Auburn Geo Explorer team selected for inaugural NSF FINDERS FOUNDRY award

Auburn University’s Geo Explorer team is among 50 groups nationwide selected for the inaugural round of NSF FINDERS FOUNDRY, a new National Science Foundation program focused on improving educational technology through collaboration.

With support from NSF FINDERS FOUNDRY, Department of Geosciences Chair Timothy Hawthorne and research associate Dustin Braden are developing TerraBot, an artificial intelligence tool designed to help Alabama teachers find reliable, standards-aligned Earth science resources.

The system will draw from a curated collection of lesson plans, educational activities, education websites and other materials reviewed for accuracy, relevance and alignment with Alabama K-12 education standards.

“We want the people we’re trying to reach to be part of the creation process,” Braden said. “They can bring resources to the table, and we can incorporate those into the knowledge base the tool draws from.”

The idea grew out of the Geo Explorer team’s conversations with educators across Alabama. Teachers often ask for help finding resources on topics they may not feel fully prepared to teach while also expressing concerns about using artificial intelligence in the classroom, including where information comes from and whether it can be trusted.

“Alabama science educators are incredibly dedicated, but time constraints, varying Earth science backgrounds and a flood of unverified online resources create significant classroom barriers,” said Britney Fureigh, a science education specialist for grades 3-5 with the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative, or AMSTI. “TerraBot and the Geo Explorer project assist in solving this by providing teachers with free, state-aligned and verified Earth science materials they can truly trust.”

TerraBot is designed to address those concerns by drawing from a defined collection of educational materials rather than searching broadly across the internet.

The project will use retrieval-augmented generation, a method that allows an AI system to consult an approved knowledge base before producing a response. This approach can reduce “hallucinations,” the term used when an AI tool generates false or fabricated information.

Community members will be invited to submit classroom activities, educational websites and other resources for consideration. Educators will then evaluate those submissions during curation summits for accuracy, relevance and alignment with Alabama standards. The strongest resources will become part of the knowledge base that drives TerraBot.

“Educational technology is only as effective as its connection to real classroom dynamics,” Fureigh said. “Involving local educators directly in shaping the content used in TerraBot ensures its knowledge base is transparent, trusted and tailored to support the day-to-day realities of Alabama instruction.”

The process will also be transparent. Contributors will be able to see whether a resource was selected and the criteria used to make that decision.

“I’m really excited to be in the room with skeptical teachers to talk through how they’re using AI right now, if they are,” Braden said. “I hope they ask us some tough questions.”

The Auburn team is working with Auburn City Schools, AMSTI, McWane Science Center. Parents and caregivers will also be invited to contribute resources and share what they want students to learn.

For Brandan Lanman, president and CEO of McWane Science Center, including those voices from the beginning is fundamental to developing something people will actually use.

“Designing with the end user in mind is simply good design,” Lanman said. “It’s something we strive to do every time we create a new exhibit or educational program at McWane. So when we had the opportunity to help develop new educational technology, it was only natural to bring educators, families and community partners into the process because they’re the people we’re ultimately serving.”

For Hawthorne, that broad participation represents a different approach to educational innovation. Instead of researchers and technology developers creating a product and delivering it to schools, the people who will use TerraBot will help shape it.

“Usually it’s just the ‘experts,’ the researchers,” Hawthorne said. “But this model is saying we value everyone participating. It’s the parent, the family member, the teacher, the researcher — everyone coming together to support education in Alabama.”

NSF FINDERS FOUNDRY selected 50 interdisciplinary teams working across K-12 learning environments. During the two-month planning phase, teams will gather input, test their concepts and develop initial designs.

Approximately 20 teams will later be selected to build and test working prototypes, and the Geo Explorer team plans to compete for that next phase.

Hawthorne and Braden will spend the planning period collecting resources, hosting curation summits and working with educators and families to determine what a useful, trustworthy classroom AI tool should look like.

One test may eventually involve asking TerraBot and a general-purpose chatbot the same question and comparing their responses. The team expects TerraBot’s answer to be more accurate, useful and closely aligned with what Alabama students are expected to learn.

For Fureigh, the larger promise is giving teachers a tool they can use with confidence while creating new opportunities for students.

“A trustworthy, standards-aligned AI platform gives Alabama teachers their time back by quickly generating reliable, targeted resources they can use with confidence,” Fureigh said. “In turn, students, educators and families gain access to personalized, inquiry-based experiences that spark curiosity while building critical technical and scientific literacy.”