DEVELOPING A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT TO SUPPORT INFORMATICS LESSON PLANNING

Authors

  • Nguyen Hong Phong School of Mathematics and Computer Science, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Do Minh Quan School of Mathematics and Computer Science, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Le Xuan Hien School of Mathematics and Computer Science, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9890-2518
  • Pham Tho Hoan School of Mathematics and Computer Science, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18173/2354-1075.2026-0060

Keywords:

Virtual assistant, lesson planning, GraphRAG, knowledge graph, large language model

Abstract

Preparing high school Informatics lesson plans is time-consuming, as teachers must meet the knowledge, competency, and quality requirements of the 2018 General Education Curriculum while organizing textbook content in accordance with the structure of Official Dispatch 5512. Large Language Models (LLMs) can assist teachers; however, hallucination – where models generate content that deviates from the curriculum – is the primary obstacle. This study develops a GraphRAG-based virtual assistant, combining Gemini with a Neo4j knowledge graph that encodes the high school Informatics curriculum and the Digital Competence Framework prescribed by Circular 02/2025/TT-BGDĐT and operationalized for school students in Official Dispatch 3456 (MOET, 2025b). The novelty of this research lies in a two-layer control mechanism: an immutable zone extracting data verbatim from the knowledge graph, and a creative zone for the model to flexibly design pedagogical activities. The pedagogical design of the system is justified through the Backward Design and constructive alignment frameworks, clearly defining the structural support role of the virtual assistant while preserving the teacher's pedagogical autonomy. A survey of 35 participants yielded an overall mean score of 4.52/5 (SD = 0.60; α = 0.898) across 22 criteria in four groups. A within-subject comparative experiment (n = 20) showed that the system was rated higher than a standalone LLM across all four core criteria (p < 0.05, Wilcoxon signed-rank test).

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Abu-Salih, B., & Alotaibi, S. (2024). A systematic literature review of knowledge graph construction and application in education. Heliyon, 10(3), e25383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25383

Baidoo-Anu, D., & Owusu Ansah, L. (2023). Education in the era of generative artificial intelligence (AI): Understanding the potential benefits of ChatGPT in promoting teaching and learning. Journal of AI, 7(1), 52–62. https://doi.org/10.61969/jai.1337500

Biggs, J. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher Education, 32(3), 347–364. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00138871

Celik, I. (2023). Towards Intelligent-TPACK: An empirical study on teachers' professional knowledge to ethically integrate artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools into education. Computers in Human Behavior, 138, 107468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2022.107468

Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008

Edge, D., Trinh, H., Cheng, N., Bradley, J., Chao, A., Mody, A., Truitt, S., Metropolitansky, D., Ness, R. O., & Larson, J. (2024). From local to global: A Graph RAG approach to query-focused summarization. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2404.16130

Gao, Y., Xiong, Y., Gao, X., Jia, K., Pan, J., Bi, Y., Dai, Y., Sun, J., Wang, M., & Wang, H. (2024). Retrieval-Augmented Generation for large language models: A survey. arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2312.10997

Huang, L., Yu, W., Ma, W., Zhong, W., Feng, Z., Wang, H., Chen, Q., Peng, W., Feng, X., Qin, B., & Liu, T. (2025). A survey on hallucination in large language models: Principles, taxonomy, challenges, and open questions. ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 43(2), Article 42. https://doi.org/10.1145/3703155

Kasneci, E., Sessler, K., Küchemann, S., Bannert, M., Dementieva, D., Fischer, F., Gasser, U., Groh, G., Günnemann, S., Hüllermeier, E., Krusche, S., Kutyniok, G., Michaeli, T., Nerdel, C., Pfeffer, J., Poquet, O., Sailer, M., Schmidt, A., Seidel, T., … Kasneci, G. (2023). ChatGPT for good? On opportunities and challenges of large language models for education. Learning and Individual Differences, 103, 102274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102274

Ministry of Education and Training. (2018a). Chương trình giáo dục phổ thông môn Tin học [General Education Curriculum for Informatics] (Circular No. 32/2018/TT-BGDĐT, December 26, 2018).

Ministry of Education and Training. (2018b). Chương trình giáo dục phổ thông – Chương trình tổng thể [General Education Curriculum – Overall Program] (Circular No. 32/2018/TT-BGDĐT, December 26, 2018).

Ministry of Education and Training. (2020). Công văn số 5512/BGDĐT-GDTrH về việc xây dựng và tổ chức thực hiện kế hoạch giáo dục của nhà trường [Official Dispatch No. 5512 on school education plan development] (December 18, 2020).

Ministry of Education and Training. (2025a). Khung năng lực số cho người học [Digital Competence Framework for learners] (Circular No. 02/2025/TT-BGDĐT, January 24, 2025).

Ministry of Education and Training. (2025b). Hướng dẫn triển khai thực hiện Khung năng lực số cho học sinh phổ thông và học viên giáo dục thường xuyên [Guidance on implementing the Digital Competence Framework for school students and continuing education learners] (Official Dispatch No. 3456/BGDĐT-GDPT, June 27, 2025).

Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 1017–1054. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9620.2006.00684.x

Ramírez, S. (2018). FastAPI: Modern, fast web framework for building APIs with Python. https://fastapi.tiangolo.com/

Taber, K. S. (2018). The use of Cronbach's alpha when developing and reporting research instruments in science education. Research in Science Education, 48(6), 1273–1296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-016-9602-2

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (Expanded 2nd ed.). Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Zheng, Y., Huang, S., Zeng, X., Huang, Y., Liu, Z., & Luo, W. (2025). Knowledge-enhanced large language models for automatic lesson plan generation. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12, 1784. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-06004-2

Downloads

Published

2026-06-29

Issue

Section

Educational Sciences: Natural Science

How to Cite

Nguyen Hong Phong (2026) “DEVELOPING A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT TO SUPPORT INFORMATICS LESSON PLANNING”, HNUE Journal of Science: Journal of Educational Science, 71(4), pp. 88–98. doi:10.18173/2354-1075.2026-0060.

Similar Articles

1-10 of 212

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.