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AI Tool Enhances Tutoring Experience for Elementary Students

Researchers affiliated with Stanford University have introduced an innovative AI platform known as Tutor CoPilot, which utilizes OpenAI’s GPT-4 technology. This system is integrated into FEV Tutor, an online platform designed to connect students and tutors seamlessly in a virtual environment.

Within this digital space, communication between tutors and students occurs via a chat interface. When tutors encounter challenges in articulating concepts or correcting student mistakes, they can utilize Tutor CoPilot to receive tailored suggestions simply by pressing a button.

The development of Tutor CoPilot involved an extensive training process using a database comprising 700 real tutoring sessions. These sessions included veteran educators working closely with first- to fifth-grade students on various math topics. The objective was to identify and rectify errors while fostering an understanding of underlying concepts, enabling students to grasp the material more thoroughly. From this valuable dataset, the AI generates customizable responses that tutors can leverage to assist their students effectively.

Rose Wang, a PhD student at Stanford who contributed to this project, expressed enthusiasm for the potential of human-AI collaborations. “I’m really excited about the future of human-AI collaboration systems,” she remarked. “I think this technology is a huge enabler, but only if it’s designed well.” The project has been documented in a paper available on arXiv but is still pending peer review.

It’s crucial to note that Tutor CoPilot is not intended to directly teach mathematical concepts to students. Rather, it serves as a supportive tool that provides tutors with strategies to guide students towards the right answers while promoting a deeper understanding of the subject matter.

For instance, the AI can prompt tutors to inquire about the student’s thought process in arriving at an answer or suggest alternative questions that might lead to different methods of problem-solving. This approach underlines a commitment to enhancing the educational experience and ensuring that learning is both effective and engaging.

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www.technologyreview.com