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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

#41

Post by dghlsakjg »

__loam wrote: post #39
ryandrake wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe schools and universities need to stop considering homework to be evidence of subject matter mastery. Grading homework never made sense to me. What are you measuring, really, and how confident are you of that measurement? You can't put the toothpaste back into the tube. Universities need to accept that AI exists, and adjust their operations accordingly.

How do you suggest we measure whether the students have actually learned the stuff then?

Tests, both oral and written.

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

#42

Post by bee_rider »

ryandrake wrote: post #24
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…

Maybe schools and universities need to stop considering homework to be evidence of subject matter mastery. Grading homework never made sense to me. What are you measuring, really, and how confident are you of that measurement? You can't put the toothpaste back into the tube. Universities need to accept that AI exists, and adjust their operations accordingly.

Grading homework has two reasonable objectives:

Provide an incentive for students to do the thing they should be doing anyway.

Give an opportunity to provide feedback on the assignment.

It is totally useless as an evaluation mechanic, because of course the students that want to can just cheat. It’s usually pretty small, right? IIRC when I did tutoring we only gave like 10-20% for the aggregate homework grade.

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

#43

Post by valiant55 »

math_dandy wrote: post #28

I teach math at a large university (30,000 students) and have also gone “back to the earth”, to pen-and-paper, proctored and exams. Students don’t seem to mind this reversion. The administration, however, doesn’t like this trend. They want all evaluation to be remote-friendly, so that the same course with the same evaluations can be given to students learning in person or enrolled online. Online enrollment is a huge…

Capitalism and the constant thirst for growth is killing society. Since when did universities care almost solely about renevnue and growth?

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

#44

Post by paulorlando »

math_dandy wrote: post #28

I teach math at a large university (30,000 students) and have also gone “back to the earth”, to pen-and-paper, proctored and exams. Students don’t seem to mind this reversion. The administration, however, doesn’t like this trend. They want all evaluation to be remote-friendly, so that the same course with the same evaluations can be given to students learning in person or enrolled online. Online enrollment is a huge…

Business models rule us all. Have you tested what kind of pushback you'll receive if you happen to flout the remote rule?

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

#45

Post by pona-a »

__loam wrote: post #39
ryandrake wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe schools and universities need to stop considering homework to be evidence of subject matter mastery. Grading homework never made sense to me. What are you measuring, really, and how confident are you of that measurement? You can't put the toothpaste back into the tube. Universities need to accept that AI exists, and adjust their operations accordingly.

How do you suggest we measure whether the students have actually learned the stuff then?

In person, pen and paper exams? They are closer to how most certifications are conducted.

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

#46

Post by __loam »

nkrisc wrote: post #31
lolinder wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the best professors I had either did not grade homework or weighted it very small and often on a did-you-do-it-at-all basis and did not grade attendance at all. They provided lectures and assignments as a means to learn the material and then graded you based on your performance in proctored exams taken either in class or at the university testing center. For most subjects at the university level graded homewor…

I don’t disagree, but in most cases degrees are handed out based on grades which in turn are based on homework. I agree that something will have to change to avert the current trend.

Most of the college courses I took had the bulk of the grade be based on exams or projects. Homework was usually a small proportion to give students a little buffer and to actually prepare them for the exams. AI might have helped on coding projects but a lot of my grades were based on exams using pencil and paper in a room of 30-200 other people. It also just seems like a waste of your own time and money to avoid the act of learning by skipping all the hard parts with a corporate token generator.

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

#47

Post by ai-christianson »

nkrisc wrote: post #35
ai-christianson wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Aren't the jobs they'll get be expecting them to use AI?

If you’re hiring humans just to use AI, why even hire humans? Either AI will replace them or employers will realize that they prefer employees who can think. In either case, being a human who specializes in regurgitating AI output seems like a dead end.

Employers are employees too

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

#48

Post by __loam »

ai-christianson wrote: post #20
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…

Aren't the jobs they'll get be expecting them to use AI?

Would you rather be the guy using AI as a crutch or the guy who actually knows how to do things without it?

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

#49

Post by overgard »

I think as a culture we've fetishized formal schooling way past its value. I mean, how much of what you "learned" in school do you actually use or remember? I'm not against education, education is very important, but I'm not sure that schooling is really the optimal route to being educated. They're related, but they're not the same.

The reality is, if someone wants to learn something then there's very little need to cheat, and if they don't want to learn the thing but they're required to, the cheating sort of doesn't matter in the end because they won't retain or use it.

Or to put it simpler, you can lead a horse to water but..

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