Can AI agents learn from middle school students?

A new project at the University of Miami School of Education and Human Development seeks to empower students by transforming the role of artificial intelligence in middle school math classrooms—not simply as a technological tool but as a “teachable agent” that students will instruct, guide and learn.

The project, called MAGICAL-Math: Multimodal Artificial Generative Intelligence Championing Advanced Learning Sciences for Math Education, is led by Wanli Xing, professor at the school and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Chair in Artificial Intelligence at the University’s Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing. The study partners with the University of Florida, University of Utah and Carnegie Learning Inc.

The project is funded by a $3.75 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education and a $375,000 grant from Carnegie Learning, a provider of K-12 education technology, curriculum and professional learning solutions. 

Xing’s team will use generative AI to reverse the role of students. Focusing on middle schoolers, the students will become active participants in learning by teaching AI agents mathematical concepts. The approach is designed to boost achievement, deepen engagement and support students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.