The VIABLE Lab participated in the co-location of three premier conferences in educational technology and artificial intelligence: the 26th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2025), the 18th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2025), and the 12th ACM Learning at Scale Conference (L@S 2025). These events were hosted by the University of Palermo, Sicily, with overlapping schedules between July 20 and 26, 2025.

Co-located Conferences in Palermo

AIED, EDM, and L@S are widely recognized as leading venues in their respective domains: AIED at the intersection of artificial intelligence and education, EDM as the central forum for applying data mining and machine learning to educational data, and L@S as ACM’s flagship conference on large-scale learning systems and online education. Bringing them together in Palermo created a unique opportunity for dialogue across artificial intelligence, learning sciences, educational data mining, human-computer interaction, and large-scale online learning research.

The overlapping schedules of workshops, paper sessions, and joint events encouraged participants to move between communities, sharing methods and insights that bridged disciplinary boundaries and highlighted common challenges in advancing the future of learning with technology.

VIABLE Lab's Conference Participation

Our team participated across all three conferences, with Dr. Anthony Botelho, Seiyon M. Lee, and Shan Zhang representing the lab in Palermo. Hongming (Chip) Li contributed as co-author on multiple research projects but was unable to travel this time.

Leadership and Workshops

Dr. Anthony Botelho served as an organizer of the CausalEDM: Linking Innovations in Instructional Design and the Complex Behaviors that Underlie Learning Processes and Outcomes workshop, sharing advanced methodological approaches for rigorous evaluation in educational technology research. This workshop addressed critical needs in the field for more robust causal reasoning in educational data mining and AI applications.

Shan Zhang served as an organizer for the 9th Educational Data Mining in Computer Science Education (CSEDM) Workshop in conjunction with EDM 2025, focusing on the application of educational data mining techniques specifically within computer science education contexts. She also served as a Program Committee member for the AI Literacy for All (ALIT4ALL) Workshop at AIED 2025, contributing to the review and selection of research addressing AI literacy and accessibility in educational settings.

Research Presentations and Interactive Demonstrations

Seiyon Lee delivered multiple presentations across the conferences, including an oral presentation on collaborative problem-solving with AI-augmented sense-making, a JEDM (Journal of Educational Data Mining) journal talk on developing feedback taxonomy for mathematics through data mining methods, and an interactive demonstration of the GM Dashboard featuring new LLM-powered analytics capabilities.

Shan Zhang contributed with her research presentation at AIED 2025 on "VETTING AI for Deeper Learning: Constraining LLMs to Encourage Student Inquiry," demonstrating approaches to using AI systems that promote critical thinking and student engagement, and showcasing methods for designing AI tools that encourage active learning rather than passive consumption of AI-generated content.

Published Research and Contributions

Conference Recognition

Best Paper Nomination (Late Breaking Results)
The ProductiveMath platform, developed in collaboration with Dr. Seyedahmad Rahimi's research laboratory and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was nominated for the Best Paper Award in the Late Breaking Results category at AIED 2025. This nomination recognizes the approach to implementing productive failure teaching methods through AI-powered problem generation and teacher support tools.

AIED 2025 Publications

1. "So What? Unpacking the Complexities in Collaborative Problem Solving with AI-Augmented Sense-Making"
Lee, S.*, Li, H.*, Zhang, S., Zhong, Z., Lee, J. E., & Botelho, A. F.* (2025, July)
Acceptance Rate: <16%
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-98462-4_54

2. "VETTING AI for Deeper Learning: Constraining LLMs to Encourage Student Inquiry"
Zhang, S.*, Li, H.*, Lee, S., Schroeder, N. L., & Botelho, A. F.* (2025, July)
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99264-3_33
Learn more about this research: VETTING Chat Platform

3. "ProductiveMath: A Generative-AI-Powered App to Support Productive Failure Teaching" [Best Paper Nominee]
Rahimi, S.*, Ercan, D., Gao, R., Esmaeiligoujar, S., Babaee, M., Li, H., Zhang, S., Lee, S., Closser, A., & Botelho, A. F. (2025, July)
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-99264-3_43

AIED 2025 Interactive Events Track

"So What Now? AI-Augmented Sense-Making in Action: An Interactive Dashboard for Collaborative Mathematics Learning"
Lee, S.*, Li, H.*, Zhang, S., Zhong, Z., Lee, J. E., & Botelho, A. F.* (2025, July)
ResearchGate
Explore the platform: GM Dashboard

L@S 2025 Publication

"An Automated Aesthetic Assessment Framework of Mathematical Story Images Validated by Click Counts"
Li, H.*, Xing, W., Lyu, B., Zhu, W., Liu, Z., & Li, H. (2025, July)
DOI: 10.1145/3698205.3733923

EDM 2025 Publication

"Building an Explainable Recommender System for Engineering Students' Work-Integrated Learning (WIL)"
Hwang, W., Li, H., Aguinalde, A. P., Zhang, Y., Shin, J.*, Crippen, K., & Carroll, B. (2025, July)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15870223

Journal of Educational Data Mining (JEDM)

"Developing a Feedback Taxonomy for Math: A Synergy of Perspectives through Data Mining Methods"
Lee, S., Baral, S., Li, H., Cheng, L., Zhang, S., Thorp, C. S., St. John, J., Thompson, T., Heffernan, N., & Botelho, A. F.* (2025)
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16684563

Team Member Perspectives

Dr. Anthony Botelho reflected on the experience:

"We had three conferences back-to-back, which gave us a great platform. What I'm hoping for from this trip is continued momentum: consolidate our current studies, finalize papers, and develop a few cross-institution collaborations that extend the work. I'm proud of the team, students and collaborators alike, for showing up with substance. We'll keep refining the way we share our work across venues."

