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College of Education Usable Math project researchers Sai Gattupalli, doctoral student, and faculty members Robert W. Maloy and Sharon Edwards released a paper on their use of ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) for elementary school math learning.

The paper, “Comparing Teacher-Written and AI-Generated Math Problem Solving Strategies for Elementary School Students: Implications for Classroom Learning,” compares teacher-written and AI-generated hints and strategies for solving fourth grade math word problems included in their Usable Math open online tutor.

Gattupalli, Maloy and Edwards suggest that, when given the perspectives of a 10-year math teacher and four virtual coaches (Estella Explainer, Chef Math Bear, How-to Hound and Visual Vicuna), ChatGPT-4 provides text-heavy, largely procedural problem-solving strategies.

Teacher-written hints offer more ways to differentiate learning for students through the use of: shorter, more child-accessible language; visual images; animations and GIFs; and growth mindset-building statements that affirm children’s effort and persistence in solving math word problems.

The complete working paper is available online via ScholarWorks.