1,817 research outputs found
Retrieval-augmented Generation to Improve Math Question-Answering: Trade-offs Between Groundedness and Human Preference
For middle-school math students, interactive question-answering (QA) with
tutors is an effective way to learn. The flexibility and emergent capabilities
of generative large language models (LLMs) has led to a surge of interest in
automating portions of the tutoring process - including interactive QA to
support conceptual discussion of mathematical concepts. However, LLM responses
to math questions can be incorrect or mismatched to the educational context -
such as being misaligned with a school's curriculum. One potential solution is
retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), which involves incorporating a vetted
external knowledge source in the LLM prompt to increase response quality. In
this paper, we designed prompts that retrieve and use content from a
high-quality open-source math textbook to generate responses to real student
questions. We evaluate the efficacy of this RAG system for middle-school
algebra and geometry QA by administering a multi-condition survey, finding that
humans prefer responses generated using RAG, but not when responses are too
grounded in the textbook content. We argue that while RAG is able to improve
response quality, designers of math QA systems must consider trade-offs between
generating responses preferred by students and responses closely matched to
specific educational resources.Comment: 6 pages, presented at NeurIPS'23 Workshop on Generative AI for
Education (GAIED
Technology-enhanced Personalised Learning: Untangling the Evidence
Technology-enhanced personalised learning is not yet common in Germany, which is why we have tasked scientists with summarising the current status of international research on the matter. This study demonstrates the great potential of technology in implementing effective personalised learning. Nevertheless, it has not been assessed yet whether the practical implementation actually works: Even in countries such as the U.S., which lead the way in using techology in classroom settings, hardly any evaluation studies have been done to prove the effectiveness of technology-enhanced personalised learning. In the light of the above, the authors make recommendations for actions to be taken in Germany to make best use of the potential of technology in providing individual support and guidance to students
A Comparison of Two Instructional Sequences in an Intelligent Tutoring Program on Multiplicative Concepts and Problem Solving of Students with Mathematics Difficulties
One of the crucial goals of the National Councils of Teachers Mathematics standards (2000) was to have all students, including students with mathematics difficulties (MD), to succeed in establishing a higher-order thinking in mathematic
- …