arXiv AI

On-Premises Multi-Course RAG Tutoring for Business Education: Hardware-Software Trade-offs in a Campus AI Tutor

The paper introduces CourseChat, an on‑premises, multi‑course retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) tutor designed for undergraduate business education. It runs behind a campus web gateway, with each of six courses identified by a unique course reference number (CRN) sharing dual AI hosts that provide a FastAPI service, a local vector database, and a local large language model (LLM) served by Ollama. The authors evaluate different model sizes, noting that larger models failed speed requirements while a 12B and 7B model met the classroom speed gate; a mixture‑of‑experts variant improved some corrections but introduced new errors, leading them to retain an 8B model for production pending further improvement. The study highlights that model selection, evidence sourcing, serving compatibility, and product design must be considered together, though it does not demonstrate learning gains and calls for separate evaluation of faculty ratings, peak‑load capacity, and public‑gateway acceptance.

arXiv AI
Jul 16

Learning Engagement Assistant (LEA): Cross-Course Scalability and Classroom Evaluation of an Agentic AI Tutoring System

arXiv:2607. 13370v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: This paper is an extension of a paper presented at the ICAART 2026 conference, which introduced LEA (Learning Engagement Assistant), an adaptive AI tutoring agent combining course-specific Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with structured Knowledge Component (KC) models across integrated Chat, Tutor, and Quiz modes.

By Teri Rumble, Javad Zarrin, P. George Lovell, Ruth Falconer
arXiv AI
Aug 25

AI University: An LLM-Powered Learning Assistant for Engineering---A Finite Element Method Case Study

AI University (AI‑U) is a flexible framework that uses a fine‑tuned large language model (LLM) combined with retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) and a reasoning synthesis model to produce style‑aligned responses from lecture videos, notes, and textbooks. In a graduate‑level finite‑element‑method (FEM) course, the authors created a pipeline to generate course‑grounded training data, fine‑tuned an open‑source LLM with Low‑Rank Adaptation (LoRA), and applied RAG‑based synthesis. Evaluation through cosine similarity, LLM‑based assessment, expert review, and user studies showed that the expert model outperformed the base model in alignment with course materials, with 86 % of test cases scoring higher and human users preferring the expert model roughly twice as often. whyItMatters":"The study demonstrates a practical method for building course‑specific learning assistants that improve alignment with instructional content, offering a template that can be extended across STEM fields."

By Mostafa Faghih Shojaei, Rahul Gulati, Benjamin A. Jasperson, Shangshang Wang, Simone Cimolato, Manas Vardhan, Dangli Cao, Willie Neiswanger, Krishna Garikipati
Hugging Face Trending Papers
Jul 15

Learning Engagement Assistant (LEA): Cross-Course Scalability and Classroom Evaluation of an Agentic AI Tutoring System

This paper is an extension of a paper presented at the ICAART 2026 conference, which introduced LEA (Learning Engagement Assistant), an adaptive AI tutoring agent combining course-specific Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) with structured Knowledge Component (KC) models across integrated Chat, Tutor, and Quiz modes. That prior work validated LEA on a single STEM course (CMP511) exclusively through simulation, using synthetic learner agents.

arXiv AI
Aug 5

EduClaw-Bench: A Long-Horizon Benchmark for Pedagogical LLM Agents with Simulated Learners

arXiv:2608. 03206v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) power educational applications from tutoring to essay scoring, but each is a point solution to a single task, and only recently have these point solutions been integrated into agents operating over a learning management system (LMS).

By Unggi Lee, Sookbun Lee, Yeil Jeong, Eunjoo Lee, Minchul Shin, Hoilym Kwon
arXiv AI
Jul 28

A didactical-driven teacher assistant for a dimensional modeling course

arXiv:2607. 22598v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Educational chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs) show promising effects on learning outcomes, yet most systems delegate pedagogical decisions such as content selection and didactic structuring implicitly to the LLM, making tutoring strategies difficult to trace, evaluate, and reproduce.

By Laurent Brisson (IMT Atlantique - DSD), Maria Segarra (IMT Atlantique - INFO, Lab-STICC\_MOTEL), Gr\'egory Smits (IMT Atlantique - INFO, Lab-STICC\_MOTEL)
arXiv AI
Jun 9

AI-Integrated Learning Management System for Middle School: A Longitudinal Study of Learning Outcomes Through High School and Beyond

arXiv:2606. 07544v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Middle school is a key window for building core academic skills and the learning routines students carry into later grades, yet many students still fall behind because help is often limited and comes too late, after they have already been stuck for a while.

By Misan Paul Etchie, Taiwo Olutosin
arXiv AI
Sep 21

Reducing Barriers to Academic Support: Evaluating a Course-Specific RAG System for Addressing Help-Seeking Disparities in Higher Education

The paper introduces Beacon, a course‑specific Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG) system that offers private, module‑aligned academic support to students. By grounding responses in approved teaching materials, Beacon aims to lower barriers to help‑seeking and encourage independent learning, especially in computing education where tasks are cumulative and demanding. Evaluation through questionnaires and interviews showed students found Beacon’s responses trustworthy and closely aligned with course content, viewing it as a useful first point of support before consulting lecturers or official resources.

By Andy Gray, Jake Hobbs