ChatBots for Teachers
Chatbots present incredible potential in the world of math and physics instruction particularly with respect solving word problems. In my experience, many students struggle pulling all pertinent information in order to create equivalency statements from word problems. For example, many students struggle to recognize that for an object coasting down a hill at a certain speed its acceleration is zero and therefore the net force operating on the object is also zero. Since the net force is zero we can state that all forces operating on the object are in balance. When I go through these types of problems on the board, I engage my class by asking the same routing questions: What values are given? What forces are acting on the object? What statement can be made regarding the forces in the x-direction? And the y-direction? I find students generally know the answer to these smaller questions but struggle to identify these questions to begin with.
I foresee Chatbots providing personalized support by modelling the sequence of questions one asks themselves when tackling particular word problems. Chatbots would initially ask students what information is given and upon which subsequent questions are layered. The Chatbot would adapt subsequent questions based on the quality of the students previous answers. If a student is genuinely confused, they could answer a question with another question (e.g. Why is Fnet = 0?) or a statement (e.g. I don’t understand why we know that the applied force is equal to the force of friction?). The Chatbot would then provide an answer or suggest a set of dynamic notes or instructional video for the student to refer to. As math and physics instruction leans more heavily upon adaptive computer-based instruction and assessment, the role of Chatbots to provide just-in-time support and engagement for students will undoubtedly grow.
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