Development and Validation of an Artificial Intelligence Literacy Assessment for Kindergarten Children

With Artificial intelligence (AI) literacy gaining more and more attention at the kindergarten level, it is becoming critical to assess the AI literacy levels of kindergarten children and develop appropriate courses to enhance their foundational AI knowledge and skills. This study proposes and validates a comprehensive AI literacy assessment tool (AI4KGA) for kindergarten children. The research involved 215 children and 19 experts. The validity and reliability of the AI4KG assessment were evaluated by experts, with Cronbach’s α and Item Response Theory approach. The results demonstrated that the AI literacy assessment (AI4KGA) was valid and reliable. We also found that younger children scored lower on the AI literacy assessment than older children and girls demonstrated a slightly higher AI literacy score than boys after they completed the AI4KG curriculum. The AI4KGA has potential applications for various stakeholders, such as policymakers, educators, instructional designers, researchers, and educational institutions. The findings suggest that the AI4KGA can evaluate children’s learning outcomes in terms of AI literacy. Overall, this research contributes to developing AI literacy assessment in kindergarten children and advancing AI literacy education.