Language models enable accurate science translations for better education
CRITICS - Critical Science Without Borders: Language Models to Promote Critical Thinking in Science Education
Computation and LanguageArtificial Intelligence
Summary
Many scientific materials are only available in a few languages, making it hard for students worldwide to understand them. The authors of this paper show how advanced language models can translate science content into students' native languages without losing accuracy. This helps students learn complex science ideas more clearly and promotes better critical thinking skills. They also suggest ways to create lessons and feedback that match school goals and tests.
What this means in practice
- •For educational technology developers: Create science learning apps that provide accurate translations aligned to local curricula using advanced language models.
- •For language service providers: Offer specialized scientific translation services optimized for educational content to expand multilingual access.$Commercial implications: Enables sales of targeted scientific translation solutions for schools and education platforms needing accurate localized materials.
Authors
Rodrigo Agerri, Itziar Aldabe, Elena Cabrio, Mark Cieliebak, Jan Deriu, Mariana Flores, Jurgita Kapociute-Dzikiene, Dovile Kuiziniene, Arantza Rico, Aritz Ruiz-Gonzalez, Aitor Soroa, Mantas Vaskevicius, Serena Villata
Abstract
The CRITICS project addresses science accessibility and literacy by converging advanced Machine Translation (MT) based on Large Language Models (LLMs) with educational technology. By leveraging MT systems specifically optimized for scientific content, educational institutions can provide accurate, culturally relevant translations of scientific materials in students' native languages, ensuring that complex scientific concepts are comprehensible while maintaining technical accuracy. Building on these translations, the project explores the design and evaluation of innovative science teaching-learning proposals grounded in curriculum-aligned teaching-learning. Thus, CRITICS will investigate key components of scientific argumentation and critical thinking practices together with textual feedback aligned with learning objectives and assessment criteria inspired by competence-based evaluation frameworks. CRITICS aims to break down language barriers to accessing cutting-edge research and educational materials currently available only in high-resourced languages, thereby facilitating the democratization of scientific knowledge and fostering critical thinking in science education.