This study examines the potential to use non-expert, crowd-sourced raters to score essays by comparing expert raters' and crowd-sourced raters' assessments of writing quality. Expert raters and crowd-sourced raters scored 400 essays using a standardised holistic rubric and comparative judgement (pairwise ratings) scoring techniques, respectively.…

Our primary objective in this Special Issue was to respond to potential criticisms of AIED in potentially "perpetuating poor pedagogic practices, datafication, and introducing classroom surveillance" and to comment on the future of AIED in its coming of age. My overarching assumption in response to this line of critiques is that humans…

Large Language Models have recently achieved high performance on many writing tasks. In a recent study, math word problems in Carnegie Learning's MATHia adaptive learning software were rewritten by human authors to improve their clarity and specificity. The randomized experiment found that emerging readers who received the rewritten word problems…

Increasing use of intelligent tutoring systems in education calls for analytic methods that can unravel students' learning behaviors. In this study, we explore a latent variable modeling approach for tracking learning flow during computer-interactive artificial tutoring. The study considers three models that give discrete profiles of a latent…

Recent research seeks to develop more comprehensive learner models for adaptive learning software. For example, models of reading comprehension built using data from students' use of adaptive instructional software for mathematics have recently been developed. These models aim to deliver experiences that consider factors related to learning beyond…

Personalized problem selection enhances student practice in tutoring systems. Prior research has focused on transparent problem selection that supports learner control but rarely engages learners in selecting practice materials. We explored how different levels of control (i.e., full AI control, shared control, and full learner control), combined…

Reading comprehension is essential for students' ability to build knowledge. Students' comprehension abilities can be enhanced by providing students with deliberate practice and formative feedback on reading comprehension strategies. iSTART is an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) that is designed to provide instruction in reading strategies with…

Since GPT-4's release it has shown novel abilities in a variety of domains. This paper explores the use of LLM-generated explanations as on-demand assistance for problems within the ASSISTments platform. In particular, we are studying whether GPT-generated explanations are better than nothing on problems that have no supports and whether…

Assessments of natural language can provide vast information about individuals' thoughts and cognitive process, but they often rely on time-intensive human scoring, deterring researchers from collecting these sources of data. Natural language processing (NLP) gives researchers the opportunity to implement automated textual analyses across a…

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as large language models (LLMs) and diffusion model image and video generators, can transform learning and teaching experiences by providing students and instructors with access to a vast amount of information and create innovative learning and teaching materials in a very efficient way…

A longstanding goal of learner modeling and educational data mining is to improve the domain model of knowledge that is used to make inferences about learning and performance. In this report we present a tool for finding domain models that is built into an existing modeling framework, logistic knowledge tracing (LKT). LKT allows the flexible…

AutoTutor-ARC (adult reading comprehension) is an intelligent tutoring system that uses conversational agents to help adult learners improve their comprehension skills. However, in such a system, not all lessons and items optimally serve the same purposes. In this paper, we describe a method for classifying items that are "instructive,…

The Mobile Fact and Concept Textbook System (MoFaCTS) is an individualized online tutoring system designed to increase information comprehension and retention. It is being implemented in community college anatomy and physiology (A&P) courses for further system development. A&P was selected because it is a very challenging and highly in…

Writing is essential for success in academics and everyday tasks, but the development of writing skills depends on consistent access to high-quality instruction, extended practice, and personalized feedback. To address these demands and meet students' needs, educators and researchers have turned to technology-based writing tools. Ideally, these…

Adaptive educational software is likely to better support broader and more diverse sets of learners by considering more comprehensive views (or models) of such learners. For example, recent work proposed making inferences about "non-math" factors like reading comprehension while students used adaptive software for mathematics to better…