Gautam Biswas

The purpose of the project is to develop a technology-based intervention to improve theory of mind (ToM) reasoning among adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ToM refers to the ability to ascribe mental states, such as beliefs, desires, goals, and emotions to other people and to understand that these mental states can be different from one's own. Many students with ASD have difficulty with ToM reasoning, especially in the context of social situations. However, there are limited re...

The development of a competent science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computing (STEM+C) workforce in the era of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is crucial for the nation's economic growth, security, and global competitiveness. To achieve this goal, initiatives that combine a robust understanding of core STEM concepts with competence in computational thinking (CT) and AI are needed. With this goal in mind, the National Center on Generative AI for Uplifting STEM+C Educa...

Cognitive, metacognitive, motivational, and affective self-regulated learning (SRL) processes have been identified as critical for solving complex science problems. Self-regulated learners monitor their own cognitive activities and deploy appropriate regulatory processes when a problem has been detected. Developing and using these key processes are critical to academic achievement and life-long learning. This project will work with middle school students who tend to rely on a few suboptimal ...

The purpose of this project was to develop and test the use of teachable agents to improve students' metacognition, and to examine whether improving middle school students' metacognitive skills leads to improved science learning. Teachable agents are software programs in which students teach a computer agent to understand a concept and may be well suited to improving students' metacognitive skills. Metacognition involves two component processes: (a) the ability to monitor one's cognitive act...