Exploring the Role of AI in Facilitating Help-Seeking Among Students
Joonas Merikko
Chief Product Officer, Annie Advisor Ltd
PhD, University of Helsinki�“Technological support for self-regulated learning”
Teacher Educator, University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education�“AI in Education & Learning Analytics”
Anni Silvola
Lecturer in Learning Sciences,�University of Oulu
PhD Candidate, University of Oulu�“More than just traffic lights: Higher education students’ perspectives on learning analytics use as a support for academic paths”
Schwartz said that he had never used ChatGPT as a legal research source prior to this case and, therefore,
“was unaware of the possibility that its content could be false.”
He accepted responsibility for not confirming the chatbot’s sources.
AI (mis)conceptions
General AI (mis)conceptions
What is typically considered AI?
=> AI can be utilized in increasingly complex topics and it is increasingly difficult to distinguish when we are interacting with AI
Mertala (2021); Kreinsen & Schultz (2021); Emmert-Streib et al., (2020)
Photo by Manish Das on Unsplash
The AI Disruption
AI Support for Learning
Processes that (perhaps) could be supported with AI
Factors contributing to the AI support
What should be taught about AI? What are the risks and benefits?
Mertala (2021); Silvola et al. (2021); Merikko (2021)
AI Support for Help-seeking
Help-seeking
Karabenick 2013; Kosyluk et al. 2021; Merikko 2021; Park & Kim 2023
RQ1. How do students see the feasibility of a support bot as a tool for help-seeking?
RQ2. How do students describe the interaction with AI in the help-seeking context?
Research Setting
1. Survey & Interview on AI experiences and conceptions
2. Scenario-based interaction with an AI Support Bot
3. Stimulated recall interview about the interaction
Interview Themes
ACTIVITY:�Group discussion
Support Bot Prototype
SUPPORT BOT PROTOTYPE
THE BOT SCRIPT
ACTIVITY:�TRY OUT THE SUPPORT BOT YOURSELF!
ACTIVITY:�TRY OUT THE SUPPORT BOT YOURSELF!
4.�Imagine that you have started to feel lonely at school. During the school day, it feels difficult: it's miserable to go to the cafeteria alone, you spend most of the breaks by yourself, and doing group work is distressing. You don't really know what could be done about it.
2.�Imagine you started a new semester a few weeks ago. After a few days, you realize that your calendar is just too full. You notice that time passes quickly as you try to cope with all the daily responsibilities, but you still can't get your tasks finished.
3.�Imagine yourself in a situation where you can't seem to get sleep and you wake up during the night. You've thought sometimes that you should probably ask for help with the issue, but for one reason or another, you haven't managed to do so.
1.�Imagine that you are studying a course in mathematics. The teacher taught a new topic in the last lesson, and you have also read about the same topic in the learning materials. Despite many attempts, you don't really understand what the topic is about, and you can't get the related tasks done.
ACTIVITY:�SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE!
Early Findings
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
It's okay!
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
It's okay!
Great that you gave permission! 💪 Now I will take this information forward to the school staff, so they will contact you as soon as possible. Remember, you are brave for speaking up and help is available. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself! 😊👋
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Good that clarifying questions are asked instead of jumping straight to a solution.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
It's okay!
Great that you gave permission! 💪 Now I will take this information forward to the school staff, so they will contact you as soon as possible. Remember, you are brave for speaking up and help is available. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself! 😊👋
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Good that clarifying questions are asked instead of jumping straight to a solution.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
It's okay!
Great that you gave permission! 💪 Now I will take this information forward to the school staff, so they will contact you as soon as possible. Remember, you are brave for speaking up and help is available. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself! 😊👋
And then, more clarification, this is good.
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Good that clarifying questions are asked instead of jumping straight to a solution.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
It's okay!
Great that you gave permission! 💪 Now I will take this information forward to the school staff, so they will contact you as soon as possible. Remember, you are brave for speaking up and help is available. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself! 😊👋
And then, more clarification, this is good.
In such sensitive matters, it can also be distressing that the consequences could be unpleasant if one tells someone. A bot like that could be a safe starting point.
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Good that clarifying questions are asked instead of jumping straight to a solution.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
It's okay!
Great that you gave permission! 💪 Now I will take this information forward to the school staff, so they will contact you as soon as possible. Remember, you are brave for speaking up and help is available. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself! 😊👋
And then, more clarification, this is good.
In such sensitive matters, it can also be distressing that the consequences could be unpleasant if one tells someone. A bot like that could be a safe starting point.
On the other hand, since that bot is just a means of contacting the school staff, it would still lead to the same outcome.
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Good that clarifying questions are asked instead of jumping straight to a solution.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
It's okay!
Great that you gave permission! 💪 Now I will take this information forward to the school staff, so they will contact you as soon as possible. Remember, you are brave for speaking up and help is available. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself! 😊👋
And then, more clarification, this is good.
In such sensitive matters, it can also be distressing that the consequences could be unpleasant if one tells someone. A bot like that could be a safe starting point.
