My core thesis is that the only truly effective way to address genAI is to get at the root of student motivation. As you say, it’s not that assignments like take home essays don’t have educational value. They do! But they must be done properly to be of value. We ought to be spending our time making the case for why the productive struggle is worthwhile, rather than trying to find stopgap solutions.
This is spot on! Nevertheless I think that mitigation is a good first step. Blue books and also oral examination are the two best tools we currently have at our disposal. They are NOT a solution to the problem, that’s correct, but slowing down the onslaught is a good first step as we try to figure out a way to truly turn the tide.
The student has always had a responsibility to take initiative in cultivating their own learning.
An instructor can raise and lower the cost of getting a decent grade for his class. Most students have a GPA target in mind, and a certain preference for leisure. They are seeking to maximize their grade over several different classes and living the rest of their lives as well. Generative AI is a powerful siren song, promising to lighten the load. And the undergraduate economizes!
You are absolutely right, Generative AI tools are not a substitute for learning how to reason, but to a student who is in school because they heard they could get a better job with an additional degree, it may require an appeal that pierces to level of the soul first to stop the use of generative AI on out-of-class-assignments.
Agreed that blue books will not save us. Your thoughts are very similar to mine. https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/blue-books-and-oral-exams-are-not-the-answer
My core thesis is that the only truly effective way to address genAI is to get at the root of student motivation. As you say, it’s not that assignments like take home essays don’t have educational value. They do! But they must be done properly to be of value. We ought to be spending our time making the case for why the productive struggle is worthwhile, rather than trying to find stopgap solutions.
This is spot on! Nevertheless I think that mitigation is a good first step. Blue books and also oral examination are the two best tools we currently have at our disposal. They are NOT a solution to the problem, that’s correct, but slowing down the onslaught is a good first step as we try to figure out a way to truly turn the tide.
The student has always had a responsibility to take initiative in cultivating their own learning.
An instructor can raise and lower the cost of getting a decent grade for his class. Most students have a GPA target in mind, and a certain preference for leisure. They are seeking to maximize their grade over several different classes and living the rest of their lives as well. Generative AI is a powerful siren song, promising to lighten the load. And the undergraduate economizes!
You are absolutely right, Generative AI tools are not a substitute for learning how to reason, but to a student who is in school because they heard they could get a better job with an additional degree, it may require an appeal that pierces to level of the soul first to stop the use of generative AI on out-of-class-assignments.