Meet BIOCBOT: A GenAI tool to help you learn-by-teaching

TitleMeet BIOCBOT: A GenAI tool to help you learn-by-teaching
Faculty/College/UnitMedicine
StatusActive
Duration2 Year
Initiation04/01/2025
Project Summary

Learning-by-teaching is a powerful, though underutilized, method for mastering a subject. In pilot courses at UBC we have implemented a study buddy program where we pair high-achieving students with lower-achieving students in tutor-protégé partnerships. To date, we have offered study buddy matching to over 3,000 students. Our analysis demonstrates significant enhanced learning trajectories for those who elect to participate in the study buddy program. Despite the positive results, not all students in the pilot courses opt-in, possibly due to personal or situational barriers. To extend the reach of learning-by-teaching we developed a Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) biochemistry study buddy tool that acts as both a tutor and protégé to encourage more students to engage in this highly effective learning strategy. In this next phase we will enhance the user-friendliness of the tool in hopes that it will expand capacity and be readily adaptable to more courses at UBC.

Funding Details
Year 1: Project TitleMeet BIOCBOT, A GenAI Biochemistry Study Buddy tool designed to help you learn-by-teaching
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year2025/2026
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorEden Fussner-Dupas
Year 1: Funded Amount40,657
Year 1: Team Members

Eden Fussner-Dupas, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine
James Enns, Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Warren Williams, Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine
Patrice Belleville, Associate Head / Associate Professor of Teaching, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Bowen Hui, Associate Professor of Teaching, Associate Professor of Teaching, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and
Statistics, Faculty of Science, UBC Okanagan
Achol Jones, Undergraduate Student, Neuroscience
Daniel DeHeer-Amissah, Undergraduate Student, Kinesiology
Gabrielle Reznik, Undergraduate Student, Microbiology and Immunology

Year 2: Project YearYear 2
Year 2: Funding Year2026/2027
Year 2: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 2: Principal InvestigatorEden Fussner-Dupas
Year 2: Funded Amount9,324
Year 2: Team Members

Eden Fussner-Dupas, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine
James Enns, Professor, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Warren Williams, Associate Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine
Patrice Belleville, Associate Head / Associate Professor of Teaching, Computer Science, Faculty of Science
Bowen Hui, Associate Professor of Teaching, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics, and
Statistics, Faculty of Science, UBC Okanagan
Achol Jones, Undergraduate Student, Neuroscience
Vernonica Dudarev, Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychology, Faculty of Arts
Daniel DeHeer-Amissah, Undergraduate Student, Kinesiology