Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票 (SU) is actively engaging with the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education. A recent Auxin session presented by Dr Hannelie Adendorff, Senior Advisor at the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), provided an insightful exploration of the evolving relationship between AI, literacy and the academic project.
Followed online by more than 100 academics and staff members this week, Adendorff's presentation titled “AI, Literacy, and the 中国体育彩票: Where Are We Now?" offered practical insights to help students and lecturers adapt responsibly to the challenges and opportunities posed by AI.
Adendorff referenced the 2023 Microsoft LinkedIn Work Trends report, which surveyed 31 000 “knowledge workers" in 31 countries. One of its striking revelations was that 66% of business leaders would be unlikely to hire someone without AI skills and many are more inclined to pick a candidate with fewer years of experience but stronger AI literacy. “That raises quite a question for us in higher education as to how we prepare our students for the workplace," Adendorff pointed out.
“If we're teaching our students skills that can be performed by AI tools, we are not really helping them," she cautioned. “In any organisation an AI tool performing the same skill is going to be cheaper and eventually that graduate is going to be replaced by something else."
AI itself is not the problem, she argued. “AI coming onto the scene is showing fault lines that were already present in higher education, and one of those fault lines is our trust in our assessment systems and our trust in terms of what our teaching and our assessment methods are achieving. Have we not been training students to mimic machines and calculative thinking rather than helping them become true critical thinkers?" she asked.
Practical integration in the classroom
Adendorff shared several examples of SU academics who have successfully incorporated AI tools and critical evaluation into their teaching practices.
- Writing and critical thinking: In an extended curriculum programme, students use generative AI to improve writing skills and critique AI-generated writing. “Students were far more critical of ChatGPT than one might have expected," Adendorff noted, relaying a colleague's experience. By comparing AI-generated text to their own work, students develop stronger writing and analytical skills.
- Coding and problem-solving: A lecturer in economics and management sciences noticed that AI could write Excel macros or other code fairly accurately – provided the user knows what to ask. Students soon discovered that they need baseline knowledge to guide the AI effectively, highlighting the importance of clarity and precision in prompts.
- Generating questions with AI: Dr Melody Neaves required students to design test questions based on complex readings in materials engineering. When she allowed students to generate possible exam questions via ChatGPT, it prompted them to revisit course material meticulously, ensuring the AI's outputs were correct, relevant and aligned with Bloom's taxonomy. This exercise deepened their mastery of the material.
- Showing contextual nuance: A lecturer in anatomy introduced AI to help students see how data sets differ across contexts. By critically examining AI-generated information, they discovered discrepancies showing that AI tools may incorporate values from non-South African contexts and must be used with caution.
Adendorff praised these examples as evidence that AI, when thoughtfully incorporated, can lead to richer engagement with subject matter. “Students are forced to double-check what the AI is doing. They learn the content more deeply and sharpen their critical thinking. They have a better understanding of what they could use AI for, what responsible use is and what might not be."
To guide the ethical use of AI, SU has developed a set of guidelines that address authenticity, accountability, transparency and fairness. A working group of about 15 people – including academics, librarians and learning technologists at SU – is currently updating these guidelines to address practical issues.
Guidelines aim to provide a framework for academics to navigate the complexities of AI integration, including practical considerations such as detecting AI-generated work and determining appropriate use cases.
At SU, lecturers may choose whether to ban, allow or require AI, but each option brings a unique set of responsibilities, Adendorff said. She cautioned that detection software alone does not solve the broader educational concern: “Assessment is meant to tell us if our students have learned. If we are not sure whether they actually did the work themselves, we lose sight of that core purpose."
A recurring theme was the need to revisit learning outcomes. With AI increasingly capable of performing tasks once assigned to students, universities must ask whether some outcomes have become obsolete. “Should we be preparing students for specific tasks AI can do – or should we be focusing on what humans do best such as critical thinking, creativity and ethical judgment?" Adendorff asked.
She also raised concerns around human agency, especially in learning. “Students and staff must enact their own agency to ensure they stay relevant," she said. Knowing how to protect one's data, how to fact-check AI outputs and how to develop uniquely human attributes (such as empathy and ethical judgment) are all part of responsible AI literacy.
As AI tools become more powerful, SU continues to refine practical guidelines and training opportunities. CTL now offers an Assessment, Learning and AI short course twice a year, and more resources – from podcasts to case-study booklets – are being developed. Ultimately, these efforts are designed to help the 中国体育彩票 community harness AI's potential as a tool for deeper learning rather than seeing it merely as a threat to academic integrity.
“We want to spark more conversations around outcomes, around creative work and helping students enact their own agency," Adendorff concluded.
Useful resources about AI at SU:
Official statement about the Ethical use of Artificial Intelligence in Research and Teaching-Learning Assessment at SU.
- Writing and critical thinking: Sharon Malan (EMS), TTA podcast episode.
- Coding and problem-solving: Hamman Schoonwinkel (EMS), TTA podcast episode.
- Showing contextual nuance: Jodie Lemphane (FMHS), TTA podcast episode. ?
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