欧美福利100000

Advancing Postgraduate Education with AI Chatbots

Home 禄 Faculties of Humanities 禄 Research 禄 Research Centres and Institutes 禄 Centre for Social Development in Africa (CSDA) 禄 Research Excellence 禄 Thematic area 3 projects 禄 Advancing Postgraduate Education with AI Chatbots

The CSDA is proud to announce the launch of a new teaching innovation project titled 鈥淓nhancing Postgraduate Teaching and Learning through AI Chatbots: A SoTL-Based Evaluation of Ulwazi and SociBot.鈥� This initiative is led by Dr Anthony Kaziboni in collaboration with Professors Lauren Graham, Tapiwa Chagonda, and Ingrid Palmary, and is supported by the 欧美福利100000 of Johannesburg鈥檚 Division for Teaching Excellence.

The project seeks to explore the potential of generative AI tools to enhance postgraduate supervision, engagement, and academic support. Specifically, two customised AI-powered chatbots, Ulwazi, designed for the聽Master of Philosophy in Social Policy and Development聽(MPhil), and SociBot, designed for聽Honours in Sociology, will be integrated into postgraduate teaching and learning processes in the CSDA and Department of Sociology.

This innovation aligns with SDG 4: Quality Education, and speaks directly to the 欧美福利100000鈥檚 Strategic Plan 2035, which calls for the use of people-centred technology to foster inclusive, high-impact education. The project also contributes to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) by generating empirical evidence on the pedagogical value and challenges of using AI in postgraduate supervision.

This project aims to enhance postgraduate teaching, learning, and supervision by piloting the use of two AI-powered chatbots customised for MPhil, MA, and Honours students in the Faculty of Humanities. The project is designed to achieve the following key outcomes:

  1. Improved academic engagement and support: By offering on-demand, interactive guidance, the chatbots help students better understand complex theoretical concepts, research design, and academic writing, leading to greater confidence and autonomy.
  2. Strengthened supervision practices: Supervisors benefit from reduced repetitive administrative queries, allowing them to focus on deeper academic mentoring. Insights from the project may inform improvements to postgraduate supervision models across departments.
  3. Digital innovation in pedagogy: The project introduces a replicable, ethically grounded digital learning solution aligned with UJ鈥檚 Strategic Plan 2035 and the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
  4. Contribution to SoTL and institutional learning: Through focus groups, interviews, and reflective research, the project will generate qualitative data on chatbot integration. Findings will be disseminated through a hybrid seminar, op-eds, and a peer-reviewed article, advancing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and informing institutional strategy.