Instead of fostering teamwork and self-directed learning; students deconstruct their assignment text and hope to identify a series of “predetermined questions”. This tendency jeopardizes the realisation of the aspired benefits of PBL due to a lack of reflection on the formulated learning goals and the limited activation of students’ prior knowledge. Tutors can provide didactic support mechanisms - commonly referred to as scaffolding - to stimulate the pre-discussion and empower students without the tutorial becoming teacher-led. Such scaffolding can take the form of assigning discussion roles; offering a template to structure the discussion or the use of blended learning tools.

In their NRO-funded project CO-PILOT of €25,000, Johan Adriaensen, Mirko Reithler and Robyn Ausmeier explore the potential of using Large Language Models (LLMs) as a scaffolding tool for in-class use. While the technology offers significant potential in theory, it is far from evident this can also materialise itself in practice. CO-PILOT studies how to integrate the technology in the classroom. This includes the identification of the appropriate conditions to use LLMs; the determination whether any, and if so which, guardrails are best put in place before students use LLMs, and instructions for tutors of how to integrate LLMs in the tutorial with minimal disruptions.