@inproceedings{liu-etal-2026-conversational,
title = "Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Evolution, Taxonomy, and Pedagogical Frontiers",
author = "Liu, Zhengyuan and
Yin, Stella Xin and
Zhu, Li and
Wang, Xiaoman and
Lan, Yunshi and
Chen, Nancy F.",
editor = "Zhang, Yue and
Xu, Ruifeng and
Purwarianti, Ayu and
Rong, Tong and
Suzuki, Jun",
booktitle = "Proceedings of the 15th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing and the 5th Conference of the {A}sia-Pacific Chapter of the {A}ssociation for {C}omputational {L}inguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers)",
month = nov,
year = "2026",
address = "Hengqin, China",
publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics",
url = "https://aclanthology.org/2026.aacl-long.53/",
pages = "1134--1151",
ISBN = "979-8-89176-439-2",
abstract = "Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Systems (CITS) represent a convergence of artificial intelligence, learning sciences, and human-computer interaction, aiming to provide the adaptive and dialogic learning as expert teachers. In the past decades, the advancement of machine learning and natural language processing reshaped CITS{'}s design, implementation, and evaluation. In this survey, we analyze the evolution of computational paradigms in shifting pedagogical affordances, interaction styles, and methodological development. We frame CITS not merely as dialogue systems, but as proactive agents that reason about learner cognition, affect, and context while enacting pedagogical strategies grounded in educational theories. From domains, populations, and instructional goals, we identify key components, evaluation approaches, and unresolved challenges. Our paper highlights the promise and limitations of conversational tutoring in the generative AI era, offering a foundation for future research that seeks to maximize their pedagogical value."
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%0 Conference Proceedings
%T Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Evolution, Taxonomy, and Pedagogical Frontiers
%A Liu, Zhengyuan
%A Yin, Stella Xin
%A Zhu, Li
%A Wang, Xiaoman
%A Lan, Yunshi
%A Chen, Nancy F.
%Y Zhang, Yue
%Y Xu, Ruifeng
%Y Purwarianti, Ayu
%Y Rong, Tong
%Y Suzuki, Jun
%S Proceedings of the 15th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing and the 5th Conference of the Asia-Pacific Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers)
%D 2026
%8 November
%I Association for Computational Linguistics
%C Hengqin, China
%@ 979-8-89176-439-2
%F liu-etal-2026-conversational
%X Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Systems (CITS) represent a convergence of artificial intelligence, learning sciences, and human-computer interaction, aiming to provide the adaptive and dialogic learning as expert teachers. In the past decades, the advancement of machine learning and natural language processing reshaped CITS’s design, implementation, and evaluation. In this survey, we analyze the evolution of computational paradigms in shifting pedagogical affordances, interaction styles, and methodological development. We frame CITS not merely as dialogue systems, but as proactive agents that reason about learner cognition, affect, and context while enacting pedagogical strategies grounded in educational theories. From domains, populations, and instructional goals, we identify key components, evaluation approaches, and unresolved challenges. Our paper highlights the promise and limitations of conversational tutoring in the generative AI era, offering a foundation for future research that seeks to maximize their pedagogical value.
%U https://aclanthology.org/2026.aacl-long.53/
%P 1134-1151
Markdown (Informal)
[Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Evolution, Taxonomy, and Pedagogical Frontiers](https://aclanthology.org/2026.aacl-long.53/) (Liu et al., AACL-IJCNLP 2026)
ACL
- Zhengyuan Liu, Stella Xin Yin, Li Zhu, Xiaoman Wang, Yunshi Lan, and Nancy F. Chen. 2026. Conversational Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Evolution, Taxonomy, and Pedagogical Frontiers. In Proceedings of the 15th International Joint Conference on Natural Language Processing and the 5th Conference of the Asia-Pacific Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (Volume 1: Long Papers), pages 1134–1151, Hengqin, China. Association for Computational Linguistics.