Can Vision Language Models Be Adaptive in Mathematics Education? A Learner Model-based Rubric Study

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Gao, Jie, Yu, Yongan, Su, Junzhu, Lin, Yiran, Dube, Adam K., Cheung, Jackie Chi Kit
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Gao, Jie
Yu, Yongan
Su, Junzhu
Lin, Yiran
Dube, Adam K.
Cheung, Jackie Chi Kit
author_facet Gao, Jie
Yu, Yongan
Su, Junzhu
Lin, Yiran
Dube, Adam K.
Cheung, Jackie Chi Kit
contents Adaptive learning refers to educational technologies that track learners' learning progress and adapt the instructional process based on individual learners' learning performance. It is increasingly recognized as critical for developing an effective learning support tool. Vision language models (VLMs) have seen adoption in mathematics education, and students have been using them as learning aids for personalized instruction. However, it is unknown whether VLMs have the ability to adapt to different learner profiles when providing mathematical instructions. Current VLMs lack a systematic evaluation framework for this adaptivity to different learner profiles in mathematics tutoring tasks. To address this gap, we draw on the learner model from the adaptive learning framework (Shute and Towle, 2018) and propose a learner model-based rubric. Our rubric formalizes adaptivity assessment into three aspects: cognitive aspects, motivational aspects, and complexity. We also evaluate two additional dimensions of VLM responses: correctness (of answers and solutions) and quality (of the response itself). Our experimental results show measurable differences in adaptivity across models and also reveal that current VLMs struggle to consistently produce learner model-based instructional responses, especially when receiving limited learner information.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_16011
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Can Vision Language Models Be Adaptive in Mathematics Education? A Learner Model-based Rubric Study
Gao, Jie
Yu, Yongan
Su, Junzhu
Lin, Yiran
Dube, Adam K.
Cheung, Jackie Chi Kit
Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
Adaptive learning refers to educational technologies that track learners' learning progress and adapt the instructional process based on individual learners' learning performance. It is increasingly recognized as critical for developing an effective learning support tool. Vision language models (VLMs) have seen adoption in mathematics education, and students have been using them as learning aids for personalized instruction. However, it is unknown whether VLMs have the ability to adapt to different learner profiles when providing mathematical instructions. Current VLMs lack a systematic evaluation framework for this adaptivity to different learner profiles in mathematics tutoring tasks. To address this gap, we draw on the learner model from the adaptive learning framework (Shute and Towle, 2018) and propose a learner model-based rubric. Our rubric formalizes adaptivity assessment into three aspects: cognitive aspects, motivational aspects, and complexity. We also evaluate two additional dimensions of VLM responses: correctness (of answers and solutions) and quality (of the response itself). Our experimental results show measurable differences in adaptivity across models and also reveal that current VLMs struggle to consistently produce learner model-based instructional responses, especially when receiving limited learner information.
title Can Vision Language Models Be Adaptive in Mathematics Education? A Learner Model-based Rubric Study
topic Computation and Language
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.16011