An introduction to machine learning for students in secondary education

We have developed a platform for exposing high school students to machine learning techniques for signal processing problems, making use of relatively simple mathematics and engineering concepts. Along with this platform we have created two example scenarios which give motivation to the students for learning the theory underlying their solutions. The first scenario features a recycling sorting problem in which the students must setup a system so that the computer may learn the different types of objects to recycle so that it may automatically place them in the proper receptacle. The second scenario was motivated by a high school biology curriculum. The students are to develop a system that learns the different types of bacteria present in a pond sample. The system will then group the bacteria together based on similarity. One of the key strengths of this platform is that virtually any type of scenario may be built upon the concepts conveyed in this paper. This then permits student participation from a wide variety of educational motivation.