This summer, GPS introduced an AI-powered tool to help new students get up to speed on key math concepts, supplementing what they learn in the classroom
At UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy (GPS), cutting-edge technology isn’t just something discussed in the classroom — though, to be sure, its disruptions of numerous industries has made it the topic of many a discussion. It’s becoming a part of the learning experience itself.
This summer saw the introduction of a new AI-powered learning platform, called AI Compass, which students used in the school’s summer prep sessions to hone their math skills. “Prep,” as the sessions are commonly referred to, is a unique opportunity for incoming students to become reacquainted with key mathematical concepts over the course of several weeks, all the way from arithmetic reasoning to multivariable calculus.
Gordon McCord, an associate professor of economics and the school’s associate dean of student affairs, explained that a solid grounding in mathematical principles is essential for GPS’s quantitative-focused curriculum, and that this was one more tool that students could access to help them succeed.
“Our school prides itself in its rigorous international affairs and public policy programs,” McCord said. “For lots of students, the level of math that we are asking them to engage in when they arrive in the fall is a step up from things they’ve done before, or in some cases, it’s something they haven’t seen for years.”
AI Compass was developed by Vocareum, an education technology company. McCord helped tailor the content to fit GPS’s curriculum and to provide pedagogical insights leading to improvements of the platform. The collaboration with Vocareum was fostered under the leadership of Seshashayee (Sesh) Murthy at UC San Diego’s Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, who has helped pioneer the use of LLMs in instruction and learning science-based workflows that improve teaching and learning.
The result is an interface that surpasses what a typical online homework platform can do. More than blindly labeling a student’s answer as right or wrong, AI Compass serves as a virtual tutor, providing practice problems and step-by-step guidance.
Here’s how it works: Students first pick a topic from a “knowledge tree,” which is a diagram of different math concepts, organized graphically according to how one topic builds off another.
Then, students solve problems by typing each step of their work into the computer, which enables the software to review how they arrived at their final answer. It notes, for example, if they made a minor arithmetical error, such as forgetting to make an equation negative, which can impact the rest of a solution.
On the left side of their screen is a panel with an AI chat where students can ask questions and receive answers about how to solve a problem.
AI Compass is also able to intelligently determine whether a student is having trouble on a problem because they haven’t mastered more fundamental concepts. In that case, it leads the student to shore up those foundational skills before returning to a more complicated problem.
Students in Prep described how the software helped them feel less stressed about the process of learning higher-level math, as it allowed them to master concepts without feeling embarrassed about their knowledge gaps.
McCord explained that AI Compass is also designed to provide instructors with information about which topics to concentrate on in class meetings. It compiles a summary of which topics students were struggling with based on answers that they got wrong and questions they asked the AI chatbot.
It has also left students feeling better about their math skills, as it’s self-paced and allows them to study a topic for as much time as they need, and to spend less time on other topics they’re more comfortable with, shared McCord.
He noted that students who spent more time using AI Compass’s virtual tutor tended to have larger increases on test scores between the beginning and end of Prep. Correlation is not causation, but there are reasons to think that the improvements are not a mere coincidence.
“The AI tutor showed me exactly where I was making small mistakes and explained why,” one student said. “It gave me a level of confidence I haven’t experienced with in-person tutoring before.”
