??You are invited to attend the lunch time Auxin session offered by the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Speaker: Sharon Malan
Topic: Integrating AI as a tutoring tool in an ECP Academic Literacies module?
??Date: 22 July 2025
Time: 13:10-14:10
?Venue: MS Teams: Join the meeting now??
?
?Summary of the Auxin:
?
This Auxin session shares insights from a pilot study integrating an AI-powered tutoring tool, namely ELI (the Eloquent Literacy Assistant), into an ECP Academic Literacies module. In this pilot, ELI supported students' writing development by guiding their thinking with Socratic questions, providing immediate, targeted feedback, and acting as a tutor aligned to the module outcomes. As part of their main assessment, students wrote persuasive essays on inequality in South Africa from the perspectives of avatars such as domestic workers, unemployed graduates, healthcare workers in public clinics, etc. This approach shifted their writing from abstract arguments to essays that were more humanised, empathetic, and grounded in lived experiences.
From my perspective as a lecturer, my students appeared to engage actively with ELI and seemed to feel supported in their writing process. I noticed that some students used the tool to structure their essays more confidently and began formulating clearer, more focused prompts to guide their interactions with the AI. However, the pilot also highlighted key challenges. AI is not a silver bullet: it can hallucinate, requires human oversight, and risks becoming a crutch if used uncritically.
For teaching and learning at SU, this pilot suggests that AI can be a valuable addition when used intentionally, prompting us to rethink our pedagogical approaches to ensure students can make the most of AI in their academic work and beyond.
?
Sharon holds a PhD in Educational Psychology and teaches in the Extended Curriculum Programme at SU. She specializes in student development, academic literacy, and economics education, with a strong focus on innovative teaching methods such as flipped classrooms, problem-based learning, and AI-driven tutoring. With a deep passion for teaching, learning, and assessment as well as cognitive education, she integrates evidence-based strategies to develop critical thinking, metacognition, and lifelong learning skills in students.?
