ParaTutor: LLM Mediated Parent Child Tutoring through Role Separated Scaffolding Interface in Real Time

2026-06-16

AI Summary

This work addresses the limitations of existing large language model (LLM)-assisted learning systems, which predominantly support single users or symmetric collaboration and thus fail to accommodate the asymmetric roles inherent in parent–child tutoring—where parents guide while children actively reason. To bridge this gap, we propose ParaTutor, a novel LLM-powered interactive system featuring a role-separated scaffolding interface that simultaneously provides parents with real-time pedagogical guidance and offers children visual problem anchoring and conversational prompts to sustain their reasoning engagement. Evaluated with 23 parent–child dyads, ParaTutor significantly outperforms generic LLM-assisted approaches by effectively preserving parental authority while fostering continuous child participation in home-based learning contexts.

Abstract

Parent child tutoring is a collaborative learning setting with asymmetric roles, where parents guide children s problem solving while children engage in understanding and reasoning. However, most LLM based learning systems are designed for either single users or symmetric collaboration, leaving parent child tutoring with distinct instructional roles underexplored. Through a formative study, we find that effective parent child tutoring depends on preserving these distinct roles, with parents guiding the learning process and children remaining actively engaged in reasoning. We also identify recurring challenges when parents struggle to understand problem structure, lack sufficient knowledge to provide support, or encounter communication difficulties that disrupt shared understanding. To address these challenges, we present ParaTutor, a scaffolding system that provides different forms of support to parents and children. ParaTutor supports parents with guidance for tutoring and provides children with visual grounding for problem solving. We evaluate ParaTutor with 23 parent child dyads (children aged 10 to 12) under four tutoring conditions that vary how LLM assistance is delivered. Results show that generic LLM assistance tends to reduce the parent s role in tutoring, whereas ParaTutor better preserves parent led support and sustains children s participation in reasoning. These findings suggest that in multi users learning, the value of LLM support depends not only on model capability but also on how support is distributed across users with different roles. Our work contributes design implications for LLM systems that support family learning.

Problem

• parent-child tutoring
• asymmetric roles
• LLM-mediated learning
• collaborative learning
• scaffolding

Innovation

• role-separated scaffolding
• parent-child tutoring
• LLM-mediated learning
• asymmetric collaboration
• visual grounding