Exploring the potential of LLM to enhance teaching plans through teaching simulation

Area of Science:

• Artificial Intelligence in Education
• Pedagogical Research
• Educational Technology

Background:

• Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly discussed for their potential to transform education.
• Existing research primarily explores LLMs for student tutoring, with limited investigation into their role in supporting teachers.
• Effective teaching plan development is crucial for quality instruction, particularly in subjects like high school mathematics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a novel method using LLMs to enhance the quality of teaching plans for high school mathematics.
• To explore the potential of LLMs in assisting teachers with pre-class preparation and lesson refinement.
• To investigate if LLM-generated teaching plans, refined through simulated interactions, can match human-crafted plans.

Main Methods:

• Developed a method guiding LLMs to simulate teacher-student interactions within a specific subject (high school mathematics).
• Utilized LLM-generated teaching reflections derived from simulated interactions to refine initial lesson plans.
• Conducted human evaluations to compare the quality of LLM-refined teaching plans against original LLM-generated plans and human-expert plans.

Main Results:

• The proposed method significantly improved the quality of teaching plans generated by LLMs.
• Human evaluations indicated that the LLM-refined teaching plans were comparable to high-quality plans created by experienced human teachers.
• The improvements were observed across various assessment dimensions and knowledge modules within the mathematics curriculum.

Conclusions:

• LLMs can be effectively utilized to enhance teaching preparation by simulating pedagogical scenarios and facilitating lesson plan refinement.
• This approach offers a valuable tool for pre-class rehearsal and provides actionable insights for improving teaching materials.
• The findings provide practical evidence supporting the broader application of LLMs in supporting teacher preparation and professional development.