Using ChatGPT as an Exam Preparation Tool

Perhaps the best strategy for a student preparing to write A level exams is to concentrate their effort on practicing past papers. Here we will explore a structured and effective approach to using ChatGPT that students can use to prepare themselves.

Obviously exam conditions do not allow the student any direct access to ChatGPT. Therefore the fact that the technology can ‘write’ and pass an exam in its own right is, for the purposes of this text, irrelevant. Rather here we are discussing how ChatGPT can be used by the student in their exam preparation.

ChatGPT is a powerful tool for any student aiming for a high grade (an A or A*) however a student who uses it to directly give them the answer to an exam question will fail to achieve the highest marks and may in fact reduce the learning experience to a dull mechanistic process that can be characterised as the surrender of intellectual sovereignty.

We need to understand the difference between non-deterministic and deterministic subjects. Non-deterministic exams are assessments where there may be multiple correct answers or where the grading criteria allows for subjective interpretation. These exams often focus on assessing higher-order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation (i.e. humanities). Deterministic exams are assessments where there is a single correct answer for each question, and the grading criteria are strictly defined (i.e. STEM subjects). The method described here applies to the humanities. This is not to say that revision for STEM subjects cannot benefit from using ChatGPT but undoubtedly less so.

Given that we accept that ChatGPT is going to be used by students in their educational career with or without permission or instruction in how to do it well, the choice becomes whether it will be used naively or with structured intention. Naive use can be characterised as delegating the answering of the exam question to the technology. Structured intention is to use the technology as a gateway to understand how the exam question sits within the wider domain of enquiry.

The alternative to directly asking the bot to answer the exam question is to break the question down and to pose these component questions instead and from this deconstruction for the student to attempt their own answer.

This approach can be further elaborated as:

• clarification: break the exam question down into component questions
• verification: check with external sources (books, Wikipedia etc.) that the facts supplied during clarification are true i.e. no hallucinations
• exploration: explore ‘tangents of enquiry’. Ask whatever you want that arises from the clarification and verification phase (free enquiry)

Having deconstructed the exam question into component questions, entered them as prompts to ChatGPT and received responses, it is time for the student to directly attempt their own answer. Prior to doing so, it is necessary to prime ChatGPT with assessment (grading) criteria. By doing so, we give ChatGPT the power to provide assessments. It must be said that this type of assessment can only be taken as indicative and cannot be relied upon, however the higher the quality of the supplied criteria, the better the automated response.

Example of assessment criteria ChatGPT can use when assessing the quality of a student answer.

• Maintain a formal tone and style
• Start with a clear introduction that previews the main points of your answer.
• Use the PEE structure (Point, Evidence, Explanation) to organise your answer
• Where appropriate cite evidence and direct quotes from the text that directly support the argument being made.
• Focus on the logical argument. Identify any questionable instances of errors in logical inference and suggest alternatives.
• Summarise your main points and restate your thesis or central argument.
• Offer any final insights or reflections on the topic.

Because examiner remarks are often publicly available, these criteria may also be included.

The cycle of usage is summarised below:

• Write answer
• Submit answer to ChatGPT prompting it to grade the answer and give feedback for improvement.
• Receive grade
• Receive improvement feedback

When the student is satisfied with their answer, it is time to submit the answer for human examiner* assessment. This is a vital step because it is necessary to have confidence that the answer is indeed of the highest standard as it will become the ‘model’ answer upon which further work will be done to commit the answer structure to memory.

Summary

• ChatGPT cannot write an exam for you!
• It is up to the student to perform on the day of the exam. In this respect nothing much has changed except the the bot gives immediate graded feedback
• Verifying information you rely upon is essential.
• ChatGPT gives the student a robust overview of a given topic
• ChatGPT is an effective tool to motivate the student to go more deeply
• This approach in no way negates the need to do background reading. It may however act as a motivating force for the student to do independent research.
• Facts from background reading can be added by the student to the bot to enrich the student’s model answer
• ChatGPT ‘knows’ a lot but it is very far away from providing access to the sum of human knowledge.

A demonstration of this process is the best way to understand it. If you would like to book an appointment to see how this process works then write to me at peterjmerrick@gmail.com

• human assessment of answers can be done by teachers or by a service such as Mark My Paper.
• Other resources: https://medium.com/@PeterMerrick5/chatgpt-for-student-motivation-and-engagement-index-of-resources-0eee269edab4