Beyond Imagination: Leveraging Generative AI to Enhance Learning Through Story World Analogies

This innovative practice full paper describes ConceptualTales, a conversational AI that explains STEM and social science concepts using analogies from popular story worlds and Socratic reasoning. The disconnect between conventional teaching strategies and student engagement is a persistent challenge in educational systems, particularly STEM fields. Traditional methods often fail to resonate with students, rendering the learning process monotonous and detached from their personal interests. Concurrently, students are enthusiastic about and dedicated to fictional worlds such as Marvel, Harry Potter, and Disney. This observation forms the basis for our innovative practice: integrating these beloved narratives into educational content through generative AI. ConceptualTales was tried with middle and high school students in the USA and China and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. Our system combines fiction-inspired learning, analogical reasoning, and Socratic questions, to make educational content personal and interesting to students.