Positioning AI as an Active Collaborator in Sensemaking with AI-Generated Feedback

• In Event: Teaching Practices and the Learning Sciences

Abstract

As generative AI technologies become embedded in education, understanding how humans and AI interact becomes critical. In this study we analyze how 14 undergraduates and GenAI work together when engaging with feedback from CareerAI, an AI-powered reflection system. Using a distributed perspective, we conceptualize GenAI as an active collaborator in learning rather than as a tool that mediates learning. Through a vignette from a focus group, we trace how work is distributed across humans and GenAI, revealing how GenAI plays an active role in collaborative learning within the context of a career fellowship program. Our analysis reveals key ways GenAI contributes to learning, informing the design of AI-systems in education.

Authors

• Seth Van Doren, University of California - Irvine

• Jacqueline Nguyen, University of California - Irvine

• Lily Wu, University of California - Irvine

• Abril Gomez, University of California Irvine

• June Ahn, University of California - Irvine