Question 1

What is Socratic AI?

Accepted Answer

Socratic AI is an AI approach that asks questions instead of giving answers. It guides students through their own reasoning, grounded in your course material. Research shows that guided inquiry deepens learning more effectively than being given answers outright (Alfieri et al., 2011; Lazonder & Harmsen, 2016), so they develop critical thinking and demonstrate real understanding.

Question 2

What's the research behind Socrado's approach?

Accepted Answer

Socrado's design draws on peer-reviewed research across several areas: guided-inquiry and discovery-based learning (Alfieri et al., 2011; Lazonder & Harmsen, 2016), constructive alignment (Biggs, 1996), the revised Bloom's taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Krathwohl, 2002), and formative assessment (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie & Timperley, 2007).

Question 3

What makes Socrado different from other AI tools?

Accepted Answer

Most AI tools give students answers. Socrado does the opposite: it guides them through their own reasoning with questions grounded in your course material and learning objectives, so they stay engaged in the thinking rather than outsourcing it. It's built on the Socratic method and the revised Bloom's taxonomy, aligns goals, dialogue and feedback in line with the principle of constructive alignment (Biggs, 1996), and produces formative feedback and feedforward reports. The educator stays in control throughout.

Question 4

How does Socrado use Bloom's taxonomy?

Accepted Answer

Socrado uses Bloom's taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Krathwohl, 2002) to structure how questions grow in complexity across a conversation, from explaining a concept, to applying it, to analysing or evaluating it. Instructors can set a Bloom level per learning goal, and the questions draw out progressively deeper thinking as the dialogue develops. It's not a strict ladder, though. The cognitive processes work more like a toolbox than a fixed sequence, so a student who opens with a big-picture analysis rather than a textbook definition isn't penalised for skipping a step. Socrado considers each response against each learning goal on its own merits, based on what the response actually demonstrates. This flexibility supports neurodiversity: students think and approach problems in different ways, and Socrado recognises understanding wherever it appears in the conversation rather than requiring one fixed path through it. Socrado works with five of the six cognitive processes outlined in the revised version of Bloom's taxonomy. The sixth category, create, isn't included as it tends to involve complex assignments requiring supervision from instructors.

Question 5

Couldn't we build this ourselves with an AI agent?

Accepted Answer

Socrado isn't a single prompt or agent. It's an entire pedagogical system: goals, Socratic dialogue and formative feedback kept in alignment; Bloom-structured questioning; responses analysed against observable features to track progression; feedforward reporting grounded in research on formative assessment (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Hattie & Timperley, 2007); configurable scaffolding and personas; plus EU-data-zone processing, no training on conversations, AI Act transparency, and full LMS integration. There's considerably more to it than an agent that asks questions.

Question 6

Does Socrado grade or assess students?

Accepted Answer

No. Socrado gives formative feedback during a conversation and a feedforward report afterwards pointing to what to explore next. It doesn't produce grades and isn't an examiner. Students can also retry conversations multiple times. Decisions about grades and academic standing stay entirely with the teacher, which is also why Socrado sits outside the EU AI Act's high-risk category for systems that determine formal outcomes.

Question 7

Is Socrado compliant with the EU AI Act?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Under the AI Act, Socrado falls outside the high-risk category, which covers systems that evaluate learning outcomes toward formal decisions like grades, qualifications or academic standing. Socrado supports learning through formative feedback, practice and guidance; it doesn't grade or determine any summative outcomes. Socrado also meets the AI Act's transparency obligations: students are always told they're interacting with an AI system and informed about how it works.

Question 8

How is our data handled?

Accepted Answer

Your data is processed and stored within the EU data zone and isn't used to train the model. You can request deletion at any time.

Question 9

How does Socrado deal with hallucinations?

Accepted Answer

Socrado bases its questions and feedback on the content you provide, which reduces hallucination risk compared with a general model working from the open internet.

Question 10

Can I tailor Socrado to my own course and materials?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and you control how it works at every level. You set the learning goals and provide the theory for each topic, then shape how Socrado runs the conversation: the questioning mode, how much scaffolding it offers, and the complexity of each goal. You decide what every conversation covers, and the dashboard shows how the group is progressing and where students could use support.

Question 11

What kind of content works best in Socrado?

Accepted Answer

Focused, well-structured content works far better than long texts dropped in wholesale. Learning goals are deliberately bitesize, no more than two or three new concepts per conversation, so material works best organised into clear topics. Summaries of your material work very well too.

Question 12

Can Socrado integrate with our LMS or VLE?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Full LMS integration is supported via LTI 1.3, so Socrado fits into the environment students and teachers already use rather than adding another separate login.

Question 13

Which languages does Socrado support?

Accepted Answer

Dutch, English and French today, with more available on request.

Feature		ChatGPT
Constructive alignment	Yes: Learning goals, activity & formative evaluation are aligned	No: No pedagogical structure
Source-bound content	Yes: Only questions on educator-provided materials	No: Uses broad internet data
Avoid hallucination	Yes: Grounded in uploaded course content	No: May generate plausible but false content
Bloom's taxonomy integration	Yes: 5 of the 6 cognitive levels, from remember to evaluate	No: No pedagogical framework
Formative feedback	Yes: Real-time feedback + detailed progress reports	No: No learning metrics or reporting
Prevents false confidence	Yes: Questions reveal true understanding gaps	No: Giving answers can mask learning gaps
LMS integration	Yes: Seamless LTI 1.3 integration with your LMS	No: No institutional integration

Socrado asks the questions.Students do the thinking.You get the insight.

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