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

submitted 2 months ago by Stopthatgirl7 to c/technology

199 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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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[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 months ago (11 children)

Of all the students in the world, they pick ones from a "Turkish high school". Any clear indication why there of all places when conducted by a US university?

[–] Lemminary 3 points 2 months ago (4 children)

If I had access to ChatGPT during my college years and it helped me parse things I didn't fully understand from the texts or provided much-needed context for what I was studying, I would've done much better having integrated my learning. That's one of the areas where ChatGPT shines. I only got there on my way out. But math problems? Ugh.

[–] ForgotAboutDre 23 points 2 months ago (3 children)

When you automate these processes you lose the experience. I wouldn’t be surprised if you couldn’t parse information as well as you can now, if you had access to chat GPT.

It’s had to get better at solving your problems if something else does it for you.

Also the reliability of these systems is poor, and they’re specifically trained to produce output that appears correct. Not actually is correct.

[–] Veddit 5 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I read that comment, and use it similarly, as more a super-dictionary/encyclopedia in the same way I'd watch supplementary YouTube videos to enhance my understanding. Rather than automating the understanding process.

More like having a tutor who you ask all the too-stupid and too-hard questions to, who never gets tired or fed up with you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Exactly this! That is why I always have at least one instance of AI chatbot running when I am coding or better said analyse code for debugging.

It makes it possible to debug kernel stuff without much pre-knowledge, if you are proficient in prompting your questions. Well, it did work for me.

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