Explore past issues of the National GENIUS Center Newsletter, featuring the latest research, member spotlights, and developments in AI and STEM education. Browse by year below to catch up on any issue you may have missed. Don't forget to subscribe!
October 2026
The October 2026 newsletter from the National GENIUS Center highlights ModelAgent, an AI-powered learning partner embedded in the GENIUS platform that helps students develop scientific models through probing questions and formative feedback. It also recaps the Center’s first AI + Science Explorers Camp, where middle school students used GenAgents to investigate scientific phenomena, practice modeling and argumentation, strengthen their AI literacy, and design ideas for their own AI learning partners. The Research Hub features GENIUS Center researchers’ contributions to AIME-Con 2026, including discussions of human-centered AI, responsible assessment, fairness, trust, and the role of educators in AI-supported learning. The issue also introduces GENIUS Spotlight Member Dr. Nejla Yürük, whose work connects conceptual change and metacognition with AI-enhanced science learning through the development of LabAgent. Finally, the Intelligence Brief examines how Florida, Wyoming, Missouri, and California are approaching AI in education through educator preparation, leadership training, career credentials, and responsible-use policies, while previewing three November guest-speaker sessions on AI education, ethical practice, and AI-supported science teaching and learning.
September 2026
The September 2026 newsletter from the National GENIUS Center highlights CoSMoAgent, an AI-powered peer embedded in the C2STEM learning environment that helps students model real-world scenarios through questions, hints, and guided problem-solving. It also celebrates GENIUS team member Arne Bewersdorff, who received the American Political Science Association’s 2026 Best Public Facing Scholarship Award with Daniel Schiff and Marie Hornberger for their article on the technical, social, and ethical dimensions of AI literacy. The Research Hub features new work on keeping humans actively involved in AI-supported science learning, making scientific-inquiry assessment more scalable and trustworthy, and using generative AI to strengthen connections across science curriculum, instruction, learning, and assessment. The issue also introduces GENIUS Spotlight Member Dr. Nuodi Zhang, a new postdoctoral research associate whose work explores AI-supported learning environments, teacher preparation, computational thinking, and AI literacy in science and mathematics education. Finally, the Intelligence Brief examines whether AI is moving faster than schools are prepared for, highlighting concerns about K–12 readiness and student safeguards alongside expanding AI literacy programs and curricula from Carnegie Mellon, Samsung, and the Mark Cuban Foundation.
August 2026
The August 2026 newsletter from the National GENIUS Center highlights teacher co-design work across the GENIUS Center and AutoSPIN project. Where science teachers partnered with researchers to test emerging AI tools and shape how they support classroom instruction. Alongside a recap of visiting scholars Dr. Fang-Ying Yang (National Taiwan Normal University) and Dr. Heesoo Ha with preservice teachers from Pusan National University, who joined for talks and research exchanges on AI, visual attention, and science learning. It spotlights the Research Hub with three recent volumes edited and co-edited by Xiaoming Zhai and collaborators charting AI’s role in STEM education—covering what AI can do in STEM learning, how it can advance STEM education research, and how it should be used responsibly in science classrooms. The issue also introduces GENIUS Spotlight Member Dr. Samaneh Zamanifard, a new postdoctoral research associate whose work spans personalized AI-supported learning, learner modeling, and multimodal learning analytics, and shares an Intelligence Brief on global AI education investments, including Beijing’s new mandatory AI class hours, India’s expanding AI curriculum, Brazil’s national AI workforce plan, and AWS’s expansion of NBA Math Hoops across Africa, alongside a postdoctoral fellow opening at ETS.
July 2026
The July 2026 newsletter from the National GENIUS Center highlights an NSF FINDERS FOUNDRY Planning Grant awarded to Jennifer Kleiman and Arne Bewersdorff for a spin-off study co-designing privacy-preserving audio tools to capture small-group argumentation data for ArguAgent, alongside a linked recap of team reflections from AIED 2026. It features Dr. Xiaoming Zhai’s commentary in a Georgia Recorder article on a state audit finding that nearly 60% of Georgia teachers now use generative AI for classroom prep, and spotlights the Research Hub with an edited volume on responsible and ethical AI practice in science education (edited by Zhai and Kent J. Crippen). The issue also introduces GENIUS Spotlight Member Dr. Lin Yan, a new postdoctoral researcher known for her Every Voice Matters project and the Equi-Talk AI coaching tool for equitable classroom discussion, and shares an Intelligence Brief on new AI tools for educators (Claude for Teachers, Google’s education AI suite, Google Classroom’s role-aware homepage) alongside emerging guidance efforts like a student-led AI Bill of Rights for schools and a developmental, grade-by-grade approach to classroom AI use.
June 2026
The June 2026 newsletter from the National GENIUS Center highlights the team’s presence at AIED 2026 in Seoul, Korea, showcasing seven conference sessions spanning algorithmic fairness, LLM-based scaffolding agents, and AI feedback on student science drawings. It spotlights three featured papers in the Research Hub — ArguAgent, a generative AI system for real-time equitable grouping in STEM argumentation; the Evidence-Decision-Feedback framework for adaptive, theory-driven LLM tutoring agents; and a study testing whether multimodal AI feedback on science drawings is genuinely grounded in student work. The issue also introduces GENIUS Spotlight Member Dr. Amy Adair Midyett of the ETS Research Institute, and shares an Intelligence Brief on AI literacy as an essential student skill, covering research on AI overreliance’s effects on professional expertise, a World Economic Forum call for AI literacy as a K-12 core competency, and new educator AI training resources from Google and CDW.
