AI tutors are available anytime, anywhere, providing students with support outside classroom hours. The Office of Teaching, Learning, and Technology is partnering with faculty to learn about the impact of generative AI, and AI tutors in particular, on student learning.
So far, 4,300 students have participated —2,300 across 10 courses in fall 2024 and 2,000 across eight courses in spring 2025. Preliminary findings were shared at a campus-wide AI research event held last February:
- AI use is selective: While AI tutors were accessible for most homework assignments, student engagement with AI varied widely by course. Average usage of the AI tutor on assignments ranged from 4% to 42%.
- No clear impact (yet): No significant relationship between how frequently students used AI tutors and their course performance.
- The conversation is key: The nature of students’ dialogues with AI appears crucial. Productive conversations showcased the potential of AI as a learning tool, while unproductive ones underscored its limitations.
- Students turn to AI when human help isn’t available: Peak AI usage occurred between 8 p.m. and midnight on Mondays and Tuesdays, with a noticeable spike on Sundays—times when instructors and TAs are typically unavailable. While students rated the quality of AI assistance as lower than that of human help, they valued the convenience and reported feeling more comfortable seeking support from AI tutors.
The OTLT Research and Analytics team presented some of this work at the Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK) conference in March and recently published a paper based on the research.
“Our expertise allows us to dive into large-scale AI data, discovering meaningful insights into what’s really happening,” says Jane Russell, director of OTLT Research and Analytics.
The team is currently collaborating with the Chemistry Department to analyze actual conversations between students and their AI tutors, digging into how these exchanges unfold and how they impact learning outcomes.
Collaborate with us
We are eager to connect with faculty interested in integrating AI tutors or other AI tools into their teaching, as well as those exploring AI-focused research. If you're curious about potential projects within your course, department, or college, please contact us at its-ra@iowa.uiowa.edu.