computer and education
The promise and limits of LLMs in constructing proofs and hints for logic problems in intelligent tutoring systems
Tithi, Sutapa Dey, Ramesh, Arun Kumar, DiMarco, Clara, Tian, Xiaoyi, Alam, Nazia, Fazeli, Kimia, Barnes, Tiffany
Intelligent tutoring systems have demonstrated effectiveness in teaching formal propositional logic proofs, but their reliance on template-based explanations limits their ability to provide personalized student feedback. While large language models (LLMs) offer promising capabilities for dynamic feedback generation, they risk producing hallucinations or pedagogically unsound explanations. We evaluated the stepwise accuracy of LLMs in constructing multi-step symbolic logic proofs, comparing six prompting techniques across four state-of-the-art LLMs on 358 propositional logic problems. Results show that DeepSeek-V3 achieved superior performance up to 86.7% accuracy on stepwise proof construction and excelled particularly in simpler rules. We further used the best-performing LLM to generate explanatory hints for 1,050 unique student problem-solving states from a logic ITS and evaluated them on 4 criteria with both an LLM grader and human expert ratings on a 20% sample. Our analysis finds that LLM-generated hints were 75% accurate and rated highly by human evaluators on consistency and clarity, but did not perform as well explaining why the hint was provided or its larger context. Our results demonstrate that LLMs may be used to augment tutoring systems with logic tutoring hints, but require additional modifications to ensure accuracy and pedagogical appropriateness.
Teacher training in the age of AI: Impact on AI Literacy and Teachers' Attitudes
Lademann, Julia, Henze, Jannik, Honke, Nadine, Wollny, Caroline, Becker-Genschow, Sebastian
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in education requires teachers to develop AI competencies while preparing students for a society influenced by AI. This study evaluates the impact of an online teacher training program on German in-service teachers' AI literacy, usage behaviors, and attitudes toward AI. A pre-post design study was conducted with teachers (N1 = 291 for AI literacy, N2 = 436 for attitude assessment) participating in the course. The program combined synchronous and asynchronous learning formats, including webinars, self-paced modules, and practical projects. The participants exhibited notable improvements across all domains: AI literacy scores increased significantly, and all attitude items regarding AI usage and integration demonstrated significant positive changes. Teachers reported increased confidence in AI integration. Structured teacher training programs effectively enhance AI literacy and foster positive attitudes toward AI in education.
AI Literacy in K-12 and Higher Education in the Wake of Generative AI: An Integrative Review
Gu, Xingjian, Ericson, Barbara J.
Accordingly, education researchers and practitioners have increasingly turned to AI literacy as an important learning objective. However, the definition of AI literacy remains vague. Researchers have used the term to describe learning interventions that differ by in school contexts, learning objectives, and types of AI technologies they use. Furthermore, the research of AI literacy is shifting significantly in the wake of generative AI. Thus, it is crucial to review the field and develop a conceptual framework that captures the diverse conceptualizations of AI literacy. The concept of AI literacy and recognition of its potential significance are well-established [75, 127]. One of the pioneering works by Touretzky et al. in 2019 laid out "five big ideas" for the AI4K12 initiative: "computers perceive the world using sensors", "agents maintain models/representations of the world and use them for reasoning", "computers can learn from data", "making agents interact with humans is a substantial challenge for AI developers", and "AI applications can impact society in both positive and negative ways" [127]. This paper had a major influence on subsequent AI literacy curriculum design. The next year, another prominent work by Long and Magerko defined AI literacy as "a set
Beyond Text-to-Text: An Overview of Multimodal and Generative Artificial Intelligence for Education Using Topic Modeling
Heilala, Ville, Araya, Roberto, Hรคmรคlรคinen, Raija
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can reshape education and learning. While large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT dominate current educational research, multimodal capabilities, such as text-to-speech and text-to-image, are less explored. This study uses topic modeling to map the research landscape of multimodal and generative AI in education. An extensive literature search using Dimensions.ai yielded 4175 articles. Employing a topic modeling approach, latent topics were extracted, resulting in 38 interpretable topics organized into 14 thematic areas. Findings indicate a predominant focus on text-to-text models in educational contexts, with other modalities underexplored, overlooking the broader potential of multimodal approaches. The results suggest a research gap, stressing the importance of more balanced attention across different AI modalities and educational levels. In summary, this research provides an overview of current trends in generative AI for education, underlining opportunities for future exploration of multimodal technologies to fully realize the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in education.
Analysis, Modeling and Design of Personalized Digital Learning Environment
Khanal, Sanjaya, Pokhrel, Shiva Raj
This research analyzes, models and develops a novel Digital Learning Environment (DLE) fortified by the innovative Private Learning Intelligence (PLI) framework. The proposed PLI framework leverages federated machine learning (FL) techniques to autonomously construct and continuously refine personalized learning models for individual learners, ensuring robust privacy protection. Our approach is pivotal in advancing DLE capabilities, empowering learners to actively participate in personalized real-time learning experiences. The integration of PLI within a DLE also streamlines instructional design and development demands for personalized teaching/learning. We seek ways to establish a foundation for the seamless integration of FL into learning systems, offering a transformative approach to personalized learning in digital environments. Our implementation details and code are made public.
Human-Centred Learning Analytics and AI in Education: a Systematic Literature Review
Alfredo, Riordan, Echeverria, Vanessa, Jin, Yueqiao, Yan, Lixiang, Swiecki, Zachari, Gaลกeviฤ, Dragan, Martinez-Maldonado, Roberto
The rapid expansion of Learning Analytics (LA) and Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) offers new scalable, data-intensive systems but also raises concerns about data privacy and agency. Excluding stakeholders -- like students and teachers -- from the design process can potentially lead to mistrust and inadequately aligned tools. Despite a shift towards human-centred design in recent LA and AIED research, there remain gaps in our understanding of the importance of human control, safety, reliability, and trustworthiness in the design and implementation of these systems. We conducted a systematic literature review to explore these concerns and gaps. We analysed 108 papers to provide insights about i) the current state of human-centred LA/AIED research; ii) the extent to which educational stakeholders have contributed to the design process of human-centred LA/AIED systems; iii) the current balance between human control and computer automation of such systems; and iv) the extent to which safety, reliability and trustworthiness have been considered in the literature. Results indicate some consideration of human control in LA/AIED system design, but limited end-user involvement in actual design. Based on these findings, we recommend: 1) carefully balancing stakeholders' involvement in designing and deploying LA/AIED systems throughout all design phases, 2) actively involving target end-users, especially students, to delineate the balance between human control and automation, and 3) exploring safety, reliability, and trustworthiness as principles in future human-centred LA/AIED systems.