Enterprise AI Analysis
Configuring and Monitoring Students' Interactions with Generative AI Tools: Supporting Teacher Autonomy
The paper addresses the challenge of maintaining teacher autonomy in education with the widespread use of GenAI tools like ChatGPT. It proposes a middleware system to allow teachers to monitor student interactions, align GenAI outputs with learning objectives, and control system behavior. An initial prototype evaluation with 8 secondary-school teachers showed high perceived usefulness for monitoring student interactions, alerting teachers to issues (e.g., copy-paste), and controlling GenAI outputs. While most teachers perceived higher autonomy, some did not. The study highlights the need for continued refinement, better analytics visualization, and student involvement in system development, while also considering privacy concerns and the potential for institution-specific LLMs.
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The paper directly addresses challenges to teacher autonomy posed by GenAI. It defines autonomy as the willingness, capacity, and freedom to control teaching and learning. The proposed system aims to restore and enhance this autonomy by providing monitoring, configuration, and alerting capabilities to teachers.
A core feature of the proposed system is its learning analytics capabilities. It collects and stores student prompts and GenAI answers, allowing teachers to monitor interactions, identify suspicious behaviors (e.g., copy-paste), and analyze recurrently queried topics. This data informs teachers to take action and provide personalized feedback.
The research follows a Systems Development Research Methodology, emphasizing an iterative process that includes user evaluation and feedback. The initial prototype was evaluated by teachers to gather requirements and usability features, aligning with human-centered design principles to ensure the system is adapted to teachers' needs and practices.
GenAI tools hinder teacher autonomy by limiting control over student actions and learning processes. Outputs often lack contextualization (e.g., curriculum, student age), impacting course goals. Teachers are unaware of student prompts, GenAI responses, or potential plagiarism. 89% of students used GenAI for home assignments, highlighting a critical gap in teacher oversight and control.
Proposed Middleware System
A middleware system is proposed to mediate between GenAI interfaces and back-ends. It enables teachers to monitor student interactions, align GenAI answers with learning objectives, and configure system behavior (e.g., prompt add-ons, forced hallucinations).
The system follows a Systems Development Research Methodology, with an initial prototype developed and evaluated. This iterative approach ensures the tool evolves to meet real-world teaching needs and feedback.
Design Requirements & Architecture
Key requirements include monitoring student use, alerting teachers to take action (e.g., suspicious copy-paste, recurrent topics), and automatic reactions via teacher configuration (e.g., guidance instead of direct answers, prompt add-ons). The architecture integrates with LMS using LTI, offers teacher and student interfaces, and uses GenAI adapters for multi-tool compatibility.
Evaluation with 8 secondary-school teachers showed high perceived usefulness for monitoring student interactions, alerting teachers (e.g., copy-paste behaviors), and controlling GenAI outputs. Teachers perceived higher autonomy in configuration scenarios. 72% of surveyed teachers are concerned about the impact of ChatGPT on cheating, underscoring the system's relevance.
Teacher Autonomy Perception
While most teachers perceived higher autonomy, some did not, particularly in monitoring scenarios. Positive feedback highlighted the system's ability to 'guide students in the thinking process' and its 'well-defined and controllable' nature.
Negative feedback pointed to analytics not immediately translating to autonomy or observed classroom work, and the additional time required for setup and monitoring.
Aspect | Current GenAI Tools | Proposed System |
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Teacher Autonomy |
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Student Engagement |
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Output Quality |
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Our Proven Implementation Roadmap
A structured approach ensures seamless integration and maximum value realization. We guide you through every phase, from strategy to scale.
Phase 1: Conceptualization & Prototype Development (2-3 Months)
Define research questions, gather requirements, design architecture, and build initial prototype based on Systems Development Research Methodology.
Phase 2: Teacher Evaluation & Feedback Loop (1-2 Months)
Conduct workshops with teachers to evaluate prototype, collect feedback on usefulness, usability, and autonomy perception, and identify refinement needs.
Phase 3: System Refinement & Advanced Features (3-4 Months)
Implement improvements based on feedback, enhance analytics visualization, explore institution-specific LLM integration, and address data privacy considerations.
Phase 4: Student Involvement & Wider Pilot (2-3 Months)
Involve students in co-design, conduct wider pilot studies across different educational levels, and integrate construct-validated questionnaires for broader data collection.
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