In a blog post on the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung website, two experts from FHWien der WKW discuss AI as a dialogue partner that helps students identify topics for their theses.
Finding a suitable topic for a thesis poses a challenge for many students. As part of the “Master Propaedeutics – Bridging Courses Research Skills & Methods” project, funded by the City of Vienna (MA 23), the AI chatbot “Donna, the Topic Buddy” was therefore developed at FHWien der WKW.
Unlike traditional AI tools, Donna does not provide ready-made answers. Instead, the chatbot uses targeted questions to help students develop their own ideas, narrow down topics, and engage in critical reflection. It is based on the principle of Socratic dialogue, which promotes independent thinking.
In their blog post titled “Socratic AI Tutors as Learning Facilitators in Developing Thesis Topics,” published on November 5, 2026, for the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung (HFD), Melanie Dejnega and Evelyn Fränzl from FHWien der WKW report on their experiences with “Donna” from two course cycles:
- Students prefer to talk to a real person when brainstorming topics.
- They perceive the AI tutor as very competent, but view her subject-matter expertise and their confidence in her competence as somewhat lower.
- Donna is primarily intended to challenge ideas and stimulate thinking; as a result, she may overlook specific details of the subject matter.
- Therefore, subject-matter feedback from the supervising instructor is always necessary.
The bottom line: The potential of AI tutors lies primarily in guiding students toward independent thinking and problem-solving, rather than making decisions for them.
>> Read the blog post (German)
