Unfolding Motivation in Adult Learning with Generative AI

This project examines the motivation of mid-career adults in learning. Part-time study can be demanding for adults who struggle with work-study-life balance and age-related cognitive changes. Unlike K12 education, providing personalized supports to augment adult learning is not easy as adults have different expectations and levels of knowledge and skills. The supports should be tailored to their individual learning goals, professional backgrounds, and preferred ways of engaging with learning materials. Generative AI (GenAI) offers an opportunity to personalize their learning journey, by allowing adults to chat with Large Language Models (LLMs) to resolve difficulties in learning.  ​

This project aims to develop a GenAI-power learning system equipped with various tools that adults can actively interact with the LLM during studying. These tools provide conversational-level pedagogical supports to scaffold adult learning with the well-established learning strategies in the self-regulated learning literature. Appropriate textual prompts will be designed and experimented to instruct LLM to deliver these learning strategies. Through the system, the project will log the learning activities, including the tools that are exploited for learning, the duration and dialog of learner-LLM interaction. In addition, behavioral data, include gaze and facial muscle movements, will be also tracked. These data trace will be mapped to the constructs corresponding to motivation for analysis in unfolding the learning processes of adults. ​

​Research Impact: This project aims to uncover motivational processes in adult learning to inform the design of AI learning systems.