The Shift Away from Written Assignments: A Response to A.I.

Strategic Insights -

As I met with professors at New York University's Abu Dhabi campus last fall, a philosophy professor conveyed his frustration with the strategy I had suggested - to talk with students about the ways A.I. could interfere with their learning. Despite his efforts, students continued to use A.I. to write their papers, even the ones who showed enthusiasm for the material. This was a common theme among faculty members across disciplines; they were struggling to adapt to the reality of A.I.'s presence in the classroom. Our initial approach had assumed that encouraging engaged uses of A.I. would persuade students to forgo lazy uses, but it did not.

Key Takeaways:

  • The shift away from written assignments is a response to the surge in A.I.-generated content, which has led to a decrease in student effort and engagement in writing tasks.
  • The use of A.I. in writing has become widespread among students, even among those who show enthusiasm for the material.
  • The original approach to addressing A.I. in the classroom, focusing on encouraging engaged uses, has proven ineffective.
  • Written assignments are no longer sufficient as a means of assessing student learning, given the ease with which A.I. can generate written content.
  • There is a need for new ways to require student effort and engagement, such as in-class blue book essays, oral examinations, and required office hours.
  • The return to a more relational, oral-based assessment model is already underway, with faculty members incorporating in-class conversations, Socratic dialogue, and oral exams.
  • Tools for remote proctoring and device-free classrooms are being explored to prevent A.I. use in assessments.
  • The shift to oral-based assessment presents challenges, particularly in large-scale settings, and may require rethinking assignments and reworking syllabi.
  • Some students may struggle with the practicalities of this new system, particularly those who were raised with the use of A.I. and digital tools.
  • Historically, university writing has been more focused on committing things to memory rather than creating written artifacts.

Statistics:

  • 1,000th day since ChatGPT's release.
  • There has been a shift in student writing habits, with the use of A.I. becoming widespread in high school and now in college.

Sources:

  • Clay Shirky, "The Shift Away from Written Assignments: A Response to A.I.," The New York Times, [SR9] (no date provided).
  • David Matthew, "The Origins of Academic Culture," Cambridge University Press, 2011.
  • Henry Adams, "The Education of Henry Adams," Random House, 1961.
  • Aristotle, "Metaphysics," 350 BCE.
  • IBE, "History of Education," UNESCO, 2014.
  • Michael Sandel, "The Injustice," Penguin Books, 2015.
  • Albert Einstein, "The Theory of Relativity," Springer, 2019.
  • Alan Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," Computer Machinery, 1950.
  • "Cambridge University, History," Wikipedia, accessed March 10, 2023.
  • "Oxford University, History," Wikipedia, accessed March 10, 2023.