On the other hand, since that bot is just a means of contacting the school staff, it would still lead to the same outcome.
How does it actually contact the staff? Does it send the whole conversation or some kind of a summary... I would assume that it sends the whole conversation. Like, ”this kind of conversation happened, and it's been requested to be sent to you.”
Hi! Something has been bothering me for quite some time. It disturbs my sleep, and I can't sleep properly.
Oh no! 😟 Sleep is really important. Tell me more, what is it that's bothering you and disturbing your sleep?
Oh no, that's a really unpleasant situation! 😔 How often do your parents argue and is there a specific topic they fight about?
My parents are fighting and it scares me that they might get divorced.
They argue pretty much every day about dad spending too much money on alcohol.
Good that clarifying questions are asked instead of jumping straight to a solution.
Really sorry to hear that you have to experience that at home. 😟 It's very important to tell your school's staff about this so that they can support you in this situation. Is it okay if I pass this information on to them?
It's okay!
Great that you gave permission! 💪 Now I will take this information forward to the school staff, so they will contact you as soon as possible. Remember, you are brave for speaking up and help is available. We'll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself! 😊👋
And then, more clarification, this is good.
In such sensitive matters, it can also be distressing that the consequences could be unpleasant if one tells someone. A bot like that could be a safe starting point.
On the other hand, since that bot is just a means of contacting the school staff, it would still lead to the same outcome.
How does it actually contact the staff? Does it send the whole conversation or some kind of a summary... I would assume that it sends the whole conversation. Like, ”this kind of conversation happened, and it's been requested to be sent to you.”
I feel like… in smaller issues, like school stress, it would be totally okay. But if I had an alcoholic father in my family and I talked about it, I wouldn't necessarily want all this information that I tell the bot to go to someone in the school staff.
INTERVIEW FINDINGS
What kind of thought or feelings about the experiment?
”A bit strange. Like… it is a bot. It’s not real.”
”A good feeling. The bot was easy to approach and, somehow, very helpful. As it is supposed to be, that is what it’s for.”
”Otherwise it was quite natural, but there was a slight delay in responses.”
”Somehow it showed genuini interest in my problems and was able to present further questions about the topic, that was nice.”
INTERVIEW FINDINGS
What do you think that the bot could know about you?
”I don’t believe that it’s some kind of spy that scrapes all my data from the internet”
”Well if it knows my phonenumber, there are a lot of data out there in databases… Hmm… I don’t think it has access to my personal data. But I mean, it could be possible, yes.”
”As it’s a bot operated by the school, it would be good that it knows your educational background, grades and other notes. Like, if you’ve had a lot of absences or if you’ve been violent or if you’ve performed weakly.”
INTERVIEW FINDINGS
How do you think that the bot works, technically?
“I guess there are like 10 000 WhatsApp discussions given to the AI, and then the AI begins to wonder like ’what could I do with these’”
”Well I don’t understand programming… I have no idea about how it works.”
”It’s like Google”
”Somebody has coded the responses for different kind of questions”
CONCLUSIONS
THANK YOU!
REFERENCES
Emmert-Streib, F., Yli-Harja, O., & Dehmer, M. (2020). Artificial intelligence: A clarification of misconceptions, myths and desired status. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 3, Article 524339. https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2020.524339
Karabenick, S. A., & Berger, J. L. (2013). Help seeking as a self-regulated learning strategy.
Kosyluk, K.A.; Conner, K.O.; Al-Khouja, M.; Bink, A.; Buchholz, B.; Ellefson, S.; Fokuo, K.; Goldberg, D.; Kraus, D.; Leon, A.; et al. Factors predicting help seeking for mental illness among college students. J. Ment. Health 2021, 30, 300–307. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
Kreinsen, M., & Schulz, S. (2021, October). Students’ conceptions of artificial intelligence. In The 16th workshop in primary and secondary computing education (pp. 1–2). https://doi.org/10.1145/3481312.3481328
Merikko, J. (2021). ‘Are You OK?’Students’ Trust in a Chatbot Providing Support Opportunities. In Learning and Collaboration Technologies: Games and Virtual Environments for Learning: 8th International Conference, LCT 2021, Held as Part of the 23rd HCI International Conference, HCII 2021, Virtual Event, July 24–29, 2021, Proceedings, Part II (pp. 199-215). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Mertala, P., Fagerlund, J., & Calderon, O. (2022). Finnish 5th and 6th grade students' pre-instructional conceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) and their implications for AI literacy education. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, 100095.
OpenAI. (2023, June 5). ChatGPT (Version 3.5) [Software]. 6.6.2023, from https://openai.com/
Park, D. Y., & Kim, H. (2023). Determinants of Intentions to Use Digital Mental Healthcare Content among University Students, Faculty, and Staff: Motivation, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and Parasocial Interaction with AI Chatbot. Sustainability, 15(1), 872.
Silvola, A., Näykki, P., Kaveri, A., & Muukkonen, H. (2021). Expectations for supporting student engagement with learning analytics: An academic path perspective. Computers & Education, 168, 104192.