AI chatbot developed at Seidman enhances students’ understanding of software

Akbulut said ADA was developed in the wake of COVID-19 and the early emergence of ChatGPT. 

“My daughter was in middle school at the time,” Akbulut said. “She had designed herself a homework helper robot and found a way to get help for herself. So she told me, ‘You’re an IT professor. Why don’t you just come up with a robot so it can answer students’ questions?'” 

After consulting with their Seidman colleagues, Akbulut and Gillespie constructed ADA to guide students through coursework and exercises.

“ADA is connected real-time into the ERP system,” Akbulut said. “ADA first looks at the student’s work, and then she utilizes models to verify their work. If she finds an issue, she's coded to give recommendations on how to fix the problem.

“ADA gives them direction. She doesn't solve the issue for them, so they still have to think critically and solve the problem themselves.”

Akbulut and Gillespie eventually introduced ADA in the Management Information Systems course (MGT 268) during the Fall 2022 semester. 

“I spent probably a good 18 months coding it, just to get the basics to prove that we could do this, and then it was just constant refining,” Gillespie said. “Later, when we took it to MGT 351 (Enterprise Information Systems), we faced a whole new set of hurdles, and we had to re-engineer it again. ADA is getting better and better as she's learning more and more.”

Over the past three years, Seidman ERP Program student workers and Akbulut’s MGT 351 students have played a crucial role in the development and refinement of ADA.

Before ADA, Gillespie said it was common to see a line of students in the hallway of the Management Department’s office, waiting for help from faculty on an exercise. Now, thanks to ADA’s availability, students can seek guidance and assistance at any time, freeing faculty to devote more time in the classroom.

Feedback from students has been positive on many fronts, Akbulut said. The pair also received strong encouragement from colleagues after presenting ADA at the SAP University Alliances Conference in June 2024.

“ADA helps students with their self-confidence,” Akbulut said. “They know this is a very difficult course, and they're able to troubleshoot on their own. She also helps them to understand the importance of data accuracy and data integrity in organizational information systems. 

“ADA helps them improve their problem-solving skills and better understand course concepts. I think using ADA relieved the anxiety of a few students who may have been overwhelmed.” 

More importantly, the skills students gain using ADA and working with ERP systems have also made them more attractive to employers. Akbulut and Gillespie said several of their graduates have parlayed their classroom experience into positions with firms. 

“All the employers know that our students are learning about business processes and ERP systems, so they come to hire our students based on those skills,” Akbulut said.