When Lauren Mitchell, an associate professor of instruction in the Department of Chemistry, began exploring UT Sage, her goal was simple: give students a tool designed specifically for her course. Unlike general-purpose AI tools, her UT Sage tutor is trained on course materials and guides students through concepts at the appropriate level, helping them get immediate support and additional practice while staying aligned with class learning objectives.
Students use the tool to explore course topics, ask questions and generate extra practice problems. The tutor complements existing resources such as office hours, tutoring and discussion boards while providing the quick feedback many students seek when studying independently. By focusing on the scope of the course, UT Sage helps ensure students receive guidance tailored to what they are learning in general chemistry.
What started as a student resource has also become a valuable teaching aid. Mitchell uses UT Sage to review quiz questions, develop answer choices and streamline the process of formatting assessments for Canvas. While creating these workflows required experimentation and refinement, the result has been a significant time savings for her teaching team and a more efficient way to support student learning.