Intelligent Tutors Beyond K-12: An Observational Study of Adult Learner Engagement and Academic Impact
It addresses the underexplored problem of adult learner engagement with educational technologies, though it is incremental as it extends existing K-12 findings to a new population.
This study investigated whether intelligent tutoring systems, typically designed for K-12 students, could effectively support adult learners as a supplementary resource, finding that voluntary usage led to measurable skill improvements within the tutor and higher course assessment scores.
Intelligent tutors have proven to be effective in K-12 education, though their impact on adult learners -- especially as a supplementary resource -- remains underexplored. Understanding how adults voluntarily engage with educational technologies can inform the design of tools that support skill re-learning and enhancement. More critically, it helps determine whether tutoring systems, which are typically built for K-12 learners, can also support adult populations. This study examines the adoption, usage patterns, and effectiveness of a novel tutoring system, Apprentice Tutors, among adult learners at a state technical college. We analyze three types of data including, user demographics, grades, and tutor interactions, to assess whether voluntary tutor usage translates into measurable learning gains. Our findings reveal key temporal patterns in tutor engagement and provide evidence of learning within tutors, as determined through skill improvement in knowledge components across tutors. We also found evidence that this learning transferred outside the tutor, as observed through higher course assessment scores following tutor usage. These results suggest that intelligent tutors are a viable tool for adult learners, warranting further research into their long-term impact on this population.