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Danielle Thomas, Vincent Aleven, Ken Koedinger
PLUS Program on NBC
AI + Human Tutors = A New Equation for Math Success
What if every student could have their own personal math tutor?
At Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, researchers are working to make that dream a reality—with a little help from both humans and artificial intelligence (AI).
PLUS is a virtual tutoring platform that combines the natural strengths of people and AI, making one-on-one tutoring more scalable, more affordable, and just as impactful for young math learners.
Research Lead Danielle Thomas explains, “AI is great at giving students the right math problems and introducing new skills when they’re ready. Humans are great at motivating and encouraging students, helping them stick with hard things like learning math. The PLUS program is a hybrid solution that lets each do what they do best.”
This story, “AI + Human Tutors = A New Equation for Math Success” aired during NBC Stay Tuned’s “The Learning Shift,” a series that highlights the bold new ideas reshaping classrooms and student learning. They visit an all-boys academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to talk to Thomas, math teacher William Roberson, and students about the AI-powered PLUS software.
PLUS currently partners with 13 middle schools in four different states, where over 80% of students served are from low-income backgrounds. College student tutors provide one-on-one math support to middle schoolers -- support they might not otherwise receive, opening doors to new academic opportunities.
The PLUS project is led by CMU Hillman University Professor and project PI Ken Koedinger, in collaboration with others at CMU, Stanford University and Carnegie Learning. Additional CMU faculty on the PLUS team include Professor Vincent Aleven and System Scientist Danielle Thomas from the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, and Professor Lee Branstetter of CMU’s Heinz College.
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