BLADE: Better Language Answers through Dialogue and Explanations

TL;DR

BLADE is a conversational AI that guides students to relevant course resources instead of giving direct answers, promoting active learning and better understanding.

Contribution

It introduces a retrieval-augmented generation framework for educational assistants that enhances resource navigation and conceptual understanding.

Findings

BLADE improves students' navigation of course resources.

BLADE enhances students' conceptual performance.

Grounded conversational AI supports active learning.

Abstract

Large language model (LLM)-based educational assistants often provide direct answers that short-circuit learning by reducing exploration, self-explanation, and engagement with course materials. We present BLADE (Better Language Answers through Dialogue and Explanations), a grounded conversational assistant that guides learners to relevant instructional resources rather than supplying immediate solutions. BLADE uses a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) framework over curated course content, dynamically surfacing pedagogically relevant excerpts in response to student queries. Instead of delivering final answers, BLADE prompts direct engagement with source materials to support conceptual understanding. We conduct an impact study in an undergraduate computer science course, with different course resource configurations and show that BLADE improves students' navigation of course resources and conceptual performance compared to simply providing the full inventory of course resources. These results demonstrate the potential of grounded conversational AI to reinforce active learning and evidence-based reasoning.