PAPPL: Personalized AI-Powered Progressive Learning Platform

TL;DR

PAPPL is an innovative AI-driven platform that personalizes engineering education by adapting to individual student needs through advanced tutoring and analytics, leveraging GPT-4o to enhance learning outcomes.

Contribution

The paper introduces a scalable, data-driven ITS for engineering education that uniquely integrates GPT-4o for personalized, context-sensitive feedback and detailed student analytics.

Findings

Enhanced personalized feedback based on student interactions

Detection of recurring misconceptions for targeted assistance

Provision of detailed analytics for instructors

Abstract

Engineering education has historically been constrained by rigid, standardized frameworks, often neglecting students' diverse learning needs and interests. While significant advancements have been made in online and personalized education within K-12 and foundational sciences, engineering education at both undergraduate and graduate levels continues to lag in adopting similar innovations. Traditional evaluation methods, such as exams and homework assignments, frequently overlook individual student requirements, impeding personalized educational experiences. To address these limitations, this paper introduces the Personalized AI-Powered Progressive Learning (PAPPL) platform, an advanced Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) designed specifically for engineering education. It highlights the development of a scalable, data-driven tutoring environment leveraging cutting-edge AI technology to enhance personalized learning across diverse academic disciplines, particularly in STEM fields. PAPPL integrates core ITS components including the expert module, student module, tutor module, and user interface, and utilizes GPT-4o, a sophisticated large language model (LLM), to deliver context-sensitive and pedagogically sound hints based on students' interactions. The system uniquely records student attempts, detects recurring misconceptions, and generates progressively targeted feedback, providing personalized assistance that adapts dynamically to each student's learning profile. Additionally, PAPPL offers instructors detailed analytics, empowering evidence-based adjustments to teaching strategies. This study provides a fundamental framework for the progression of Generative ITSs scalable to all education levels, delivering important perspectives on personalized progressive learning and the wider possibilities of Generative AI in the field of education.