About the Project
Guidance for Responsible AI in STEM Education Research (GRAISER)
The impressive ability of modern AI tools to generate text, audio, and images in response to natural language prompts suggests the potential for these tools to lead to substantial resource savings, including in research contexts. Three broad categories where AI could be used in research have been identified (Johri et al., 2023): generative assistance (data generation, instrument creation, documentation, coding support, rapid prototyping, data presentation, and summarizing for review), data analysis, and reporting (drafting and editing, paper writing, and literature review). With AI use, however, comes increased risk and responsibility–both to our research and to our participants.
Our project seeks to support education researchers by providing responsible usage guidelines that increase efficiency and accuracy while decreasing harms.
Processes
Consensus development conferences (CDC) bring together experts to synthesize knowledge to inform practice (Fink et al., 1984). We will adopt best practices for CDCs to establish ethical guidelines for AI in STEM education research, including planning, individual judgment, and group interaction. Blending this with participatory design research (Slocum-Bradley, 2003; Spinuzzi, 2005), we will actively engage participants as co-creators in both the conference process and the report’s development. Our thumbnail process and timeline are as follows:
- Sept-Oct 2025: Establish our steering committee; Invite the community to apply to participate in the workshop and to provide asynchronous feedback as the guidelines are developed; Send invitations to community members to attend the workshop (to be held Nov 3-4, 2025 in Chicago, IL)
- Nov 2025: Host the workshop
- Dec 2025 – Jan 2026: Create first draft of guidelines; share with steering committee; revise draft based on feedback
- Feb 2026: Share second draft with workshop participants
- March 2026: Revise draft and review with steering committee
- April 2026: Solicit feedback on draft from asynchronous reviewers and others in the broader STEM education research community; if you would like to provide feedback, please complete our form.
- May 2026: Revise draft
- June – August 2026: Share guidelines with the broader community
Steering Committee
Dr. Justin Reich
MIT
Associate Professor of Comparative Media Studies
Dr. Megan Stubbs-Richardson
Mississippi State University
Associate Research Professor at the Social Science Research Center
Dr. Aman Yadav
Michigan State University
Lappan-Phillips Professor of Computing Education
Workshop Participants
Workshop participants will be announced soon.
Asynchronous Participants
Asynchronous participants will be announced soon.