Dr. Allan Powe ’86 Develops A.I. Biology Tutor As Part of Catholic A.I. Fellows Program

An A.I. tutor designed by biology teacher Dr. Allan Powe ’86 through the Middle States Association’s Catholic A.I. Fellows program is helping his students gain a deeper understanding of course material. The fellowship program supports a select group of Jesuit high school educators in conducting research on responsible, effective uses of A.I. in teaching and learning. The program is grounded in the Powerful Learning framework, an approach to teaching that centers learning on students’ purpose and agency and encourages a deep understanding of material, rather than rote memorization.

As a Catholic A.I. Fellow, Powe looked at whether his freshmen biology students’ use of an A.I. tutor would not only support students’ basic understanding but also prompt them to think more deeply about the course content. He built a Socratic A.I. biology tutor that guides students with questions to activate their prior knowledge rather than provide direct answers. 

Powe analyzed some 500 student–tutor conversations, rating the depth of each chat using Bloom's Taxonomy, which outlines levels of cognitive gain, as a rubric. The analysis showed that the A.I. tutor pushed students toward deeper levels of thinking, such as applying and analyzing ideas, in addition to coaching them to recall facts. He found that students using the A.I. tutor also made more connections between biological concepts.

Based on this work, Powe is now exploring improvements that will prompt students to delve even deeper into the content and make connections between the classroom and the real world.