Dealing with cheating students has never been the easiest task, but with advancements in artificial intelligence, it may make the job harder for teachers and other school staff to stay on top of students’ academic integrity.
New tools like ChatGPT have caused a concern from educators about how teachers can best help their students. But in a 2023 Stanford University survey, researchers found that the number of high school students cheating has remained the same since the popularization of ChatGPT and other AI tools of the same vein.
Cheating student numbers remain stagnant, but universities and local school districts have begun to examine how to best manage new AI technologies in the classroom to aid students in their education.
Although tools like ChatGPT pose some threat to academic integrity, experts say it’s all about how to best manage technology use in the classroom rather than completely banning AI tools for students.
Best practice for AI
While some may fear the way AI has become immersed in education, leaders in higher education have been preparing to integrate these new technologies with their students, looking at ways teachers at all levels can use them to their and their students’ advantage.
The University of Arizona’s Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education Greg Heileman spoke of the university’s own action in addressing AI at the school, also touching on an AI project with Georgia Tech University to aid students in their education.
For the university’s policy, he says they encourage students to use AI as it seems it will be important for their futures in the workforce — just not for the purpose of cheating. Like any other technology, it can be a great benefit to students, but that also means it can be used improperly.
Heileman said that the university put a working group together last summer to talk about the appropriate use of AI, which resulted in the creation of resources for faculty to use for how to properly use AI in the classroom.
“We kind of have a bunch of resources here on how faculty should talk with students about it and what you should do if you suspect someone used ChatGPT or something like that in a writing assignment,” Heileman said.
The university’s plagiarism policies apply to students who use AI tools to complete assignments claiming that work as their own. But at large, Heilemans says that it’s hard to create a separate policy for AI when it is such a broad category.
Software like Grammarly, which provides grammar and writing style support, has not received the same criticisms as ChatGPT, despite both tools using AI technology to support their systems.
In the past, new technologies have always been met with skepticism, according to Heileman. From high-powered graphing calculators and search engines like Google, their introduction to the educational world created controversies where people believed that students would not be as successful with such aids.
But, as time has shown, the curriculum has been able to adapt to use these tools while still effectively teaching students.
And at Arizona State University, the school is developing a series of courses on augmented creativity and learning with AI, a means to equip teachers with the necessary information on the technology to use it effectively and ethically in the classroom.
Professor Janel White-Taylor of ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College says that this specialization will help people to think about AI in different ways specifically in regard to how it intersects with learning.
“There’s always something that lands in the education space that we have to think about or look at,” White-Taylor said.
According to her, educators will need to adapt in order to keep up with the rapidly evolving role of technology in the classroom, especially with AI. And while software like Turnitin may seem like an option to prevent cheating with AI tools, she says that there are limitations and that it may not be the best solution in dealing with student use.
In her experience, students are using AI as a starting point in their work, whether that be in drafting outlines or organizing information quickly. While they use AI in their work, students are still contributing their own voice.
Addressing cheating in the classroom, White-Taylor says that the model of trying to catch cheating students may not be as effective as some educators believe it to be.
“I think what we want to do in our schools is we want to build trust,” she said.
Rather than focusing on catching students who use AI in their work, she explained that it should be the role of the educator to clearly outline their preferences for how these technologies should be used in the classroom along with being transparent about where AI is used in their work.
However, in order to see what role it plays in the classroom, teachers need to be well-versed in AI technology and should receive proper training on it in order to promote ethical usage by students.
Changing technologies also mean teachers have the opportunity to reformat their curriculum to better serve their students, providing engaging lessons around the AI tools and fostering trust so that students feel that they don’t have to cheat.
“Instead of trying to always think about, ‘let’s penalize people,’ let’s have a conversation about it,” White-Taylor said.
Valley schools
Universities around the state have already made efforts to curb AI usage with software like Turnitin and university-wide policies, but some local school districts are still putting together their own.
In Tempe, Tempe Union High School District is finalizing its strategic plan for the next five years, a document outlining the district’s goals, vision, mission and values for all of its schools.
Executive Director of Community Relations Megan Sterling wrote in an email that one of the district’s focus areas, academic achievement, has an AI subcommittee that will work on identifying best practices and guidelines for classroom teachers, students and more.
“We’re working on it, but there isn’t anything fully developed and ready for public consumption,” Sterling stated.
TUHSD’s AI-related policies and guidelines are still in progress, but hopefully its 2024-29 strategic plan will provide further guidance for AI use in the classroom.
Similarly, another local district, Kyrene School District, is also still considering how to best manage its students’ usage of AI technologies and tools. Currently, there are no board policies addressing student AI use, according to Communications and Engagement Executive Director Erin Helm.
Kyrene Aprende 6th grade students showcase their first quarter projects highlighting what they believe are the 7 Highly Effective Habits of a middle school student.
Courtesy Kyrene School District
(Courtesy Kyrene School District)
“Kyrene is always monitoring new/evolving technology, and we would adopt policies or procedures as needed,” Helm stated in an email.
But while these districts are still outlining the best practices for student AI use, some Valley districts have already completed their discussions and analysis of these new technologies and how they can be used in the classroom.
Scottsdale Unified School District began its work about a year ago, with a committee focused on the use of AI — not just by students but by teachers too. District Communications Manager Nancy Norman explained in an email that the committee’s work was discussed in the district’s Spring edition of its Showcase magazine.
SUSD’s Chief Systems Officer Dr. Michelle Watt echoed similar sentiments to Heileman in this report, saying that the new AI technologies are similar to the advent of technologies like the pocket calculator and search engines.
While the committee examined AI’s shortcomings and the potential for students to use it to cheat, it also looked at the benefits it can bring to the classroom with responsible usage by both teachers and students.
For SUSD’s established policies, the committee has established guidelines that cover its definition, limitations of AI, explanations of how AI works, the potential of AI in education, generative AI use for both educators and students, guidance for schoolwork and approved digital resources.
“Humans need to be in the loop. By ensuring that SUSD students know the right way to use these tools, we are preparing them for college, the workplace and like, and giving them and our staff an advantage,” Watt stated.
Reporter Caroline Yu can be reached at cyu@iniusa.org. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.
Meet Caroline Caroline Yu joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2020 as a summer intern covering Scottsdale. As an intern, she continued her coverage of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Tempe. After graduating in 2022, Caroline became a full-time reporter for Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. She is currently reporting for the Tempe market.
Community: She is a supporter of the environment and tries to get involved with related community events.
Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications, with a minor in French.
Random Fact: She used to be a ballet dancer for 10 years.
By 
The university’s plagiarism policies apply to students who use AI tools to complete assignments claiming that work as their own. But at large, Heilemans says that it’s hard to create a separate policy for AI when it is such a broad category.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here