Using Inquisitive AI Feedback to Enhance Formative Assessment in First-Year Engineering

Effective formative feedback is essential in first-year engineering (FYE) education to foster critical thinking and support students in navigating engineering tasks. This paper introduces the Inquisitive AI feedback system combined with a cyber-physical system (CPS), designed to enhance formative feedback through inquisitive prompts during lab activities. The system offers immediate, personalized feedback, assisting students in understanding and engaging with complex simulations. Preliminary results from a pilot study involving 24 students (eight groups of three) demonstrate the system's potential to improve formative assessment by clarifying misconceptions, enhancing time efficiency, and reducing the dependency on instructor intervention. However, further development is necessary in key areas: (1) enhancing the AI's contextual understanding of student activities, (2) improving the clarity of feedback provided, (3) guiding students on effective engagement with the AI, and (4) creating individualized student profiles to address critical learning gaps essential for lab success.