KI4TUK

In many STEM degree programs, students often have difficulties with the mathematical content of lectures, especially in the early semesters. The lack of important skills results in a high drop-out rate or long study periods, which in turn is the reason for the shortage of workers, particularly in engineering.
To counteract these problems, KI4TUK is developing support measures that are tailored to students' current level of knowledge and support their conceptual learning.

Targeted recommendations for in-depth learning, based on students' individual strengths and weaknesses, are provided using AI algorithms and educational data mining with didactic methods. KI4TUK collects the data for this via placement tests and rapid assessment tests, which are made available on a web-based platform.

Here, ethical principles, data protection and personal rights are taken into account and transparency is ensured.
Furthermore, KI4TUK is integrated into the existing university environment and ongoing lessons, in order to track students' learning progress during lectures and laboratory practicals and to highlight areas that need to be deepened and repeated.

At RPTU, access to KI4TUK is via the user account of the Regional University Computer Center Kaiserslautern-Landau (RHRZ). Students can use the technology provided to check their current learning status and receive continuous direct feedback in real time. The performance data is stored on a virtual server at the RHRZ to ensure data protection and data security. A concept like that of KI4TUK can improve the situation of STEM-students in early semesters across Germany by enabling personalized and individualized learning through the implementation of AI technology.

From the beginning, the project has closely interlinked ethics, computer science, physics, mathematics and didactic considerations. In this way, technology is not simply evaluated according to its functionality and correctness, just as ethics does not judge technology in an abstract and unrealistic way. Rather, the collaboration is based on continuous scientific communication, in an intensive interdisciplinary scientific exchange, in order to ultimately achieve the core objective step by step: The development of an individualized and study-accompanying AI ePortfolio for the introductory phase of STEM degree courses that meets technical and ethical requirements.

Ethically relevant questions go beyond the purely technical or the data collected. They also concern concrete pedagogical/didactic concepts and methods and broaden the view of the human being and their relationships in the teaching/learning environment of the university. Ethics views the human being (depending on the underlying concept of man) as a being with abilities that they can develop and also contribute to society. However, this requires an environment in which the reflected intention can also be made possible. In addition to good technical implementation, the question of what constitutes good teaching and good learning is also crucial. In this way, the results obtained can be implemented in the system on the basis of a responsible ethics-human-technology interaction.

The innovative approach of Technoethics for Emerging Digital Systems (TEDS), developed by Karen Joisten, was taken as a basis in order to provide appropriate ethical support for the individual objectives of RATsApp.[1] In this, the various ethical claims that can be made against a digital technology are located in different ethical approaches that are integrated in TEDS.

The facts obtained and, on the other hand, the insights/experiences gained are documented so that they can ultimately be used as the basis for an ethical guideline.

[1] Siehe dazu: Karen Joisten: Tecnoethics to preserve democracy. Digital Future Society (2020).https://digitalfuturesociety.com/qanda/karen-joisten-tecnoetica-para-salvaguardar-la-democracia/. Siehe auch: Karen Joisten, Nicole Thiemer, Tobias Renner, Anke Janssen, Alexander Scheffler. Focusing on the Ethical Challenges of Data Breaches and Applications. In: IEEE International Conference on Assured Autonomy (ICAA), 2022, pp. 74-82, doi: 10.1109/ICAA52185.2022.00018

Since 01.12.2021: KI4TUK (Individualized and study-accompanying AI ePortfolio for the introductory phase in STEM degree courses)

Research assistant in the project for ethical issues: Anke Janssen M. A.

The Team behind KI4TUK and participating departments at RPTU - Campus Kaiserslautern:

Projectmanagement:

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Norbert Wehn
norbert.wehn(at)rptu.de
0631/205-4436
Division of Microelectronic Systems Design (EMS)

Involved parties:

Prof. Dr. Karen Joisten
karen.joisten(at)rptu.de
0631/205-3118
 Department of Philosophy

Prof. Dr. Paul Lukowicz
paul.lukowicz(at)dfki.uni-kl.de
0631/205 75-4010
Head of the Research Department Embedded Intelligence

Prof. Dr. Stefan Ruzika
ruzika(at)mathematik.uni-kl.de
0631/205-4423
Department of Mathematics

Dr. Stefan Küchemann
s.kuechemann(at)physik.uni-muenchen.de

Prof. Dr. Jochen Kuhn
jochen.kuhn(at)physik.uni-muenchen.de

RPTU Kaiserslautern

Faculty of Social Sciences
Department of Philosophy

Erwin-Schrödinger-Straße
Building 57, Room576
PO Box 3049
D-67663 Kaiserslautern

Phone: +49 (0)631 205-3355
Fax: +49 (0)631 205-3821
E-Mail: anke.janssen(at)rptu.de