IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp18989.html

The Effects of Course-Integrated AI Tutoring on Student Performance and Engagement: A Randomized University Trial

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Jing

    (University of Maryland)

  • Sweet, Tracy

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

  • Chen, Marty

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

  • Engelberg, Jonathan

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

  • Masters, Megan

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

  • Clark, Martyn

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

  • Persaud, Axel

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

  • Lancaster, Alia

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

  • Hollingsworth, Jeffrey

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

  • Rice, Jennifer

    (University of Maryland, College Park)

Abstract

We evaluate access to a course-integrated generative AI (GenAI) tutor in a randomized controlled trial involving 2,379 undergraduate students and 30 instructors across multiple disciplines in a large U.S. public university. Among sections of the same course, tutor access reduced final grades by 0.37 standard deviations and learning management system participation by 0.90 standard deviations. Participation declines were similarly large in the full sample, and estimated academic losses were greater among first-generation students. These findings suggest that introducing an AI tutor may displace engagement with existing learning activities without improving academic performance, with potentially differential impact across student groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Jing & Sweet, Tracy & Chen, Marty & Engelberg, Jonathan & Masters, Megan & Clark, Martyn & Persaud, Axel & Lancaster, Alia & Hollingsworth, Jeffrey & Rice, Jennifer, 2026. "The Effects of Course-Integrated AI Tutoring on Student Performance and Engagement: A Randomized University Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 18989, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18989
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp18989.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18989. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.