Entrance to Engineering Mall, Purdue University, Spring 2015, Campus Scenes

Purdue Teaching and Learning Technologies wins bronze at QS Reimagine Education Awards

January 13, 2025| Greg Kline

Purdue University Teaching and Learning Technologies earned a prestigious Bronze Award in the QS Reimagine Education competition for the Best Use of Generative AI, as applied in the Purdue-developed Variate application.

At the QS Reimagine Education Awards ceremony in London in December, the Variate AI Assistant captured a global audience of educators, technologists and innovators. Competing with 1,300 submissions from around the world, Variate earned praise for its ingenuity and impact.

The project was evaluated by a panel of more than 800 international judges across 18 award categories. They commended Purdue’s practical application of generative AI in education, Variate’s accessibility for instructors and its transformative potential for students. This global recognition speaks to Purdue’s leadership in advancing educational technology at scale.

What is Variate?

Variate AI Assistant is a groundbreaking, AI-driven STEM problem creator designed to transform assessment creation and save faculty time by eliminating hours of manual work. Variate allows instructors to generate an infinite variety of randomized problems effortlessly. Moreover, no coding skills are required and there’s no cost to students.

The platform not only simplifies educators’ workflows but also addresses critical challenges in education:

  • Saving time for educators: the AI feature automates tedious tasks, allowing instructors to focus on teaching and engagement.
  • Enhancing academic integrity: By generating unique problems, Variate reduces the risk of answer-sharing.
  • Empowering students: Learners gain access to countless practice opportunities, building problem-solving skills with the potential to last a lifetime.

Saving Instructors Time

Instructors have found that using Variate in their courses is both time saving and a valuable resource.

For example, Carl Wassgren, professor of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial and Physical Pharmacy, said the Variate AI Assistant helps generate multiple-choice questions easily with just a topic prompt.

Jason Ostanek, associate professor in the School of Engineering Technology, used the AI Assistant — without any training — to create accurate numeric response problems with all the necessary settings correctly configured. A problem that would normally take 30 minutes to create took just 5 minutes using the Variate AI Assistant, Ostanek said.

For more information about Variate, visit this Variate website.

Photo caption:

(L-R) Jason Dufair, lead full stack developer, Lily Carlson, senior full stack developer, and Deb Steffen, senior educational technologist.