Today, we are sharing the results and technical report from a randomized controlled trial (RCT), conducted in partnership with Fab AI and with the support of the Sierra Leone Ministry of Education1. Over eight weeks, we evaluated how Guided Learning in Gemini affected the math progress of 1,763 junior secondary students across 12 schools in Port Loko District of Sierra Leone.
We look to be innovative and improve service delivery, but we must also rigorously study the results of our innovations…I am therefore delighted that we now have strong evidence that carefully designed AI can help improve learning outcomes in support of our many hard-working teachers.
The results from this pre-registered trial suggest that AI can be a powerful pedagogical partner — not by replacing teachers, but by augmenting their reach. This study is part of our ongoing effort to build a global evidence base for the impact of AI on teaching and learning.
A common concern is that generative AI could become a shortcut for students, potentially bypassing the challenging yet essential cognitive effort required for deeper learning. Guided Learning is designed to address this concern: it’s built from years of research and work in our LearnLM efforts to be pedagogically-grounded and specifically tuned to prioritize building understanding over providing direct answers.
The data from Sierra Leone suggests this approach is working. 4% of conversations, rather than simply seeking solutions. Gemini responded by posing scaffolding questions in 76% of its messages, providing direct solutions in only 2% of cases.
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