How To Build An AI Math Tutor To Personalize Learning for Students

Can AI and math ever be friends?

There’s a stubborn notion that they can’t. But of course, with every shiny new innovation comes a hiccup or two. In fact, AI and math are actually becoming quite the power couple. Just as AI has effortlessly slid into other major subjects, it’s now finding its groove in math too.

And with AI and math finally hitting their stride together, they need an intervention. That intervention is you, teacher.

One such intervention is taking advantage of AI’s growing capacity for math to prove just how productive it can be (so people don’t keep judging it as bad at math). With so many AI tools out there, it’s no surprise that AI has taken on more hats than we can count. But what about being an AI math tutor?

In this blog, I’ll walk you through how incredibly easy it is to build and design an AI math tutor, intervened by you.

1. Find the Right AI Tool

It starts with what you use to build another you in the form of an AI tutor.

If we’re talking about AI tutors in general, there are plenty out there. Narrow it down to math-specific tools, though, and the list gets shorter. You have options like Khanmigo, Photomath, and Mathway, but these are often surface-level solutions.

But surface-level tools, as popular as they might be, don’t necessarily cut it, especially when it comes to something as nuanced as math. Our best bet? Edcafe AI.

Edcafe AI, primarily built with educators in mind, is packed with interactive AI teaching content generators. It spans modern-day teacher solutions like instructional planning, assessments, and grading.

One of which is the AI Chatbot Generator. This lets you create your own custom chatbot (no coding required!) that students can directly interact with synchronously or asynchronously.

Check out our rundown on 11 Best AI Chatbot Makers Teachers & Schools Can Use for Student Support.

Too good to be true? Yes, we’re pretty sure it’s too good. And yes, it’s absolutely true!

2. Start Designing Your AI Math Tutor

Now, it’s time to get our hands dirty. But not much, because Edcafe AI makes it so easy.

From the Edcafe AI web app, click Create New, and select Chatbot. From there, you’ll see guided prompt fields to help you engineer your prompt without feeling lost. The straightforward fillable fields make it easy even for AI beginners to create their own custom chatbots.

Let’s say you need an AI math tutor for teaching fractions. Here’s how you can set that up with Edcafe AI:

• Name of Chatbot: Fraction Tutor
• Instructions: You are a focused math tutor that helps students understand and solve problems involving fractions. Explain clearly and step-by-step. Always simplify answers when possible. Help with topics like adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing fractions, converting between improper fractions and mixed numbers, simplifying fractions, and comparing fractions.

Optional is to upload any file that may serve as the chatbot’s additional knowledge to help guide and align it closely to lessons so it can reference that very knowledge.

3. Send the AI Math Tutor to Your Students

Once all the setup is done and the bot has been created, it’s time to mobilize our AI math tutor to start tutoring students right from the convenience of their own devices.

To do this, click on the Assign button. This generates a QR code that students can scan to access the AI math tutor you designed with Edcafe AI right from any device, anytime, anywhere.

Once students are in, they can immediately interact with the AI math tutor. It works much like ChatGPT but is tailored exactly how you designed it, with the knowledge and instructions you provided.

Another cool feature? These chatbots support file uploads. This means students can upload pictures of whiteboards, textbooks, or anything else they need help with.

Edcafe AI’s chatbots support handwritten text recognition, so no rewriting is ever needed.

4. Review chat sessions and adjust accordingly

With every chat session your students have with your AI math tutor gets recorded on a smart chat session dashboard that you can access.

You get insights on total chat sessions and read through every chat history each of your individual students have so you can monitor threads closely for anything that needs your attention.

When you actively get to review chat history sessions, it makes it easier for you to:

• Spot misconceptions before they stick. Identify moments where students misunderstood a concept (e.g., confusing least common multiple with greatest common factor) and step in before the misconception becomes ingrained.
• Fine-tune the AI’s personality. If students seem disengaged or confused by the AI’s tone (too formal, too vague, etc.), tweak its instructions to align better with their learning style like adding humor or simplifying explanations.
• Pinpoint questions the AI struggles with. Notice patterns in questions the AI consistently fumbles (e.g., word problems or multi-step equations) and refine its knowledge base or instructions to handle these cases better.

Take Your AI Math Tutor Up a Notch

So, you’ve built your AI math tutor, and sent it off to your students. Now, let’s take it a step further because what really matters is when you fully personalize and customize your AI tutor to reflect you and meet your students wherever they are.

Speaking of meeting students wherever they are, check out our list of 6 Dynamic Ways Differentiated Instruction With AI Supports Personalized Learning.

Here’s how you can do just that with Edcafe AI’s features:

Add Your Signature Style Through Prompt Engineering

Every teacher has a unique way of explaining things. Maybe you love using sports analogies or visual storytelling to break down complex concepts. Use Edcafe AI’s custom instructions field to weave in your signature style. For example:

• “When explaining fractions, always use pizza slices as an analogy.”
• “End every explanation with a motivational phrase like, ‘You’ve got this!’”
• “If a student asks about negative numbers, compare them to owing money.”

Feed the Chatbot Knowledge with Existing Materials

One of Edcafe AI’s standout features is the ability to upload files to enrich your chatbot’s knowledge base. Use this to your advantage by attaching resources like:

• A PDF of key formulas and definitions your students need to memorize.
• A step-by-step guide to solving specific types of problems (e.g., long division or quadratic equations).

Create Multiple AI Math Tutors for Different Topics or Levels

Why stop at one AI tutor? If you teach multiple math topics or levels, create separate chatbots tailored to each. For example:

• “Algebra Ally”: Focuses on solving equations, graphing functions, and simplifying expressions.
• “Geometry Guru”: Helps students tackle proofs, angles, and area calculations.

But the twist is customizing each chatbot’s tone and approach based on the topic or level. For instance:

• Make the “Fraction Master” playful and encouraging for beginners.
• Program the “Algebra Ally” to be more formal and precise for advanced learners.
• Let the “Geometry Guru” focus on real-world applications and step-by-step breakdowns.

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