Wiley (NYSE: WLY), a global leader in authoritative content, data-driven insights, and knowledge services that advance science and learning, is using AI to enhance its college courseware for both students and instructors.
Wiley’s zyBooks, the company’s fastest-growing courseware program, has created four new tools which are available at no extra charge to users this fall, three of which are AI-driven or -related:
- zyLabs AI Hints
- Generate with AI for zyLabs
- zyBooks Assessments
- Student Behavior Insights
These new tools are designed to improve instruction, learning outcomes, and academic integrity in zyBooks college STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) courses, benefiting both students and instructors.
zyLabs AI Hints
zyLabs AI Hints is a new AI tutor that provides feedback to students who have hit a barrier in their zyBooks coding lab, helping them get back on track so they can successfully complete the assignment. The tutor doesn’t give students the answers; instead, it gives them hints and tips on where they may have gone wrong so they can go back and try again. This enhancement can be enabled or disabled by the instructor, depending on the specific lab and/or course.
Wiley created the tutor to improve learning by helping students overcome challenges and obstacles—a process known as productive struggle. The tutor was successfully piloted in collaboration with the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU) and now is available to all customers using zyLabs.
Generate with AI for zyLabs
Generate with AI for zyLabs is an AI authoring wizard that enables instructors to more easily create their own, high-quality zyLab assignments, a capability frequently requested by Wiley customers. This AI tool greatly simplifies computer science instructors’ ability to tailor their assignments to their own particular courses and students’ needs, giving them greater flexibility and autonomy with an eye toward improving learning outcomes.
zyBooks Assessments
Also frequently requested by Wiley customers, the zyBooks Assessments tool allows instructors to create their own course tests within the zyBooks system. Test results are then included along with reading content, interactive questions, assignments, labs, and homework, all in the same platform. Instructors can import content directly from the zyBook course materials into their tests, saving time and ensuring their assessment measures what students have learned in the class.
Student Behavior Insights
This new tool helps instructors identify students who are struggling and may need help with an assignment, as well as those who may be using AI inappropriately. Through Student Behavior Insights, instructors can view students’ individual work on the assignment, analyze their progress, and see where they may be running into problems and needing help. They can also spot when students are pasting AI-generated answers into the assignment, rather than doing their own work, helping improve academic integrity.
Each of these new tools is offered at no additional cost to zyBooks customers.
“Wiley is dedicated to taking a deliberate, research-driven approach to developing AI tools to ensure that they address real challenges faced by our customers,” said Lyssa Vanderbeek, Wiley group vice president for courseware. “Our ultimate goal is to help students learn, so we work diligently to ensure that our innovations generate meaningful outputs that provide value to both students and instructors.”
zyBooks are Wiley’s fully interactive online learning courseware solutions designed to empower student engagement and success through animations, learning questions, auto-graded challenge activities and integrated tools. zyLabs are online labs embedded within zyBooks courses designed to help computer programming students learn coding skills in a realistic, professional environment.
