Developing the GenAI-Powered Student Assistant: Our Thoughtful Approach to Solve Problems & Enhance Learning Experiences

Today, Cengage Group announced the launch of our GenAI-powered Student Assistant in beta. This fall, more than 5,000 students across the country will have the opportunity to test this groundbreaking technology in four course areas.

We began building the foundation for this beta launch in the fall of 2022, with a continued commitment to understand the needs of higher education faculty and students. Our top priority is to create quality products and solutions that solve real-world problems for educators and students while enhancing the learning experience and maintaining academic integrity.

This is why we have taken a thoughtful, research-driven approach to developing our GenAI-powered Student Assistant.

A Research-Driven Approach to AI in Education

 

Over the last two years, we have conducted a variety of research studies – with over 3,000 faculty and 200 students – to better understand classroom challenges and how GenAI can enhance learning. Insights from these studies have informed our patent-pending GenAI approach.

Findings and insights from these studies revealed a few key themes:

• GenAI is here to stay: 73% of faculty feel GenAI is going to play an increasingly important role in higher education, and 63% believe it can improve student learning and engagement. Additionally, 46% of faculty have already changed the way they are teaching in response to GenAI, and 63% of students are using it now, with another 14% saying they will use it in the future.
• Personalization is one of the largest areas of opportunity: 56% of faculty cited personalization as a top use case for GenAI to help enhance the learning experience
• Academic Integrity is the top concern: 82% of faculty cited academic integrity as the most concerning risk of GenAI. Additionally, 67% of students cited some level of concern of using AI tools for homework assistance, with many stating that it would be similar to cheating or seen as cheating by their instructors.

Following our analysis of initial research, we identified two primary use cases for AI-powered assistants: one for students and one for faculty. We piloted both applications and found a more pressing need and rationale for the student use case, so we focused there first.

 

The GenAI-Powered Student Assistant

Cengage Group’s patent-pending GenAI approach was used to develop the Student Assistant. It leverages intelligent language models, alongside Cengage-owned content, to tailor the Student Assistant to a specific discipline within the Cengage portfolio. Our Student Assistant is trained to prioritize pedagogy and has advanced expertise in specific disciplines. We are evaluating multiple Large Language Models (LLMs) to ensure the most optimal model is used for each discipline. This approach is unique from other GenAI-powered assistants in the market, and we believe it creates a better learning experience for the student, as it helps to focus the technology on a specific discipline and on learning over providing the answer.

“The Student Assistant is user friendly and adaptive,” said Lois Mcwhorter, Department Chair for the Hutton School of Business at the University of Cumberlands. “The bot responded appropriately and in ways that prompt students to deepen their understanding without giving away the answer.”

“The GenAI Student Assistant guides the students through the process of thinking critically, providing relatable examples, and allowing students to discover the answer themselves,” said Dr. Stephanie Thacker, Associate Professor of Business for the Hutton School of Business at the University of the Cumberlands. “Instead of waiting for faculty to respond to student emails, students can receive immediate and personalized feedback from the Student Assistant. Not only does this benefit students, but this will also free up faculty time to focus on more strategic tasks like curriculum development, research, and student mentoring.”

We selected four courses for the beta test: Principles of Management, Organizational Behavior, Lifespan Psychology, and Principles of Economics. These courses were chosen based on our research, which showed that both faculty and students see the most potential for AI assistants in areas that deal with critical thinking and multi-step processes.

 

Ensuring Academic Integrity

Cengage Group’s commitment to maintaining academic integrity has been a central consideration, especially knowing this has consistently been the top concern for faculty. We understand the importance of providing a reliable and trustworthy learning tool for both educators and students.

To support this, we ensured faculty, alongside students, played a central role in helping to train the Student Assistant. Students would work directly with the GenAI tool, holding a number of conversations to help inform the training. Instructors reviewed the student exchanges each week for content accuracy, depth, appropriate response to inaccurate and offensive inputs, and to ensure the Assistant was not providing the answer outright but, instead, walking the student through a collaborative and critical thinking process.

“I was extremely impressed with the training and evaluation process,” said Dr. Loretta S. Smith, Associate Professor of Management, Arkansas Tech University. “The onboarding process was great, and the efforts taken by Cengage to ensure parity in the evaluation process was a good-faith sign of the quality and accuracy of the Student Assistant.”

“What surprised me most about using the Student Assistant was how quickly it adapted and adjusted to feedback,” Dr. Thacker added. “While the Assistant helped support students with their specific questions or tasks, it did so in a way that allowed for a connection. It was not simply a bot that pointed you to the correct answer in the textbook; it assisted students in a way similar to how a professor or instructor would help a student.”

 

Evaluating and Planning for the Future

This is in beta because we will continue to refine the Student Assistant based on data and feedback, placing a strong emphasis on academic integrity and its critical role in enhancing learning experiences.

During the beta evaluation, we will be assessing several factors, including student engagement, learning outcomes, satisfaction and value for both students and educators. Insights will help us to refine the Student Assistant before expanding the launch in Spring 2025. Insight will also inform the development of future AI applications in our products.

“The Student Assistant offers an opportunity for every single one of my students to have a private tutor,” said Noreen Templin, Department Chair and Professor of Economics at Butler Community College. “This not only provides support to them at times when I can’t – like the 3 A.M. study push – but also helps narrow down the gaps in their understanding. Often students will come to me because they are confused, but they don’t necessarily know what they are confused about. I have been incredibly impressed with the Student Assistants’ ability to help guide students to better understand where they are struggling. This will not only benefit the student, but also has the potential to help me be a better teacher, enable more critical thinking and foster more engaging classroom discussion.” 

We are excited to see the impact of the GenAI-powered Student Assistant on the learning experience and remain committed to our mission of understanding the needs of educators and students. Our unique approach will enable us to continue to create innovative products and enhancements that make a difference in learners’ lives.

Learn more about the GenAI-Powered Student Assistant in the press release here.