Rethinking Coursework Assessment in the Era of ChatGPT
The rise of artificial intelligence, exemplified by ChatGPT, prompts a reevaluation of our traditional approach to coursework assessment. There is a compelling need to shift our focus towards evaluating not just the final product but the thought processes that students employ.
An integral aspect of this rethinking is the cultivation of a habit among students to verify the information provided by AI tools. Without this crucial step, there’s a risk that student responses may be built on inaccuracies, rendering their answers invalid. It is imperative not only to utilize AI tools as resources but also to develop critical thinking skills by cross-referencing and validating the information received.
Crafting an alternative assessment process requires a delicate balance between simplicity and efficacy. The goal is to create a comprehensive framework that enriches the understanding of students’ engagement with the learning material. The effective communication of this new approach is vital to ensure its ready acceptance and implementation by both educators and students.
This new process comprises three key components:
- teacher modelling
- curiosity driven student process
- revised assessment protocol
Once educators grasp the intricacies of this process, it remains consistent, allowing for potential modifications over time. The initial teacher explanation and modelling only needs to occur once with a particular cohort, making subsequent task assignments quicker as the overall process has been modelled.
The teacher’s role extends beyond conventional instruction to a nuanced involvement in the selection of tasks, the establishment of clear assessment guidelines, collaboration with the cohort to demonstrate ideal approaches, and the assignment of tasks along with explicitly sharing with students the assessment criteria.
The student process in how they use ChatGPT encourages students to delve into the background and key issues relevant to the task, laying a solid foundation for a reasoned response. The verification of information becomes a skill of paramount importance, ensuring the accuracy, depth, and reliability of student responses.
The final, refined answer, shaped through multiple interactions with ChatGPT, is an integral part of the student’s submission but it is not the only part. The collation and submission phase concludes the process, requiring students to decide what to include in the final submission, including the prompt chain that has led up to the formation of the ‘answer’, offering an insight into the complete learning journey.
The in-class assessment adds a collaborative dimension to the process. Following the submission deadline, students gather in a dedicated class to discuss their work openly. This collaborative forum actively observes the degree of participation and the quality of each student’s contribution. Those who have delved deeply into the subject material are encouraged to share findings and advocate for their perspectives. This class discussion, combined with the submitted work, forms the basis for grading.
For students unable to participate fully in the class discussion, individual assessments through one-on-one interviews ensure a fair evaluation. These interviews serve as opportunities to gauge their understanding of the submitted work and provide a platform for articulating their perspective.
Taken together, in class assessment and short one-on-one interviews guarantees the integrity of the student’s work.
Other resources: https://medium.com/@PeterMerrick5/chatgpt-for-student-motivation-and-engagement-index-of-resources-0eee269edab4
Dr. Peter Merrick
peterjmerrick@gmail.com
