Archives of Humanities & Social Sciences Research

Design Based Implementation of AI "Learning Companions" and Supplemental Generative AI Tools for Online Social Work Education at an HBCU

Abstract

April L Jones

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) holds considerable promise for transforming higher education and social work by promoting democratized learning through equity-focused, competency-aligned tools. As AI integration becomes more prevalent in academic programs, this design-based implementation study investigates an innovative strategy employed by an online Master of Social Work (MSW) program at a historically Black college and university (HBCU). Victor et al. report that generative AI tools function as effective supplementary resources for research and writing in social work education, demonstrating robust capabilities in memory, application, synthesis, summarization, reflection, and classification of general information. The program’s educational ecosystem features custom AI learning companions powered by advanced language models and augmented retrieval techniques, enhancing chatbot support for coursework, practicum, internship education, research, evidence-based practice, and capstone projects. Two additional generative AI supports, Visible AI and the Research and Practice Writing Assistant, further facilitate writing, presentation preparation, and feedback processes. Genius Academy AI simulations enrich practice courses by enabling skills rehearsal and structured debriefing. Harmonize supports multimodal reflection and a two-stage oral capstone workflow, allowing students to submit a draft recorded presentation for AI coach insights and committee rubric-based feedback, followed by a final recorded presentation for scoring. Over two iterative cycles, prompts, guardrails, and instructional workflows were refined through the synthesis of student reflections, faculty and field educator input, and course-level observations. These efforts are situated within emerging frameworks for responsible AI integration in human services organizations. Grounded in an experiential learning framework, this initiative aligns with standards established by the profession’s primary governing bodies. The study presents design principles, governance considerations, and an EPAS-aligned integration map to advance equitable, human-centered AI-enhanced education in other social work programs (Paying the Cognitive Debt: An Experiential Learning Framework for Integrating AI in Social Work Education, 2025) [1].

PDF