Collaborative Research: HSI Pilot Project: PRACTICE - Performance Refinement through AI Correction in Technical Writing for Chemical and Electronics Engineering

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Track 1 PPP project aims to enhance the technical writing skills of Puerto Rican engineering students through an AI-driven feedback system. This project is critical as many students in Puerto Rico are taught in Spanish but face English proficiency requirements in the U.S.

STEM industries. Currently, more than 85% of students in Puerto Rico are low-income and nearly 100% are Hispanic or Latino, often performing below national proficiency standards. The STEM workforce participation in Puerto Rico is about half the rate in the U.S., despite the growing Hispanic population in the U.S.

By leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLM), the project will provide real-time, personalized feedback to students on their technical reports, thereby bridging the gap between technical knowledge and communication skills. The expected outcome is improved technical writing proficiency among Hispanic engineering students, leading to better educational and professional opportunities in STEM fields.

The specific aims of the project are to develop and implement an AI-driven system that provides real-time feedback on technical reports for Chemical and Electronics Engineering students in Puerto Rico. The project will incorporate adaptive learning algorithms to understand individual learning styles and needs, LLM tools to personalize language based on student interactions, and NLP tools to adjust feedback tone and encouragement levels.

The expected results include enhanced technical writing skills and better academic performance among participating students. The project will also integrate educational frameworks such as generative learning theory and AI Across the Curriculum to support learning and continuous improvement. Dissemination efforts will include online courses, workshops, webinars, and outreach activities.

The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.