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Platform-independent and curriculum-oriented intelligent assistant for higher education

Sajja, Ramteja, Sermet, Yusuf, Cwiertny, David, Demir, Ibrahim·2023·International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education
DOI 10.1186/s41239-023-00412-7
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Abstract

Miscommunication between instructors and students is a significant obstacle to post-secondary learning. Students may skip office hours due to insecurities or scheduling conflicts, which can lead to missed opportunities for questions. To support self-paced learning and encourage creative thinking skills, academic institutions must redefine their approach to education by offering flexible educational pathways that recognize continuous learning. To this end, we developed an AI-augmented intelligent educational assistance framework based on a powerful language model (i.e., GPT-3) that automatically generates course-specific intelligent assistants regardless of discipline or academic level. The virtual intelligent teaching assistant (TA) system, which is at the core of our framework, serves as a voice-enabled helper capable of answering a wide range of course-specific questions, from curriculum to logistics and course policies. By providing students with easy access to this information, the virtual TA can help to improve engagement and reduce barriers to learning. At the same time, it can also help to reduce the logistical workload for instructors and TAs, freeing up their time to focus on other aspects of teaching and supporting students. Its GPT-3-based knowledge discovery component and the generalized system architecture are presented accompanied by a methodical evaluation of the system’s accuracy and performance.

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  • AI could work as a virtual curriculum assistant that helps address students' time-consuming and repetitive questions about curriculum, reduce instructors' logistical workloads and give them more time to improve teaching quality and support students' development.

    “AI could work as a virtual curriculum assistant that helps address students' time-consuming and repetitive questions about curriculum (e.g., content, time, deadline), reduce instructors' logistical workloads and give them more time to improve teaching quality and support students' development (Sajja et al., 2023).”

    From A systematic review of the early impact of artificial intelligence on higher education curriculum, instruction, and assessment (2025) · cites this paper as Sajja et al., 2023

  • Sajja et al. (2023) used the syllabus and other teaching materials to design a curriculum-oriented intelligent assistant and found that this virtualTA effectively provided accurate course information and improved students' course engagement.

    “For example, Sajja et al. (2023) used the syllabus and other teaching materials to design a curriculum-oriented intelligent assistant and found that this virtualTA effectively provided accurate course information and improved students' course engagement.”

    From A systematic review of the early impact of artificial intelligence on higher education curriculum, instruction, and assessment (2025) · cites this paper as Sajja et al. (2023)

  • Ten studies demonstrated that AI could support staff in curriculum, instruction, and assessment by reducing their logistical workloads, especially in curriculum design, interactions with students, delivering personalized instruction, and preparing adapted or personalized assignments.

    “Ten studies have demonstrated that AI could support staff in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, by reducing their logistical workloads, especially in terms of labor related to curriculum design, interactions with students, delivering personalized instruction, and preparing adapted or personalized assignments (e.g., Holmes et al., 2023;Pereira et al., 2023;Sajja et al., 2023;Devi and Rroy, 2”

    From A systematic review of the early impact of artificial intelligence on higher education curriculum, instruction, and assessment (2025) · cites this paper as Sajja et al., 2023

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Sajja, R., Sermet, Y., Cwiertny, D., & Demir, I.
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-07-24
Volume
20
Issue
1
ISSN
2365-9440
DOI
10.1186/s41239-023-00412-7
Cited by
115
References
7
Language
en
Licence
Funders
National Science Foundation (2137891, 2230710)

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