arXiv AI

Access Timing as Scaffolding: A Reinforcement Learning Approach to GenAI in Education

arXiv:2605. 15850v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: In recent years, generative AI (GenAI) in educational settings has become ubiquitous in university students' daily lives, despite its potential to induce over-reliance, metacognitive disengagement, and diminished learning when used unrestrictedly.

arXiv AI
Sep 17

The Uneven Impact of Generative AI on Student Learning: Examining the Roles of Reliance, Evaluation Literacy, and Course Policy in AI-related Courses

The study investigates how generative AI (GenAI) affects student learning in AI-related courses, using survey data from 118 students across 12 courses. Four distinct user clusters were identified—high-use, light-use, and two moderate-use groups—each showing varying benefits and reliance patterns. The research highlights that early reliance, evaluation literacy, and instructor policies significantly influence perceived academic benefits and negative impacts, underscoring the need for institutional policies to address inequities in AI use.

By Lydia Manikonda, Mei Si, Sirajam Munira, Oshani Seneviratne, Kristin Bennett
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
arXiv AI
3d ago

Examining Variation in How Guided AI Tutors Resolve Student Impasses

The study analyzes 20,462 student turns from 1,260 sessions with a guided LLM chemistry tutor, identifying 6,630 impasse turns categorized as conceptual errors, expressed uncertainty, or help‑seeking. Three tutoring conditions—baseline, no‑direct‑answer, and guided—were simulated, revealing that the baseline tutor often gave direct answers, the no‑direct‑answer tutor always asked follow‑up questions, and the guided tutor varied its responses based on context. Impasse trajectories showed that each additional impasse turn reduced the likelihood of recovery, while addressing errors became increasingly beneficial compared to repeated scripted questioning.

By Bakhtawar Ahtisham, Kirk Vanacore, Alessandra Napoli, Josh Arens, Ksenia Ionova, Clayton Cohn, Shima Salehi, Rene Kizilcec
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
Jun 15

Thinking Outside the [Chat]Box: Bridging Computer Science and Industrial Design for Cognitive-Inclusive Generative AI

arXiv:2606. 14306v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Current Generative AI (GenAI) interfaces remain largely constrained to chatbox interaction, which can impose high cognitive demands on users and create substantial barriers for people with intellectual disabilities (ID), including prompt formulation difficulties, response overload, and limited mechanisms to assess information reliability.

By Virginia Francisco, Daniel Guasch, Raquel Herv\'as