Principles of AI Course

PLTW Principles of AI is an interdisciplinary AI course for high school students that introduces foundational concepts, real-world applications, and ethical considerations of artificial intelligence. The Principles of AI course combines hands-on learning and problem solving to help students build skills in data literacy, prompt engineering and responsible AI use. This PLTW course fits flexibly into a school’s STEM program, computer science offerings, and career and technical education (CTE) pathways, supporting broader goals around AI literacy for high schools and integration of AI in STEM education.

Artificial intelligence is already shaping college, careers, and everyday life; offering an AI course is a foundational to ensuring career readiness for all students. PLTW’s Principles of AI course helps students understand how AI works, how to use it responsibly, and how to evaluate risks and benefits of various AI tools. For schools and districts looking to expand high school AI education with standards-connected curriculum, the course provides meaningful exploration of both technical concepts and ethical decision-making.

The Principles of AI course differs from a traditional computer science course by providing scaffolded classroom experiences focused on building technical skills and competencies related to AI literacy, ethical reasoning, prompt engineering, data analysis, classifiers, and model training. Rather than centering learning goals on programming, this industry-backed AI course provides an interdisciplinary approach to project-based AI learning. By applying content knowledge in a real-world context, students broaden their understanding of how AI systems work and the ways they impact society.

The Principles of AI course from PLTW is designed for flexible implementation to ensure schools can begin offering high-quality, future-forward learning quickly and with fidelity. Rather than building a course from scratch or piecing together multiple solutions, schools can implement a structured AI course with defined units, lessons, projects, and hands-on learning experiences. With a nationally recognized high school course like Principles of AI, schools can build their reputation as a frontrunner in education. While implementation timelines will vary based on staffing, scheduling, and approval processes, the classroom-ready AI curriculum reduces educator workload and increases student access to career-ready learning.

The Principles of AI course includes collaborative, instructor-led teacher training which builds confidence and curriculum knowledge in a supportive environment. Adding the PLTW curriculum is an opportunity for educators to hone their own AI skills and facilitate learning that’s engaging and relevant. The Principles of AI professional development class for teachers and the PLTW course they facilitate will explore foundational AI concepts, data literacy, prompt engineering, ethical AI, and real-world applications through problem solving. With access to curriculum training and a network of peer educators, districts can implement this AI course for high school students without hiring a specialist or requiring extensive coursework from teachers.

Principles of AI is a semester-long course from PLTW that includes about 80 days of hands-on, scaffolded learning experiences which integrate into a variety of scheduling approaches. With a course designed for both flexibility and fidelity, educators can trust students will have enough time to build foundational understanding, complete projects, and hone their collaboration, communication, and ethical reasoning skills.

The Principles of AI course introduces students to real-world applications of artificial intelligence, which helps build technical and transferable skills they’ll need in an evolving workforce. Students gain knowledge and practical experience with data collection and processing; data analysis and visualization; prompt engineering; AI tools; and model-related concepts while also developing communication, teamwork, documentation, and critical thinking skills. Throughout the course, students explore AI-related professions and the industries that rely on them, providing a strong AI course for college and career prep and enabling AI literacy for student career readiness.

PLTW provides schools with a fully developed AI course that includes a defined course structure, sequenced units, lessons, projects, and hands-on learning experiences. That gives schools a clearer path to implementation than developing their own AI curriculum independently and helps support successful rollout of the Principles of AI course within existing STEM, computer science, or CTE offerings.

Responsible and ethical AI use is a core part of PLTW’s Principles of AI course. Students explore the risks and benefits of AI, bias and fairness in data and algorithms, societal impacts of the technology, privacy and security considerations, and responsible use in and out of the classroom. This course for high school students supports strategies for providing ethical AI education options that emphasize the importance of contributing to an inclusive, safe, collaborative, and ethical computing culture.