Singing Syllabi with Virtual Avatars: Enhancing Student Engagement Through AI-Generated Music and Digital Embodiment
This addresses the problem of student disengagement with course syllabi in education, though it is incremental as it applies existing AI tools to a new educational context.
The paper tackled low student engagement with traditional text-based syllabi by using AI-generated singing and virtual avatars to present syllabi as audiovisual songs, resulting in significantly improved awareness and recall of key course information based on student feedback.
In practical teaching, we observe that few students thoroughly read or fully comprehend the information provided in traditional, text-based course syllabi. As a result, essential details, such as course policies and learning outcomes, are frequently overlooked. To address this challenge, in this paper, we propose a novel approach leveraging AI-generated singing and virtual avatars to present syllabi in a format that is more visually appealing, engaging, and memorable. Especially, we leveraged the open-source tool, HeyGem, to transform textual syllabi into audiovisual presentations, in which digital avatars perform the syllabus content as songs. The proposed approach aims to stimulate students' curiosity, foster emotional connection, and enhance retention of critical course information. Student feedback indicated that AI-sung syllabi significantly improved awareness and recall of key course information.