May 2026
The May 2026 newsletter from the National GENIUS Center highlights the Center’s second-year Advisory Board meeting at the University of Georgia, where team members presented GenAgent demonstrations and received strategic feedback. It spotlights AI4STEM researchers who received the 2026 NARST RAISE RIG Innovative Research Award for their framework on designing science and engineering practices for AI-involved learning environments, and features a commentary on how teachers build trust when implementing AI responsibly in the classroom. The issue also shares updates on AI in K–12 education and policy, and announces the Center’s upcoming presentations and demos at the Artificial Intelligence in Education Conference in Seoul, Korea.
April 2026
The April 2026 newsletter from the National GENIUS Center highlights the Center’s AERA 2026 work on InquiryAgent, ModelAgent, and EngageAgent, emphasizing an integrated ecosystem of AI tools for science learning. It spotlights doctoral students Ying Zhang and Jennifer Kleiman, summarizes research on using learning progressions to guide scalable AI feedback, promotes an open-access volume on AI for STEM education research, and shares updates on AI in K–12 education and policy. The issue also announces upcoming GENIUS presentations and demos at the Artificial Intelligence in Education Conference in Seoul.
March 2026
The March 2026 newsletter from the National GENIUS Center covers the organization’s work at the intersection of AI and STEM education. It highlights upcoming conference appearances at NSTA, NARST, and AERA in April 2026, spotlights postdoctoral researcher Dr. Jongchan Park whose work focuses on AI-supported science learning and how students navigate uncertainty, and recaps a keynote by Dr. Arne Bewersdorff at the German Physical Society’s annual meeting exploring both how AI can support science learning and how engaging with AI can itself become a teaching opportunity. The newsletter also puts out a call for research submissions, and rounds up relevant news items on AI in K-12 education, policy, and teacher professional development.
February 2026
The February 2026 National GENIUS Center Newsletter highlights current research, thought leadership, and community activity around responsible AI in STEM education. It features a keynote on AI in science assessment that positions AI as a collaborative partner in learning, a member spotlight on Dr. Matías Ignacio Rojas Miranda’s work at the intersection of AI, software engineering, and STEM education, and summaries of recent research on intelligent tutoring systems and generative AI in science teacher education. The newsletter also shares upcoming conference sessions, calls for research submissions, and curated AI policy and education updates from across the field.
March 3 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- The National GENIUS Center: A Collaborative Effort for National Impact
- International Conference on Advancing AI in Science Education
- AI Research in Education Highlights
- Upcoming Events
- Publish your research with the National GENIUS Center: Call for submissions
March 20 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- GENIUS Center Research Hub: New research by Wu, et al., (2025)
explores the alignment gap between LLM graders and human graders - GENIUS Member Spotlight: Dr. Ehsan Latif
- Policy Updates: AI in Educational Testing Services
• The Southern Regional Education Board Recommendations for AI adoption
• CADRE AI Policy in Education - Upcoming Events
- Call for Papers
April 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- National GENIUS Center Advisory Board Meeting
- GENIUS Member Spotlight: Clayton Cohn
- GENIUS Commentary: “Uses of Artificial Intelligence in STEM Education”
–An edited book by Dr. Xiaoming Zhai and Joseph Krajcik - GENIUS Research Hub: National AI Strategies on AI Competence Development
May 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- The NGC Response to AI in Education Executive Order
- GENIUS Member Spotlight: Siwoo Bae
- GENIUS Research Hub: NGC showcased on UGA Today
- GENIUS Upcoming Events
June 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- GENIUS Update: Research Scientists Highlight Advances in AI-Powered STEM Education
- GENIUS Center PI, Dr. Zhai, spotlighted in Recent Insights to Academia Article
- GENIUS Research Hub
- Participant Recruitment: Opportunity to Participate in AI Research
- Upcoming Events
July 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- GENIUS Update: Developing Intelligent Conversational Agents for the GENIUS Platform
- GENIUS Commentary: AI in the Amplifying Instruction
- Member Spotlight: Dr. Ninghao Liu
- Innovating Education: A Call for Participants
- Research Hub: Spotlight on AI Science Education & Recent Center Publications
- Upcoming Events: AIED, July 2025
- UGA Post Doctoral Researcher Opportunity in Science Education
September 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- Commentary: Building Teacher Trust in AI through Co-DesignETS Partners attend Rethinking ASR Workshop
- Member Spotlight: Field Watts, Ph.D.
- Research Hub: Efficient Multi-task Inferencing: Model Merging with Gromov-Wasserstein Feature Alignment
- GEN AI Today: Sharing GEN AI in Education Progress in the field!
- Upcoming Events: Macau International Forum 2025
October 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- GENIUS Update: SketchMind: A Multi-Agent Cognitive Framework for Assessing Student-Drawn Scientific Sketches
- Member Spotlight: Dr. Xin Xia
- Research Hub: A Responsible and Ethical Framework for AI-Supported Science Education
- In the News: AI Is Changing What High School STEM Students Study
- Call for Papers: The National Conference on AI in Education
December 2025
Innovating Tomorrow: Exploring STEM Education and Generative AI Today
In This Issue
- GENIUS Update: National GENIUS Center Innovations Presented at the National Conference on AI in Education
- Center News: Launch of the AI4STEM Distinguished Guest Speaker Series
- Member Spotlight: Dr. Arne Bewersdorff — Advancing AI Literacy Research
- Research Hub: AI Literacy Correlations Across Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Variables
- Research Hub: Framework for Designing AI Chatbots to Support Scientific Argumentation
- Call for Submissions: Publish Your Research with the National GENIUS Center
- Upcoming Events: Looking Ahead to NARST 2026
- Intelligence Brief: AI Updates Across K–12 Education and Policy