Seyedahmad “Ahmad” Rahimi, associate professor in Georgia Tech’s College of Lifetime Learning, has received a $1.6 million CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). His interdisciplinary research explores how artificial intelligence can help middle school students build creativity and deepen their understanding of physics.   

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is NSF’s most prestigious honor for early-career faculty with the potential to become leaders in research and education. Rahimi, the College’s first tenure-track faculty member, is also the first to receive the honor.

“I’m very humbled to have received this CAREER Award because it represents an investment in my growth as a scholar exploring the intersection of artificial intelligence, learning sciences, psychometrics, and educational technology,” Rahimi said. “It’s very rewarding to see that my work has been recognized and to have this opportunity to investigate questions that are deeply important to me.”     

At the center of Rahimi’s project is Little C., a generative AI coach named for the concept of everyday creativity. The coach will assess students’ designs and offer feedback as they create, test, and revise physics-based simulations. Students will use the coach within Physics Playground, an existing digital sandbox where they design and test game levels to explore Newton’s laws of motion. By pairing creative exploration with physics concepts, Rahimi hopes students build STEM skills, gain confidence in trying something new, or build learner agency.

“What if we could have an entry point into STEM learning that looks less intimidating through the game environment and give students the opportunity to create, experiment, learn, and be creative?” Rahimi said. “Instead of treating creativity and learning as separate things, we want students to learn through creating and become more creative through learning; this is a win-win situation."

The project, which will take place primarily in after-school settings, will also explore how students engage with the AI coach during design activities and how that engagement influences creative output, physics learning, and AI literacy. 

“I’m trying to make students interested in physics,” he said. “Through this fun activity in the context of after-school programs, students can build this interest and feel self-efficacious about physics and creativity.”

During the project’s first year, Rahimi plans to engage educators and learners as co-designers to help ensure Little C. is as accessible, effective, and useful as possible. Their input will help shape the AI coach’s communication style, learning supports, and safeguards, all designed to support the responsible and appropriate use of AI in educational settings.  

This project builds on research underway in Rahimi’s CLASS Lab, or Creative Learning through AI and Stealth Assessment for STEM. The lab focuses on how emerging technologies can support learning, problem-solving, and creativity while keeping learners’ interests and abilities at the center of the experience. 

In fact, creativity has been a recurring theme throughout Rahimi’s career. He traces that interest back to fourth grade, when an art teacher praised the creativity he showed in a drawing. He said that experience helped shape his long-standing interest in how creativity develops and its role in learning.   

“We are living in an uncertain era and problems that we have never seen before will come our way, and we need people who have original thinking who can deal with those problems,” Rahimi said. “I believe creativity has been and certainly is one of the most important, if not the most important skill for human beings.”

Author: Joëlle Walls