ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN SCIENCE LEARNING TO FOSTER EARLY CHILDHOOD CURIOSITY AT SAVE THE KIDS KINDERGARTEN
Keywords:
Artificial intelligence, science learning, curiosity, early childhood, kindergartenAbstract
Young children are naturally curious, yet science learning in kindergartens often relies on worksheets and teacher explanation, leaving limited room for children to ask questions and investigate, while mobile phone and internet use among young children in Indonesia keeps rising and guidance on using artificial intelligence in early childhood classrooms remains scarce. This conceptual article aims to formulate a teacher-mediated framework for using artificial intelligence to foster curiosity in early childhood science learning, with Save The Kids Kindergarten in Banda Aceh as the context of application. The method is a literature-based review of recent international and national articles, official statistics, national regulations, and international guidance. The results show that artificial intelligence is most useful as a question prompter, an exploration companion, and a documentation aid for teachers, not as a substitute for children’s direct experience with real objects and events. The proposed framework has four stages, namely prompting, investigating, reflecting, and documenting, supported by principles of data protection and screen-time limits. In conclusion, artificial intelligence can foster curiosity only when it remains teacher-controlled and subordinate to real experience; because evidence on its effect on kindergarten children’s curiosity remains limited, the framework should be tested through classroom research before wider adoption.
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