Beyond Automation: Socratic AI, Epistemic Agency, and the Implications of the Emergence of Orchestrated Multi-Agent Learning Architectures
Generative AI is no longer a peripheral tool in higher education. It is rapidly evolving into a general-purpose infrastructure that reshapes how knowledge is generated, mediated, and validated. This paper presents findings from a controlled experiment evaluating a Socratic AI Tutor, a large language model designed to scaffold student research question development through structured dialogue grounded in constructivist theory. Conducted with 65 pre-service teacher students in Germany, the study compares interaction with the Socratic Tutor to engagement with an uninstructed AI chatbot. Students using the Socratic Tutor reported significantly greater support for critical, independent, and reflective thinking, suggesting that dialogic AI can stimulate metacognitive engagement and challenging recent narratives of de-skilling due to generative AI usage. These findings serve as a proof of concept for a broader pedagogical shift: the use of multi-agent systems (MAS) composed of specialised AI agents. To conceptualise this, we introduce the notion of orchestrated MAS, modular, pedagogically aligned agent constellations, curated by educators, that support diverse learning trajectories through differentiated roles and coordinated interaction. To anchor this shift, we propose an adapted offer-and-use model, in which students appropriate instructional offers from these agents. Beyond technical feasibility, we examine system-level implications for higher education institutions and students, including funding necessities, changes to faculty roles, curriculars, competencies and assessment practices. We conclude with a comparative cost-effectiveness analysis highlighting the scalability of such systems. In sum, this study contributes both empirical evidence and a conceptual roadmap for hybrid learning ecosystems that embed human-AI co-agency and pedagogical alignment.
Code (0)
등록된 구현이 없습니다.
Similar Papers 제목 키워드 기반
Beyond Tools: Generative AI as Epistemic Infrastructure in Education
As generative AI rapidly integrates into educational infrastructures worldwide, it transforms how knowledge gets created, validated, and shared, yet current discourse inadequately addresses its implications as epistemic …
SensitivityCyber Humanism in Education: Reclaiming Agency through AI and Learning Sciences
Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) is rapidly reshaping how knowledge is produced and validated in education. Rather than adding another digital tool, large language models reconfigure reading, writing, and codin…
Socratic agents for autonomous scientific discovery in high-dimensional physical systems
The automation of scientific discovery has reached an inflection point. While AI systems now operate instruments, optimize parameters and generate hypotheses, most remain procedural: they execute workflows fixed by human…
Cognitive Agency Surrender: Defending Epistemic Sovereignty via Scaffolded AI Friction
The proliferation of Generative Artificial Intelligence has transformed benign cognitive offloading into a systemic risk of cognitive agency surrender. Driven by the commercial dogma of "zero-friction" design, highly flu…
Beyond Social Pressure: Benchmarking Epistemic Attack in Large Language Models
Large language models (LLMs) can shift their answers under pressure in ways that reflect accommodation rather than reasoning. Prior work on sycophancy has focused mainly on disagreement, flattery, and preference alignmen…