AMELIA: An AI Teaching Assistant for Equitable STEM Education in Rural Peru

Carla Gamberini; Claudia Roque; Jorge Paredes Chávez

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-99261-2_7

AMELIA: An AI Teaching Assistant for Equitable STEM Education in Rural Peru

Carla Gamberini
, Claudia Roque
, Jorge Paredes Chávez

Systems Engineering School

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Paper (Conference contribution) › peer-review

Abstract

AMELIA is an AI-powered chatbot designed to improve STEM education for teachers and students in rural Peru, where systemic barriers, gender inequality, and limited digital access restrict learning opportunities. By using AI through WhatsApp, AMELIA offers a low-cost, accessible tool built for low-connectivity environments. It provides learning activities, classroom guidelines, material specifications, and stories of women in STEM, all curated by experts and adapted to the Peruvian context. The program tackles persistent inequalities in STEM education, particularly for girls, who face sociocultural biases, resource scarcity, and underprepared teachers. AMELIA supports teachers with training and implementation guidance, boosts student engagement in STEM, and promotes gender inclusion by offering female role models. Currently active in Cajamarca with 120 teachers reaching 3,000 students, AMELIA has demonstrated strong engagement and received positive feedback for improving teaching practices. It was recently selected by the Ruralia 2024 Accelerator, signaling its scalability and innovation. Continuous improvement is driven by AI refinement, community input, and a monitoring system. Future goals include expanding to other rural regions, enhancing pedagogical resources, and involving families to reduce gender-based barriers. This paper presents AMELIA’s design, implementation, outcomes, and scaling strategies, offering a replicable model for leveraging AI to improve teaching practices and reduce gender and geographic disparities in STEM education.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium, Blue Sky, and WideAIED - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings
Editors	Alexandra I. Cristea, Erin Walker, Yu Lu, Olga C. Santos, Seiji Isotani
Publisher	Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Pages	81-89
Number of pages	9
ISBN (Print)	9783031992605
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-99261-2_7
State	Published - 2025
Event	Poster papers and late breaking results, workshops and tutorials, practitioners, industry and policy track, doctoral consortium, blue sky and wideAIED papers presented at the 26th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2025 - Palermo, Italy Duration: 22 Jul 2025 → 26 Jul 2025

Publication series

Name	Communications in Computer and Information Science
Volume	2590 CCIS
ISSN (Print)	1865-0929
ISSN (Electronic)	1865-0937

Conference

Conference	Poster papers and late breaking results, workshops and tutorials, practitioners, industry and policy track, doctoral consortium, blue sky and wideAIED papers presented at the 26th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2025
Country/Territory	Italy
City	Palermo
Period	22/07/25 → 26/07/25

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 5 Gender Equality

Keywords

AI for Equity
AI in Education
Low-Cost EdTech
Rural Schools
Women in STEM

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-99261-2_7

Cite this

Gamberini, C., Roque, C., & Paredes Chávez, J. (2025). AMELIA: An AI Teaching Assistant for Equitable STEM Education in Rural Peru. In A. I. Cristea, E. Walker, Y. Lu, O. C. Santos, & S. Isotani (Eds.), Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium, Blue Sky, and WideAIED - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings (pp. 81-89). (Communications in Computer and Information Science; Vol. 2590 CCIS). Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-99261-2_7

Gamberini, Carla ; Roque, Claudia ; Paredes Chávez, Jorge. / AMELIA : An AI Teaching Assistant for Equitable STEM Education in Rural Peru. Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium, Blue Sky, and WideAIED - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings. editor / Alexandra I. Cristea ; Erin Walker ; Yu Lu ; Olga C. Santos ; Seiji Isotani. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025. pp. 81-89 (Communications in Computer and Information Science).

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title = "AMELIA: An AI Teaching Assistant for Equitable STEM Education in Rural Peru",

abstract = "AMELIA is an AI-powered chatbot designed to improve STEM education for teachers and students in rural Peru, where systemic barriers, gender inequality, and limited digital access restrict learning opportunities. By using AI through WhatsApp, AMELIA offers a low-cost, accessible tool built for low-connectivity environments. It provides learning activities, classroom guidelines, material specifications, and stories of women in STEM, all curated by experts and adapted to the Peruvian context. The program tackles persistent inequalities in STEM education, particularly for girls, who face sociocultural biases, resource scarcity, and underprepared teachers. AMELIA supports teachers with training and implementation guidance, boosts student engagement in STEM, and promotes gender inclusion by offering female role models. Currently active in Cajamarca with 120 teachers reaching 3,000 students, AMELIA has demonstrated strong engagement and received positive feedback for improving teaching practices. It was recently selected by the Ruralia 2024 Accelerator, signaling its scalability and innovation. Continuous improvement is driven by AI refinement, community input, and a monitoring system. Future goals include expanding to other rural regions, enhancing pedagogical resources, and involving families to reduce gender-based barriers. This paper presents AMELIA{\textquoteright}s design, implementation, outcomes, and scaling strategies, offering a replicable model for leveraging AI to improve teaching practices and reduce gender and geographic disparities in STEM education.",

keywords = "AI for Equity, AI in Education, Low-Cost EdTech, Rural Schools, Women in STEM",

author = "Carla Gamberini and Claudia Roque and \{Paredes Ch{\'a}vez\}, Jorge",

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booktitle = "Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium, Blue Sky, and WideAIED - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings",

