Educators‘ concerns are running high when it comes to AI and how it may undermine teaching and learning. But what if teachers could find ways to use AI to measurably help students learn, rather than simply do their work for them?
Educators‘ concerns are running high when it comes to AI and how it may undermine teaching and learning. But what if teachers could find ways to use AI to measurably help students learn, rather than simply do their work for them?
Across campus, professors are experimenting with AI „tutor bots“ to help students succeed in courses with complicated material when individualized attention is not always feasible. According to Professors Greg Kestin and Kelly Miller, the bots represent one piece in a larger learning strategy that helps students home in on what they do get, and don’t, and do so at their own pace.
As part of an AI Innovations at Harvard presentation during Boston’s AI week, Kestin and Miller shared findings from a study of the custom tutor bot used in their introductory course „Physical Sciences 2“ in fall 2023. Based on their findings, Kestin said they’re optimistic about the technology.
„What we have found is that when AI tutors are used with tried-and-true research principles kept in mind, they can improve learning as well as enhance time spent with peers and instructors in the classroom“, he said.
In their study, Kestin and Miller compared a typical classroom setting in which students initially get lessons from a human instructor, to an AI-supported „flipped classroom“ where students learn core lessons from the tailored bot on their own and bring questions to class.
