KI-Adventskalender: An Informal Learning Intervention for Data & AI Literacy

A multi-university research team, including Rahul Sharma and six other authors, has published findings on the KI-Adventskalender (AI Advent Calendar), an innovative, free web-based program designed to boost data and AI literacy among secondary school students. The initiative presents 24 short, guided micro-challenges released daily in December, focusing on practical, data-centric competencies and the socio-technical themes—like how data quality and evaluation choices affect outcomes—that underpin real-world AI systems. The goal is to demystify these interconnected concepts through informal, extracurricular learning.

Drawing on data from two annual runs, the paper reports that participation increased substantially in 2025, though early attrition remains a challenge. A key finding is that engagement stabilizes after the midpoint: among users who persisted to Day 12 in 2025, more than 75% went on to complete the entire calendar. The researchers observed that higher revision rates on tasks coincided with strong pass rates, suggesting that the format encourages sustained, reflective engagement. Based on these insights, the team proposes a next-step measurement agenda involving tighter task instrumentation and embedded micro-assessments to better distinguish between simple persistence and genuine conceptual learning.