Abstract
Intellectual-property-rights (IPR) courses involve dense legal text that is challenging for non-law students to internalize. We pair a generative-AI tutor with auto-generated diagrams and flowcharts to visualize IPR concepts, evaluated in an undergraduate IPR course. Students reported improved understanding and positive reception of the graphical scaffolding.
Problem & Motivation
IPR courses are dense in legal text and case analysis, which makes abstract legal concepts hard to internalize for students without a law background. Pure text-based instruction tends to leave students unable to connect statutes with real-world scenarios.
Method
We developed a generative-AI tutoring tool that combines text responses with auto-generated diagrams and flowcharts, helping students visualize IPR concepts. The tool was deployed in an undergraduate IPR course and evaluated through surveys and learning-outcome analysis.
Findings
- Graphical scaffolding measurably improved student understanding of IPR concepts.
- Auto-generated visualizations helped students see connections between related legal concepts.
- User experience ratings of the AI assistant were positive.
Implications
Generative AI is not limited to text response — visual representation can be a substantial channel for converting abstract knowledge into intuitive understanding. The approach generalizes naturally to other cross-disciplinary teaching settings (law, medicine) where domain-specific abstractions are a known stumbling block.
Citation
BibTeX
@inproceedings{yen2025ai_assistant_ipr,
author = {Chia-Chien Yen and Po-Tang Hsieh and Yi-Cheng Chen and Chia-Kai Chang},
title = {Analysis of a Generative {AI}-Based Graphical Learning Assistance Tool in {IPR} Courses},
booktitle = {Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Advanced Learning Technologies (ICALT)},
pages = {226--228},
year = {2025},
month = jul,
note = {Best Short Paper Award},
doi = {10.1109/ICALT64023.2025.00071},
}