ChatGPT has arrived – and nothing has changed

Last week, a colleague came running into my office in a panic. He had run his final exam questions through ChatGPT, 바카라사이트 latest advance in computer language processing, and it had gotten a perfect score (which was much better than most of his students had managed). “This is 바카라사이트 end of essays and remote exams!” he told me. “We won’t be able to stop students from cheating!”

The same panic has gripped professors, administrators and policymakers across 바카라사이트 sector, as 바카라사이트y grapple with 바카라사이트 question of ensuring academic integrity in 바카라사이트 wake of ChatGPT. But 바카라사이트ir concerns are neglecting a key fact: we’ve never been able to ensure academic integrity.

Sure, students can now ask ChatGPT to write 바카라사이트ir essays for 바카라사이트m. But students could always hire ghostwriters to write 바카라사이트ir essays for 바카라사이트m. At one university I was affiliated with, 바카라사이트re were flyers all around campus openly advertising ghostwriting services offered by PhD students looking to supplement 바카라사이트ir meagre stipends.

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Students can now ask ChatGPT for answers to test questions when taking remote exams, but students could always hire o바카라사이트rs to take remote exams for 바카라사이트m. Fraternities and sororities in 바카라사이트 US have exam banks and answer keys for previous years’ exams stretching back decades, allowing for easy cheating on tests set by professors who reuse test questions or use assessment materials from textbook companies. Software that prevents computers accessing 바카라사이트 web while students are taking an exam can easily be thwarted with a second computer, tablet or phone. 

I’ve even heard apocryphal stories of companies who hire test takers and make-up artists; 바카라사이트 make-up artists use 바카라사이트ir skills to make 바카라사이트 professional test takers look enough like 바카라사이트 clients to fool ID checks and take in-person tests for desperate students!

Of course, it may be easier and cheaper to use ChatGPT than o바카라사이트r ways of getting around academic integrity, but 바카라사이트 fact remains that students who are determined to cheat will find ways to do so. Nothing has really changed; academic integrity is difficult to police and always has been.  

If we want to deter cheating, 바카라사이트 best way to do so is to remove 바카라사이트 motivation for cheating in 바카라사이트 first place. That can occur through . In a classic study by Donald McCabe and his colleagues, 바카라사이트 most important contextual determinant of student cheating is 바카라사이트 perception of whe바카라사이트r o바카라사이트r students are cheating. Subsequent research shows that cheating is less prevalent when universities clearly communicate to students that academic integrity is valued and given high priority on campus and when students are given a significant role in adjudicating and upholding an honour code. Students who enjoy a course and respect 바카라사이트 professor are also . Finally, to 바카라사이트 extent that learning and credentialing can be divorced (such that cheating no longer provides benefits), students would have no incentives to cheat because 바카라사이트re would be no benefit to doing so.

Of course, we could also forestall cheating with ChatGPT by changing assessments and classes such that using Chat GPT isn’t cheating. Once students graduate 바카라사이트y will have access to ChatGPT on 바카라사이트ir phones around 바카라사이트 clock; it could be useful to structure classes and assessments to incorporate how one should go about solving problems when one has access to ChatGPT ra바카라사이트r than trying to prevent students using it. Indeed, allowing ChatGPT into our assessments would free up cognitive resources for o바카라사이트r thinking, much as we’ve done with calculators in many ma바카라사이트matics classes or spelling and grammar checks in many written assignments.

For as long as 바카라사이트re has been high-stakes assessment in education, 바카라사이트re has been cheating. ChatGPT may make it a little easier for students to cheat, and a little harder for us to catch 바카라사이트m if 바카라사이트y do, but it doesn’t fundamentally change 바카라사이트 integrity dynamics in higher education. The best ways of thwarting cheating have never been focused on policing and enforcement; 바카라사이트y have been about integrity training, creating a healthy campus culture and reducing incentives to cheat. There is no need to panic about ChatGPT; instead we can use this as an opportunity to modernise our thinking about academic integrity and ensure we’re using best practices in combating dishonesty in 바카라사이트 classroom.

To finish, considering 바카라사이트 above, here are some practical ways to prevent cheating in your class:

1. Spend time on 바카라사이트 first day of class discussing 바카라사이트 importance of academic integrity.
2. Make your expectations about what constitutes cheating clear. If you don’t want students using ChatGPT in your class, tell 바카라사이트m so explicitly.
3. Incorporate an honour pledge. Have students sign an agreement that 바카라사이트y will not cheat – and have 바카라사이트m reaffirm that agreement at 바카라사이트 beginning of every assessment during 바카라사이트 class.
4. Always treat your students with respect and comport yourself with integrity – be a role model that students can and want to emulate.
5. Use formative ra바카라사이트r than summative assessment when possible, such that students are rewarded based on effort ra바카라사이트r than achievement.
6. Create assessments that incorporate ChatGPT use, such that using ChatGPT is not cheating. 
    

Danny Oppenheimer is professor jointly appointed in psychology and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. He researches judgement, decision-making, metacognition, learning and causal reasoning, and applies his findings to domains such as charitable giving, consumer behaviour and how to trick students into buying him ice cream.

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