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Kids who use ChatGPT as a study assistant do worse on tests (hechingerreport.org)

submitted 3 months ago by Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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Does AI actually help students learn? A recent experiment in a high school provides a cautionary tale.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that Turkish high school students who had access to ChatGPT while doing practice math problems did worse on a math test compared with students who didn’t have access to ChatGPT. Those with ChatGPT solved 48 percent more of the practice problems correctly, but they ultimately scored 17 percent worse on a test of the topic that the students were learning.

A third group of students had access to a revised version of ChatGPT that functioned more like a tutor. This chatbot was programmed to provide hints without directly divulging the answer. The students who used it did spectacularly better on the practice problems, solving 127 percent more of them correctly compared with students who did their practice work without any high-tech aids. But on a test afterwards, these AI-tutored students did no better. Students who just did their practice problems the old fashioned way — on their own — matched their test scores.

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[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 0 points 3 months ago (15 children)

Using ChatGPT as a study aid is cheating how?

[–] blackbirdbiryani@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago (14 children)

Because a huge part about learning is actually figuring out how to extract/summarise information from imperfect sources to solve related problems.

If you use CHATGPT as a crutch because you're too lazy to read between the lines and infer meaning from text, then you're not exercising that particular skill.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world -1 points 3 months ago (13 children)

I don't disagree, but thats like saying using a calculator will hurt you in understanding higher order math. It's a tool, not a crutch. I've used it many times to help me understand concepts just out of reach. I don't trust anything LLMs implicitly but it can and does help me.

[–] obbeel -1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

ChatGPT hallucinations inspire me to search for real references. It teaches we cannot blindly trust on things that are said. Teachers will commonly reinforce they are correct.

[–] billwashere@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

I do honestly have a tendency to more thoroughly verify anything AI tells me.

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