Overview
Lourdes is redesigning Enfoques/, a year‑long research project embedded within the Spanish Language and Society (SLS) course, to reflect how AI is used in real‑world professional contexts. The project integrates GenAI in a pedagogically structured way that strengthens students’ academic literacy, critical judgement, and responsible use of AI.
What has been delivered
Enfoques is a global simulation in which students adopt professional roles – such as specialists, analysts, researchers, or cultural critics – contributing to an online publication focused on political, economic, social, and cultural issues in Spanish‑speaking contexts.
The redesigned version is now being piloted on the Spanish Language and Society course. It has developed to scale across all Spanish courses and, over time, to be adapted for other degree‑level languages taught at the Language Centre.
Pedagogical approach
Lourdes has designed a full sequence of GenAI‑integrated tasks using the 4Ds of AI Fluency framework: Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence. Students build academic GenAI literacy through a deliberate progression from guided to independent use:
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Early tasks provide structured guidance on when and how to use Claude (e.g. as a research assistant, planning tool, practice partner, or writing support).
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Later tasks remove this scaffolding, requiring students to apply the same principles independently and make informed decisions about AI use.
This approach ensures that GenAI supports learning rather than bypassing it. As Lourdes notes: “Without structured guidance, students risk developing counterproductive patterns that bypass learning. Mapping how, when, and where GenAI is introduced across the curriculum is essential.”
Throughout the course, students are required to declare and appropriately cite any use of Claude, reinforcing transparency, academic integrity, and responsible practice.
Key learnings and next steps
Lourdes is exploring how GenAI could support more agentic forms of learning, including automated news‑gathering to help students stay up to date with their research topics.
She has also been actively sharing learning from the Fellowship with colleagues within and beyond LSE through presentations and training materials, with a strong commitment to enabling wider pedagogical adoption.