Issue 126

At the end of last term, an exasperated member of staff pleaded with me: how can we stop students cheating in assessments using ChatGPT and similar AI tools?

Sadly, I was not able to offer any quick fix. In fact, from what I can gather, these new technologies have turned the world of academic writing on its head and companies like Microsoft and Google are busily working on making AI text generation more and more pervasive. After the invention of the internet itself, this is the next biggest tech development of our time and the implications for educators are huge. In short, we need to equip both students and teachers with the ‘skills that will be needed in an AI-dominated landscape’ (Allen and West, 2018). 

Universities all over the globe are currently struggling with how to cope. A major concern is that ChatGPT is a threat to traditional methods of assessment – namely the essay (Rudolph, Tan, and Tan, 2023). Educational institutions are being asked to ‘re-imagine’ how to assess, and to think of ways to incorporate these technologies into a ‘re-engineered’ curriculum (Learning Innovation: The Teaching and Learning Podcast, 2023). One thing that they do agree upon, however, is that there is no way of detecting plagiarism with these AI text generators and that banning AI use is futile. Even if there was a way to identify plagiarism, the amount of time required for educators to cross-check individual student responses would be prohibitive. 

So, what can we do right now in our secondary school context as these technologies continue to develop at lightning speed?

Enter your friendly teacher librarian!

As the information literacy experts and critical thinking skill builders in our schools, we will be required to play a significant role in building student skillsets and supporting teachers in adapting to these new technologies. Our staff will be looking to us for guidance in an education landscape where AI is ubiquitous.

Citing Chat GPT

Let’s start with the basics. Whether we approve or not, students will be using this technology. As a matter of academic integrity, it is in everyone’s best interests to encourage students to ‘make ethical decisions in real-life contexts when undertaking research, working collaboratively and using digital technologies’ (Learning across the Curriculum, 2023).When students do use AI-generated text in their work (and they will), we need to remove any judgement and explicitly instruct them on how to present and cite this material.

Staphanie Strachan's school library in Newcastle.

According to Timothy McAdoo of the American Psychological Association (APA), the parameters and guidelines around how to reference AI text are still being debated and yet to be finalised. In the meantime, he argues that it is best to encourage students to be honest and add their AI produced text in full as an appendix to their assignment (How to Cite ChatGPT, 2023). It’s important for students to attach the exact text that was generated because no two responses in ChatGPT are the same (even if the exact same prompt is replicated).

As with any other source, the AI produced text will also need to be correctly referenced. When creating an in-text quotation, APA recommends crediting the algorithm with the reference because there are no human authors involved, for example: (OpenAI, 2023).

A bibliographic reference requires more detail and would look like this:

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Apr 20 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

Supporting staff 

Some would argue that anything that pushes us to re-examine our own pedagogical practice is a good thing. But given the current level of teacher shortages, fatigue, burn-out and low morale, how can classroom teachers be expected to dramatically change the way they assess to keep up with the AI revolution?

Teachers will always need our support and now is the perfect time for teacher librarians to step up in our role as expert leaders within the school. We need to be advocating on behalf of our colleagues for quality professional development in this area. Teachers need planning time to ensure the effective integration of information literacy skills that incorporate AI technologies. We also need to keep up to date and share current research on AI tools and their impact on teaching and learning.

Assessment and learning

Because of AI, the days of assigning take-home summative extended response assessments are limited. We need to collaborate with staff to design authentic assessments that reflect on experiential learning opportunities and growth in student critical thinking skills. Faculties need to avoid assessments that are so formulaic that it would be difficult to ascertain if a person or chatbot wrote the text. We also need to give students opportunities to demonstrate their learning in class and in other ways – verbally or by means of creative presentations.

As staff become more familiar with these technologies and realise that they are here to stay, they might be encouraged to incorporate tools like ChatGPT into their lesson plans and assessments. For example, students could be asked to supply a ‘first draft’ using AI. They might then be asked to improve upon that answer manually, identifying what the AI overlooked or misrepresented. AI could also be used as a scaffolding tool. Students might be instructed on how to use appropriate prompts to create a rough outline for an extended response which could be completed in class.

Tools like ChatGPT might also be used by students to identify key ideas in lengthy articles. By way of analysis, students might use different AI services to see if there are any differences in what the AI tools generate as the most salient points of the article. They could then try to reconcile and justify why the tools came up with different answers.

In other words, we need our students to see that AI is merely a tool to assist them in their learning. AI will never be a substitute for real learning.

A powerful tool for teachers 

AI offers educators astounding opportunities, and anything that could potentially reduce teacher workload is worth experimenting with. Indeed, many teachers are already using AI tools, Grammarly being a good example. A growing number of teachers are also embracing AI as a means of reducing their workload. AI is being used more and more by educators to assist them in their day-to-day practice. They are generating programmes, lesson plans and assessment tasks, rubrics and analogies.

ChatGPT can also be used by teachers to level the playing field for students from non-English speaking backgrounds and can even be used to design student individual education plans (IEPs). Teachers are using it to analyse trends, set professional goals and help their students overcome writer’s block.

ChatGPT provides teacher librarians with a fresh opportunity to highlight our role as information specialists and curriculum leaders. We realise that digital and information literacy is of critical importance. We are therefore perfectly positioned to help guide and support our school communities as they adapt to this new wave of technology and the challenges and opportunities that arise.

References

McAdoo, T. (2023, 7 April). How to cite ChatGPT. Retrieved from https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt

NSW Education Standards Authority. (2023). Learning across the curriculum. Retrieved from https://curriculum.nsw.edu.au/teaching-and-learning/learning-across-the-curriculum

Rudolph, J., Tan, S., & Tan, S. (2023). ChatGPT: Bullshit spewer or the end of traditional assessments in higher education? Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 6(1) 1. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2023.6.1.9

The Teaching and Learning Podcast (2020). How ChatGPT is evolving the way we teach and assess academic writing learning Innovation. Retrieved from https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/learning-innovation-the-teaching-learning-podcast/id1555117008?i=1000609474540

West, D. M. and Allen, J. R. (2018). How artificial intelligence is transforming the world. Retrieved from Brookings website: https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-artificial-intelligence-is-transforming-the-world/