University of Michigan Launches Agentic AI Virtual Teaching Assistant
At the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, a new Virtual Teaching Assistant pilot program is utilizing agentic AI to provide students with 24/7 access to support and self-directed learning. Powered by Google's Gemini models, the Virtual TA can be customized for specific curricula and is designed to "foster critical thinking by never giving away answers, ensuring students actively work towards solutions," according to a news announcement.
The Virtual TA acts as a practice partner, guiding students through problem-solving and providing on-demand explanations of complex course concepts. The tool also provides real-time analytics on student engagement, summaries of commonly asked questions, and feedback on the AI agent's effectiveness. It is being piloted in courses such as financial technology, operations strategy, operations analytics, and statistics, where early results "indicate greater student engagement and deeper insights into the learning patterns of students for instructors," the announcement said.
"By partnering with Google Public Sector, we're integrating today's leading technology to improve the educational experience for our students," said Jun Li, Michigan Ross Professor of Technology and Operations, in a statement. "We've seen early indications of success in leveraging the AI-powered Virtual TA and look forward to further using this tool to advance learning."
"Google Public Sector is proud to pioneer this personalized learning approach to improve educational delivery, provide early identification for intervention, and help educators solve some of their most pressing challenges," commented Chris Hein, field chief technology officer for Google Public Sector. "The Virtual TA is a prime example of how a customizable, Gemini-powered solution can advance the future of learning and help train the next generation workforce."
The university plans to incorporate insights from its Virtual TA pilot into a larger research study across multiple higher education institutions, involving 9,000-plus students, 72 courses, and 26 schools. The goal: to develop guidelines on deploying the technology in diverse educational settings and better understand how colleges and universities can adopt AI for learning.
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Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at rkelly@1105media.com.