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Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

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Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#191

Post by ravenstine »

nkrisc wrote: post #13

If the trend continues, it seems like most college degrees will be completely worthless. If students using AI to cheat on homework are graduating with a degree, then it has lost all value as a certificate that the holder has completed some minimum level of education and learning. Institutions that award such degrees will be no different than degree mills of the past. I’m just grateful my college degree has the year 2…

Had I known that college degrees from before the 2020s would increase in value, I'd have gotten one. Damn it!

Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#192

Post by czhu12 »

To offer a flip side of the coin, I can't imagine I would have the patience outside of school, to have learned Rust this past year without AI.

Having a personal tutor who I can access at all hours of the day, and who can answer off hand questions I have after musing about something in the shower, is an incredible asset.

At the same time, I can totally believe if I was teleported back to school, it would become a total crutch for me to lean on, if anything just so I don't fall behind the rest of my peers, who are acing all the assignments with AI. It's almost a game theoretic environment where, especially with bell curve scaling, everyone is forced into using AI.

Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#193

Post by downboots »

Aeolun wrote: post #108
sshine wrote: post #69

I teach computer science / programming, and I don't know what a good AI policy is. On the one hand, I use AI extensively for my own learning, and it's helping me a lot. On the other hand, it gets work done quickly and poorly. Students mistake mandatory assignments for something they have to overcome as effortlessly as possible. Once they're past this hurdle, they can mind their own business again. To them, AI is not…

You can get one of those card punching machines and have them hand in stacks of cards?

And don't forget to get on their case with accusations of technology use that equate to the Turing test

Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#194

Post by userbinator »

grogenaut wrote: post #155
wisty wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't stop people hiring someone who looks similar from sitting the exam, or messages in morse code via Bluetooth. It's hard to stop a palm card. But it stops a casual cheater from having ChatGTP on a second device.

You can. I did a remote proctored exam for the NREMT last year. They had me walk the camera around the room, under the desk, etc. All devices had to be in my backpack. No earbuds. They made me unplug the conference tv on the wall, lift picture frames etc. I had to keep my hands above the table the whole time, I couldn't look down if I was scratching an itch. They installed rootkit software and closed down all of the…

I'd rather go take the test in person than subject myself to such extreme surveillance of my own premises.

Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#195

Post by timr »

eru wrote: post #167
timr wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not that old, and yet my university CS courses evaluated people with group projects, and in-person paper exams. We weren't allowed to bring computers or calculators into the exam room (or at least, not any calculators with programming or memory). It was fine. I don't see why this is so hard, other than the usual intergenerational whining / a heaping pile of student entitlement. If anything, the classes that requi…

> I don't see why this is so hard, other than the usual intergenerational whining / a heaping pile of student entitlement. You know that grading paper exams is a lot more hassle _for the teachers_? Your overall point might or might not still stand. I'm just responding to your 'I don't see why this is so hard'. Show some imagination for why other people hold their positions. (I'm sure there's lots of other factors tha…

...and yet, somehow we managed?

> Show some imagination for why other people hold their positions.

I say that as someone who has also graded piles of paper exams in graduate school (also not that long ago!)

I don't believe the argument you are making is true, but if the primary objection really is that teachers have to grade, then no, I don't have any sympathy.

Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#196

Post by grogenaut »

userbinator wrote: post #194
grogenaut wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can. I did a remote proctored exam for the NREMT last year. They had me walk the camera around the room, under the desk, etc. All devices had to be in my backpack. No earbuds. They made me unplug the conference tv on the wall, lift picture frames etc. I had to keep my hands above the table the whole time, I couldn't look down if I was scratching an itch. They installed rootkit software and closed down all of the…

I'd rather go take the test in person than subject myself to such extreme surveillance of my own premises.

I'd agree, but I did it at work in a conference room. And I was able to schedule a day out virtually instead of a month out for in person, and I didn't want them taking my fingerprint.

I used a spare laptop I wipe.

Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#198

Post by mac-mc »

math_dandy wrote: post #91
sien wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Australia Universities that have remote study have places where people can do proctored exams in large cities. The course is done remotely but the exam, which is often 50%+ of the final grade, is done in a place that has proctored exams as a service. Can't this be done in the US as well ?

Proctoring services done well could be valuable, but it’s smaller rural and remote communities that would benefit most. Maybe these services could be offered by local schools, libraries, etc.

It does feel like easy side money for local schools and teachers that will have empty classrooms after 5pm.

Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#199

Post by Aziell »

AI definitely makes it easier for students to finish their assignments, but that’s part of the problem. It’s getting harder to tell whether they actually understand anything.What’s more worrying is how fast they’re losing the habit of thinking for themselves.

And it’s not just in school. I see the same thing at work. People rely on AI tools so much, they stop checking if they even understand what they’re doing. It’s subtle, but over time, that effort to think just starts to fade.

Re: Trying to teach in the age of the AI homework machine

#200

Post by redcobra762 »

fn-mote wrote: post #83
sien wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Australia Universities that have remote study have places where people can do proctored exams in large cities. The course is done remotely but the exam, which is often 50%+ of the final grade, is done in a place that has proctored exams as a service. Can't this be done in the US as well ?

Variations in this system are in active use in the US as well. Do you feel it is effective? It seems to me that there is a massive asymmetry in the war here: proctoring services have tiny incentives to catch cheaters. Cheaters have massive incentives to cheat. I expect the system will only catch a small fraction of the cheating that occurs.

If you've been to one of these testing centers, you'd realize it's not easy to cheat, and the companies that run them take cheating seriously. The audacity of someone to cheat in that environment would be exceptionally high, and just from security theater alone I suspect almost no actual cheating takes place.
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