Artificial intelligence can support students in different ways. In an educational experience, the way an assistant explains, asks questions, or adapts its interventions is also part of the instructional strategy.
aprendiz offers three configurable instructional modes that define how learning support is delivered: Assistant Mode, Socratic Mode, and Versatile Mode. Each mode provides a different approach to guiding the interaction and can support different instructional objectives depending on the course.
The configuration is not controlled by the student. The institution defines the mode at the course level based on the instructional approach and learning objectives. This allows the same institution to use different learning support strategies across different courses.
The same learning experience may require different strategies
Not every course has the same instructional objectives at every stage of the learning process. In some cases, students need to quickly understand a new concept and continue progressing through the course. In others, the learning process requires students to develop their own reasoning and arrive at an answer based on prior knowledge.
Some courses also include students with different levels of prior knowledge, making a single support strategy insufficient.
aprendiz's three instructional modes allow institutions to configure this behavior and define the balance they want to achieve between efficient understanding, instructional support, and independent reasoning.
Assistant Mode: explaining to help students move forward
Assistant Mode provides a direct and substantive response from the beginning of the interaction. Its goal is to support conceptual understanding while progressively helping students develop greater autonomy.
When a student asks a question, aprendiz can develop the answer using examples and analogies that make the content easier to understand. It can then continue the interaction by asking which specific part remains unclear and use that information to adapt its next explanation.
This mode is particularly well suited to courses or learning situations where helping students quickly develop an understanding of new concepts is a priority.
Socratic Mode: asking questions to build reasoning
Socratic Mode uses inquiry as a central part of student learning support.
Rather than providing a complete explanation from the outset, aprendiz first seeks to understand what the student already knows, what they have already tried, and which aspects of the content they remember. Based on those responses, it progressively deepens the explanation.
The response is built through the interaction. The assistant still provides the information the student needs, but the interaction incorporates questions that help students connect new content with their prior knowledge.
This mode is particularly relevant when developing students' reasoning skills is an important learning objective, in addition to understanding the content itself.
Versatile Mode: adapting the strategy to each interaction
Versatile Mode uses an adaptive scaffolding approach. Unlike the previous modes, it does not maintain a single strategy throughout the conversation.
aprendiz can alternate between questions, direct explanations, and more targeted support based on what the interaction reveals about the student's level of understanding.
For example, it may begin by exploring the student's prior knowledge of a concept. If it identifies that the student needs a more direct explanation, it can provide one. If it determines that the student can make progress through questions, it can continue using inquiry to support their reasoning.
Its value lies in its ability to adapt learning support to different levels of prior knowledge, particularly in courses where students enter with different levels of preparation.
Three modes, three approaches to student learning support
| Instructional mode | How it supports students | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant Mode | Provides direct explanations, develops concepts, and uses examples to facilitate understanding | When helping students quickly develop an understanding of new content is the priority |
| Socratic Mode | Asks questions and uses students' prior knowledge to build the explanation | When developing reasoning is as important as understanding the content |
| Versatile Mode | Combines explanation, inquiry, and direct support based on the interaction | When a course includes students with different levels of prior knowledge |
Choosing a mode does not mean that one approach is universally better than another. Each configuration addresses a different instructional need.
Configuration is also an instructional decision
aprendiz's instructional modes allow institutions to define how they want the assistant to support learning in each course.
This configuration can vary across courses. One course may prioritize rapid conceptual understanding, while another may place greater emphasis on developing students' reasoning skills. In a third, differences in students' prior knowledge may make an adaptive strategy more appropriate.
This makes it possible to incorporate artificial intelligence into a defined instructional strategy rather than applying a single behavior across every learning experience.
In this sense, the ability to configure learning support is part of the value of aprendiz: artificial intelligence can align with an institution's instructional decisions and the specific learning objectives of each course.
The value lies in choosing how to support learning
Integrating artificial intelligence into education is not limited to determining what information an assistant can provide. It also requires deciding how the assistant should support students throughout the learning process.
aprendiz's three modes allow institutions to make that decision explicitly: explain when students need to build understanding quickly, inquire when reasoning should take center stage, or adapt the strategy when differences in prior knowledge require a more flexible approach.
In this way, configuring the assistant becomes part of the design of the educational experience.
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