MOOC platforms provide a means of communication through forums, allowing learners to express their difficulties and challenges while studying various courses. Within these forums, some posts require urgent attention from instructors. Failing to respond promptly to these posts can contribute to higher dropout rates and lower course completion…

The advent of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, such as large language model chatbots, is likely to have a significant impact in psychotherapy and counselling in the future. In this paper we consider the current state of AI in psychotherapy and counselling and the likely evolution of this field. We examine the ethical codes of…

With the latest advances in conversational agents like Siri and Alexa, and Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and PaLM, Question Answering (QA) systems have become more important. Users submit millions of queries per day and it is up to the system to provide reliable, to-the-point answers. In this dissertation, we explore various aspects to…

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of widely adopted but under-studied synthetic humanlike spokespersons (SHS) compared to organic human spokespersons in workplace training videos. The primary aim is to evaluate whether employees will rate training videos more negatively when they perceive their trainer to be synthetic such…

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) is making its impact on all levels of education. However, these tools must be used with caution, and it is up to instructors to teach their students responsible use of Gen AI. Therefore, there is a need to understand views of teaching staff on how to integrate Gen AI into education to maximize its…

The emergence of ChatGPT, and other generative AI (GenAI) tools, has elicited dystopian and utopian proclamations concerning their potential impact on education. This paper suggests that responses to GenAI are based on often-implicit perceptions of naturalness and artificiality. To examine the depiction and function of these concepts, Gideon…

This study explored the role of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered conversational agents in human-computer interaction, particularly in the post-coronavirus (COVID-19) era, where digital technologies are central to healthcare, customer service, and education sectors. The research investigated the disruption of context continuity when users…

Online collaborative learning has been broadly applied in higher education. However, learners face many challenges in collaborating with one another and coregulating their learning, leading to low group performance. To address the gaps, this study proposed an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled feedback and feedforward approach that not only…

Educational feedback is a crucial factor in the student's learning journey, as through it, students are able to identify their areas of deficiencies and improve self-regulation. However, the literature shows that this is an area of great dissatisfaction, especially in higher education. Providing effective feedback becomes an increasingly…

Project-based Learning (PBL) provides an effective environment for collaborative engineering design education. However, it is difficult to assess students' engagement and provide process-oriented feedback on their collaboration due to limited resources and scalability challenges. This paper presents an empirical study examining the application of…

Back-and-forth conversations with others are vital for children's development in the early years. While children's conversation partners have traditionally been their parents, teachers, and peers, recent advances in artificial intelligence have led to the introduction of machines that understand human speech and generate natural responses, and…

A promising approach to support students' math learning effectively, automatically and at scale within existing learning environments is conversational artificial intelligence (ConvAI). Although previous studies have suggested ConvAI's potential to guide, facilitate and enhance learning, its effects on students' conceptual change and academic…

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) is an important skill enabling students to co-construct knowledge and tackle complex problems through group interactions. While the importance of group interactions in CPS is well recognized, it is unclear how the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GAI), with advanced cognitive support, may alter…

Machine learning (ML) techniques have been successfully applied to a wide array of applications. This dissertation aims to take application data handling into account when developing ML-based solutions for real-world problems through a holistic framework. To demonstrate the generality of our framework, we consider two real-world applications: spam…

Collaboration scripts are widely employed in online collaborative learning to enhance student engagement and facilitate collaboration. However, the optimal level of scripting remains a subject of debate. This study aims to address this issue by designing and developing different types of collaborative scripts implemented through conversational…