Seiyon Lee shared her insights from the conference experience:

"I was really grateful for the opportunity to present our projects on behalf of my team. It was especially thrilling to finally reconnect with some familiar faces, while also meeting new people across the country, including Professor Zach Pardos. My AIED2025 presentation was the last presentation of the last session, so I was nervous that there might not be many people in attendance or have questions. To our surprise, we had over five questions and we were able to see our idea had great potential for future work!"

Shan Zhang reflected on her conference experience:

"It was a wonderful experience to reconnect with friends and meet new people. It's very motivating to see others care about the same things you do and show genuine interest in your ideas. I was fortunate and grateful to have opportunities to listen, talk, present, and learn what excites others."

Chip Li offered his perspective from the home front:

"It was wonderful supporting the team remotely while they represented our collaborative work in Palermo! I really enjoyed being the 'home base headquarters,' helping with everything from organizing our research materials to providing technical support when needed. There's something quite satisfying about contributing to research that spans continents and seeing our team's hard work shine on the international stage. As a researcher, it felt great to know that our collaborative efforts were being showcased so well at these prestigious conferences!"

Research Trends and Field Observations

The conferences provided valuable insights into current research trends in AI and education. A striking observation was that approximately 90% of the late-breaking posters at AIED 2025 focused on Large Language Models (LLMs) or Generative AI applications, clearly reflecting the field's current trajectory. These applications ranged from research support tools for literature review to large-scale assessment systems for higher education contexts with hundreds or thousands of students.

However, this concentration revealed an important research gap: while higher education applications dominated the presentations, there remains significant untapped potential for K-12 educational applications. This presents an opportunity for the field to develop age-appropriate, pedagogically sound AI tools that address the unique considerations of K-12 environments, including safety, privacy, and developmental appropriateness. The VIABLE Lab's emphasis on human-centered, explainable AI applications positions our work well to contribute to this emerging area.

Research Philosophy and Future Directions

As Dr. Botelho reflected on the trip, the lab's research philosophy became clear: "We focus on practical, human-centered uses of LLMs in education, including dashboards, assessment, methods training, and explainable analytics, rather than hype for its own sake." This approach was evident across all the lab's presentations, from the causal inference workshop to the interactive dashboard demonstrations.

The conferences also opened doors for future collaborations, with ongoing conversations emerging with research groups from institutions including CMU and others. These potential partnerships align with the lab's ongoing projects in methodologically rigorous evaluation and real-time tools for instructors.

Looking Forward: Festival of Learning 2026

During the conference, the announcement was made for the Festival of Learning 2026, which will be held in Seoul, South Korea from June 29 – July 3, 2026. This upcoming event will continue the successful co-location model, bringing together AIED 2026, EDM 2026, and L@S 2026 conferences once again.

The Festival of Learning 2026 aims to create a unique, shared space where academic communities in AI, Education, Learning Sciences, and Human-Computer Interaction can share cutting-edge research, spark new cross-disciplinary collaborations, and collectively address the most pressing challenges and opportunities in the future of learning. Seoul, Korea provides a perfect backdrop of high-tech innovation and educational leadership for this gathering, with planned shared sessions and events that will bring together participants from all three conferences for enhanced cross-conference collaboration and networking.

Sicilian Adventures: La Dolce Vita Meets Academic Life 🇮🇹

Beyond the academic achievements, the team discovered that Sicily offers an unexpected blend of scholarly inspiration and culinary adventure. For Dr. Botelho, this marked his first Italian experience. "My first time anywhere in Italy," he noted, and the waterfront setting of Palermo proved both beautiful and surprisingly familiar.

The conference venue's proximity to Palermo's historic harbor meant that research discussions often continued against a backdrop of Mediterranean views and ancient architecture. The team embraced the local culinary scene with enthusiasm. Dr. Botelho's culinary journey began with an adventurous choice: sardine pizza on the first day. "I wouldn't normally choose that," he admitted, "but it was great when in Rome!" The irony of the phrase wasn't lost on him, given that the team was in Palermo, not Rome. Shan was equally impressed with the local cuisine, noting that "Palermo's pizza and pasta were delicious." This spirit of culinary exploration extended to evening discoveries of limoncello, Italian wines, and what Dr. Botelho described as "a very good tiramisu" that became a conference highlight.

Between sessions, the team found themselves naturally drawn to Palermo's ancient streets, where 2,800 years of history created an almost surreal backdrop for discussions about cutting-edge AI applications. The Palermo Cathedral, with its distinctive blend of Arab-Norman architecture, became an unexpected venue for informal research conversations. The nearby Teatro Massimo, one of Europe's largest opera houses, provided evening inspiration and perhaps a few ideas for more dramatic future conference presentations.

The Mediterranean climate proved surprisingly comfortable for the Florida-based researchers. "Warm! The heat actually felt familiar—very Florida," Dr. Botelho observed, though he quickly added that the ancient stone buildings and sea breeze created a decidedly more romantic atmosphere for discussing educational data mining than their usual Gainesville Opus Coffee. The combination of intense academic work and rich cultural immersion demonstrated how international conferences can transcend typical professional networking.

As the team prepared to leave Sicily, Dr. Botelho joked, "Maybe take more photos of everyone!" It was the kind of reminder that would have made Chip smile, since he is usually the one with a camera in hand. Shan added warmly, "We had a great time exploring the city," while Seiyon reflected on the many conversations that had sparked ideas for future projects. Together, these lighthearted and thoughtful moments captured the spirit of the trip—serious research paired with shared experiences. The team left Palermo not only with new collaborations and papers in progress, but also with a sense of connection that went far beyond the conference rooms.

Research Publications

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