Guest Post: Lazy Teaching And Assessment Methods Are The Real Problem, Not ChatGPT
In secondary school, I studied Health and Social Care, which was one of several new vocational subjects at the time. It covered topics from first aid to communication, skills which I have referred back to constantly in the years since. These subjects differ from the norm, as the majority of marks are rewarded for continuous assessment, rather than one exam encompassing three years of information.
Despite complex and demanding units, many excelled. Continuous assessments consisted of essays, booklets, presentations and a physical component per year. It built our subject knowledge and taught us to apply concepts while including valuable skills such as public speaking and time management.
It remains one of my most memorable and enjoyable subjects, as it gave me the space to foster creativity through learning, something that few other subjects have done since.
As many will agree, continuous assessments are not an easy way out. They require a proper understanding of the subject, good time management and communication. But these skills are beneficial and should be introduced early on to avoid crashing and burning at a later stage.
This academic year, we have thankfully been able to relax COVID-19 measures and get back to the lecture room. Yet a new moral panic has replaced the pandemic: artificial intelligence in education.
ChatGPT is an AI tool that can answer questions, summarise information and draft any form of text. The revolutionary writing assistant has however sparked worry that students are using this tool to cheat through assessments.
In reality, although this is bound to change, the written standard of such an AI tool is low and certainly not at university standard. Yet students may still be incentivised to use it because way too many lecturers and assignments prioritise regurgitating information and paraphrasing, actively discouraging personal opinions, and AI tools provide a convenient way out of the piles of assignments at the end of the semester.
The problem here is what ChatGPT reveals about the educational system in place, its focus on parroting information without the option of receiving feedback, resulting in disengaged students whose only aim is to pass exams instead of learning for the long-term.
Instead of lambasting students for lacking critical thinking, we should be taking long hard looks at the education system making them who they are. Especially at a tertiary level, focus must be on instigating critical thinking. If not through continuous assessment, exam and assignment questions should at least encourage the formation of original opinions through relevant information.
But from primary school through to university, students are taught the exact opposite – little argumentative and debating skills, and little formation of personal opinion. It is then quite predictable that people grow up failing to question their reality. The educational system that has shaped us constantly discouraged us from questioning authority and asking why something is happening and why things are the way they are.
As we move away from the pandemic, we should take ChatGPT as a learning opportunity. While AI tools can indeed take over essay writing and exams, let us not forget that they can never really take away what higher education should be all about: learning within a community. University is a place for community building, for coming together in discussion and for learning through each other.
The worry that ChatGPT will fix our assignments is real but this is only echoing the need for change. Worried lecturers are probably aware that they are not bringing the classroom to life as they should be doing, and with such tools they can no longer take the easy way out.
So, as we make a return to the lecture room, it is high time we reconsider how effectively we are using the platform in the first place. Education, especially at a post-secondary level, must shape students into functioning adults – it’s not supposed to be a memory game and it’s up to us to change this.
Claria Cutajar is a Moviment Graffitti activist
How do you think ChatGPT will change our education system?