faced by one working prototype
with human-centred create a model or or more people and that will have real-life
solutions to complex conceptual prototype engage with the impact
problems of the solution people affected to
understand the
problem

Critical and Students can Students can define Students can Students can probe
Creative Thinking approach problems and clarify a problem deconstruct a for root causes of a
from different by asking open-ended problem statement to defined problem,
perspectives, produce questions, think of determine the brainstorm solutions
innovative solutions likely causes and resources, support and decide on a
and decide on a possible solutions and skills required to course of action
course of action and decide on a produce a solution to based on reasoning,
based on reason, course of action meet different users logic, ethics, human
logic, ethics and needs and minimise impact, feasibility,
human impact environmental innovation
impact

Data Fluency Students can explore Students can identify Students can identify, Students can use data
the role of structured and collect data to
collect, clean and analysis and machine
and unstructured solve simple
organise data to solve learning tools to
data in the context of problems and explore
solving problems how outcomes are problems and gather discover, interpret,
dependent on data insights or make and extract
entered predictions from AI knowledge and
outcomes insights from
meaningful patterns
in data

Computational Students can explore Students can Students can express Students can
Thinking
methods for solving decompose simple solutions in symbolic understand different
problems in problems into forms of logic, use AI features and apply
logical/structured/ smaller parts, simple AI offerings to them to different
programmatic terms, recognise patterns, solve problems, adapt problem contexts
and also how describe a process as open-source code to within applications
computers can and a sequence of clearly create simple created from code
do participate in this defined steps and applications
process perform these using
visual programming

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IBM AI Curriculum Framework

OUTCOMES – VALUES MODULE

Values Module Outcomes

Strand Overview Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Ethical Decision Students understand Students understand Students question Students understand
Making ethical challenges in how personal data is how machines arrive the challenges posed
human- and being used by at decisions and by AI in the context
computer/AI-based machines and can identify when AI of ethical norms,
decision-making identify the potential goals may be at risk human rights, social
including value risks from deviating from responsibility,
alignment, fairness, ethical policy and environmental and
explainability, human values economic factors,
interpretability, data inclusivity/diversity,
handling fairness/equity

Bias Awareness Students understand Students can identify Students can evaluate Students can
various types of bias personal, cultural machine-generated understand fairness
(e.g. personal, and societal models/outcomes for in selecting training
professional, influences and how bias and propose data for AI
societal), and can these may impact alternatives applications and
identify possible decisions evaluate outcomes
causes and for bias
consequences in the
context of human-
and computer/AI-
based decision
making.
computer/AI-based
decision making

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