AI Assessments?
AI Assessments?
As I have been going through my education, one of the most groundbreaking inventions that came out in 2022 was ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a form of artificial intelligence that with the click of a button will give you any answer you could think of. AI has officially changed the way students and teachers view assignments. Students have begun to rely on this tool too much to the point where teachers have begun to have to rely on AI trackers. Teachers have begun to rightly view this tool as a detriment to students' education. ChatGPT and any form of AI have completely taken over for the better or worse. However, is it wrong for students and teachers to rely on this tool?
ChatGPT can create any assignment that you ask it to. The more detailed instructions you give it, the more detailed response you will receive. However, are the products of ChatGPT fully reliable? Or do they lack the depth that creative thoughts have? I decided to see if this idea was true. I am currently creating a curriculum capstone project in one of my master's classes and I wanted to see if ChatGPT could help me. In my curriculum course, students will be learning about energy and the different factors that affect energy. So, I asked ChatGPT to create an assessment based on the standards I provided. It then created a multiple-choice test with questions that aligned with the different standards as well as instructions to give students. This assessment by glance looked great! It provided me with multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions, and instructions! There was a lot of great material that was provided, and some questions were great. However, I would not give this assessment to students. I think it has great potential; it just needs some touch-ups. One adjustment I would make is to add more question variety. I would include diagrams, matching, scenario questions, and true or false questions. Another adjustment, I would make is to give students real-life problems about energy. I would want my students to solve problems about issues they may face one day. I think ChatGPT is a great tool. I do not think that people should be looked down upon for using this tool. However, I do not think people should fully rely on it. I think it gives people great foundations for the different assignments they use it for; however, it lacks the authentic depth people give projects.
To prove this point, I reviewed the Bossier Parish School Curriculum. The Bossier City School Curriculum is completely standards-based. "These standards define what students need to know but not how students learn or how teachers teach." (BPSB) I got the privilege to interview Bossier Parish School's Curriculum Instructor for their Elementary Math and Science curricula. For science, they use the Louisiana Interactive Science curriculum, and for math, they use the Eureka Math Curriculum. Both curricula were implemented to assure teachers that their students will meet the skills addressed in the Louisiana State Standards. The Eureka Math Curriculum has a lot of different types of assessments within their curriculum. They have exit tickets, topical quizzes, mid-module assessments, and end-of-module assessments. One strength that I saw with Eureka Math Curriculum assessments is that they are customizable. So teachers are able to customize existing assessments and build new ones based on the skills they need to assess students. A weakness that I have seen from Eureka Math Curriculum assessments is that they do not provide differentiation. in their assessments.
Technology can do a lot for curriculum assessments. Technology can offer teachers different tools that can help them enhance their assessments. Technology has different tools and platforms that help students create assessments, track students' progress, and provide them with useful feedback. "Technology-based assessments help teachers make informed decisions and become aware of the extent to which students are learning what is being taught and whether the methods they are using are supporting, or discouraging, learning." (Carlow University, 2021) Technology is so powerful, it has so many different platforms that teachers can use that enhance their assessments. Using technology to implement the assessments provided by different curricula can lead to more efficient, and engaging assessments for both students and teachers.
With the use of technology or not, assessments are "used for evaluation," and "provide feedback to teachers and students..." (McTighe and Willis, pg. 77) There are different types of assessments. There are summative and formative assessments, which include ongoing and pre-assessments. Formative assessments are very beneficial for students because of how they are used. Formative assessments are useful for learners because of the feedback they provide. In order to guarantee success in this area, feedback "must be timely," "specific and descriptive," "understandable and actionable," and "must allow for self-adjustment." (McTighe and Willis, pg. 85) Learners will achieve academic success when they are able to learn from assessment feedback. This helps "constructing memories and building executive function." (McTighe and Willis, pg. 85) The second aspect of assessments that will benefit student learning is student involvement and self-directed learning this, comes into play with Self- and Peer Assessments. Teachers need to provide students with opportunities to self-assess and set and meet academic goals. Another type of assessment that is beneficial is evaluative assessment. This type of assessment aligns with UbD backward design because these assessments closely align with the learning goals the teachers set for their students. This allows students to be able to transfer their knowledge to the next set of skills they will learn. Teachers are able to ensure this by putting authentic tasks into place. Authentic tasks are more "meaningful and motivating for students." (McTighe and Willis, pg. 90) These tasks allow for students to transfer their knowledge and apply it to other areas. With these tasks, teachers can differentiate them to meet the needs of certain students. With any type of assessment given, teachers need to provide rubrics to help students see how they can meet their academic goals. By doing this and allowing revisions, they foster this sense of growth mindsets in their classrooms.
Assessments are very important when it comes to every aspect of the classroom. "For students, decisions regarding promotion, graduation, and curriculum are often made based on results of assessments." (Abedi and Faltis, pg. vii) Assessment scores determine instruction, placement, promotion, and efforts made for students' success. When assessments are not made or given correctly, can result in "serious consequences." (Abedi and Faltis, pg. vii) This can affect ELLs or students with special needs. Assessments should be created with the understanding of allowing students to demonstrate what they know. This understanding will allow ALL students to achieve academic success. However, is the emphasize on assessments detrimental to students and teachers? School Systems have become so fixated on assessment scores, that teachers have started to teach to the test. Some teachers' judgment has been clouded and think that by teaching to the assessment, their students will succeed. This is not the case. Students achieve academic success when they are able to fully show and transfer their knowledge.
I researched different tools that teachers can use to for assessments and the first one that stuck out to me that I thought would be beneficial to share is CommonLit. CommonLit is an online platform that provides free reading passages that come with built-in quizzes to test students' comprehension. This is a great resource for teachers to use when their goal is to test students' reading comprehension. Teachers are able to choose the topic, reading level, or type based on their students' needs. Another tool that I thought was very beneficial was Naiku. Naiku makes creating assessments easier. Naiku helps teachers create standard-aligned assessments that students have easy access to. Naiku provides teachers with a bank of standard-aligned questions as well as pre-made assessments. This platform tracks students' progress as they take assessments and it allows teachers to collaborate together when creating an assessment. There are so many more tools that teachers can use when creating or reevaluating assessments for their students.
Additional Tools for Assessments
Sources
Abedi, J., & Faltis, C. (n.d.). Introduction: Teacher assessment and the assessment of ... - JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44668652
Curriculum & Instruction / Bossier Schools curriculum. Curriculum & Instruction / Bossier Schools Curriculum. (n.d.). https://www.bossierschools.org/Page/182
How technology-based Assessments Aid Student Learning: Carlow Today & Tomorrow. Carlow Today & Tomorrow | Creating a More Just and Merciful World. (2021, December 10). https://blog.carlow.edu/2021/11/01/how-technology-based-assessments-aid-student-learning-in-the-classroom/
McTighe, J., & Willis, J. (2019). Upgrade your teaching: Understanding by design meets neuroscience. ASCD.
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