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Gamberini, C, Roque, C & Paredes Chávez, J 2025, AMELIA: An AI Teaching Assistant for Equitable STEM Education in Rural Peru. in AI Cristea, E Walker, Y Lu, OC Santos & S Isotani (eds), Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium, Blue Sky, and WideAIED - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol. 2590 CCIS, Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, pp. 81-89, Poster papers and late breaking results, workshops and tutorials, practitioners, industry and policy track, doctoral consortium, blue sky and wideAIED papers presented at the 26th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2025, Palermo, Italy, 22/07/25. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-99261-2_7

AMELIA: An AI Teaching Assistant for Equitable STEM Education in Rural Peru. / Gamberini, Carla; Roque, Claudia; Paredes Chávez, Jorge.
Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium, Blue Sky, and WideAIED - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings. ed. / Alexandra I. Cristea; Erin Walker; Yu Lu; Olga C. Santos; Seiji Isotani. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025. p. 81-89 (Communications in Computer and Information Science; Vol. 2590 CCIS).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Paper (Conference contribution) › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - AMELIA

T2 - Poster papers and late breaking results, workshops and tutorials, practitioners, industry and policy track, doctoral consortium, blue sky and wideAIED papers presented at the 26th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education, AIED 2025

AU - Gamberini, Carla

AU - Roque, Claudia

AU - Paredes Chávez, Jorge

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - AMELIA is an AI-powered chatbot designed to improve STEM education for teachers and students in rural Peru, where systemic barriers, gender inequality, and limited digital access restrict learning opportunities. By using AI through WhatsApp, AMELIA offers a low-cost, accessible tool built for low-connectivity environments. It provides learning activities, classroom guidelines, material specifications, and stories of women in STEM, all curated by experts and adapted to the Peruvian context. The program tackles persistent inequalities in STEM education, particularly for girls, who face sociocultural biases, resource scarcity, and underprepared teachers. AMELIA supports teachers with training and implementation guidance, boosts student engagement in STEM, and promotes gender inclusion by offering female role models. Currently active in Cajamarca with 120 teachers reaching 3,000 students, AMELIA has demonstrated strong engagement and received positive feedback for improving teaching practices. It was recently selected by the Ruralia 2024 Accelerator, signaling its scalability and innovation. Continuous improvement is driven by AI refinement, community input, and a monitoring system. Future goals include expanding to other rural regions, enhancing pedagogical resources, and involving families to reduce gender-based barriers. This paper presents AMELIA’s design, implementation, outcomes, and scaling strategies, offering a replicable model for leveraging AI to improve teaching practices and reduce gender and geographic disparities in STEM education.

AB - AMELIA is an AI-powered chatbot designed to improve STEM education for teachers and students in rural Peru, where systemic barriers, gender inequality, and limited digital access restrict learning opportunities. By using AI through WhatsApp, AMELIA offers a low-cost, accessible tool built for low-connectivity environments. It provides learning activities, classroom guidelines, material specifications, and stories of women in STEM, all curated by experts and adapted to the Peruvian context. The program tackles persistent inequalities in STEM education, particularly for girls, who face sociocultural biases, resource scarcity, and underprepared teachers. AMELIA supports teachers with training and implementation guidance, boosts student engagement in STEM, and promotes gender inclusion by offering female role models. Currently active in Cajamarca with 120 teachers reaching 3,000 students, AMELIA has demonstrated strong engagement and received positive feedback for improving teaching practices. It was recently selected by the Ruralia 2024 Accelerator, signaling its scalability and innovation. Continuous improvement is driven by AI refinement, community input, and a monitoring system. Future goals include expanding to other rural regions, enhancing pedagogical resources, and involving families to reduce gender-based barriers. This paper presents AMELIA’s design, implementation, outcomes, and scaling strategies, offering a replicable model for leveraging AI to improve teaching practices and reduce gender and geographic disparities in STEM education.

KW - AI for Equity

KW - AI in Education

KW - Low-Cost EdTech

KW - Rural Schools

KW - Women in STEM

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105012425966

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-031-99261-2_7

DO - 10.1007/978-3-031-99261-2_7

M3 - Articulo (Contribución a conferencia)

AN - SCOPUS:105012425966

SN - 9783031992605

T3 - Communications in Computer and Information Science

SP - 81

EP - 89

BT - Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium, Blue Sky, and WideAIED - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings

A2 - Cristea, Alexandra I.

A2 - Walker, Erin

A2 - Lu, Yu

A2 - Santos, Olga C.

A2 - Isotani, Seiji

PB - Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH

Y2 - 22 July 2025 through 26 July 2025

ER -

Gamberini C, Roque C, Paredes Chávez J. AMELIA: An AI Teaching Assistant for Equitable STEM Education in Rural Peru. In Cristea AI, Walker E, Lu Y, Santos OC, Isotani S, editors, Artificial Intelligence in Education. Posters and Late Breaking Results, Workshops and Tutorials, Industry and Innovation Tracks, Practitioners, Doctoral Consortium, Blue Sky, and WideAIED - 26th International Conference, AIED 2025, Proceedings. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH. 2025. p. 81-89. (Communications in Computer and Information Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-99261-2_7