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The existence of AI language models is a reality that learning institutions in South Africa cannot ignore.
Students have access to large language model artificial intelligence “chatbots”, such as ChatGPT, which can perform a range of tasks students might find useful in completing assignments.
Hilton College headmaster George Harris likened the arrival of ChatGPT to the calculator when it first became widely available.
He said there was a time when learning institutions were reluctant to allow learners to use calculators for exams.
It was feared that the calculator would think for students.
However, once schools realised that they could pose more difficult mathematics questions to learners when they had access to calculators, schools embraced calculators as a way to lift the level of assessment.
A similar debate is underway regarding how learning institutions should best make use of AI language models like ChatGPT.
ChatGPT is a generative language model developed by OpenAI that has been adopted widely since it was launched in November 2022.
Using simple text prompts, it can generate large volumes of human-like writing in various languages.
The ChatGPT website got a billion visits from 153 million unique visitors in February 2023, according to SimilarWeb.
MyBroadband reached out to many educational institutions in South Africa, asking what the impact of ChatGPT has been and what their plans are for engaging with ChatGPT going forward.
Some institutions see the tool as a reality that teachers and lecturers must adapt to. Others believe it represents a threat to critical thinking, genuine research, and writing ability and want to prevent learners from using it.
Educational Bodies
MyBroadband reached out to four educational bodies. The Department of Basic Education and the Department of Higher Education did not respond by the time of publication.
Independent Examination Board (IEB)
Independent Examination Board (IEB) chief executive officer Ms Confidence Dikgole said ChatGPT could supplement human thinking and creativity but will not replace these tenets.
The IEB is a South African independent assessment agency that offers assessments for many schools in South Africa.
She said ChatGPT allows learners to “cover more ground in less time,” which can enhance creativity by letting them brainstorm in a way that wouldn’t previously have been impossible.
“The skills of ethical reasoning and critical information literacy need to be prioritised in teaching to ensure that learners are able to use AI effectively and responsibly.”
Cambridge International
Cambridge International communications manager Caroline Gavine said the education institution “will listen to and support schools as they explore the opportunities of AI tools in their education practice and policy”.
Cambridge is a provider of international qualifications that offer South African school students an internationally recognised qualification.
High schools
MyBroadband contacted many South African high schools to understand their approach to ChatGPT. Those that responded are included below.
Michaelhouse
Win de Wet, the deputy rector of academics at Michaelhouse, said the school is looking to embrace AI.
De Wet said Michaelhouse was initially wary of how students would use the tool to complete assignments but has come to see the potential of ChatGPT as a powerful learning and teaching tool.
He said the school is considering various ways to incorporate ChatGPT into learning and teaching.
“As a school, we firmly believe that we need to be assisting the boys in learning how to navigate the tools available and applying their critical thought and metacognitive skills to the exercise at hand — rather than merely using the tools as a shortcut,” he said.
Bishops Diocesan College
Bishops principal Antony Reeler said although it is too soon to accurately determine the impact ChatGPT will have on teaching and learning, it is clear that the tool will have a major impact on education in the future.
Reeler said Bishops is embracing ChatGPT as a tool to generate answers, but more importantly, as a means to teach critical thinking and get students to analyse the tool’s output and try to ascertain its worth.
He said the school simply has to teach students how to work with the tool, despite challenges that may crop up.
“There will be challenges regarding originality, and some will use the tool to avoid having to do their work, but we simply have to teach our pupils to use a tool that will be a reality in their post-school and working lives.
“There is no point pretending it doesn’t exist and trying to find ways to ban its use.”
Students’ skill in generating original work will remain important. The school does not currently foresee changes to exam-based assessment as using computers and the Internet is prohibited in exam conditions.
Pretoria Boys High School
Pretoria Boys High School said it has not yet determined a policy regarding ChatGPT.
However, John Illsley, a second master at the institution, gave his thoughts on the topic — an interesting dissenting view rarely publicly expressed.
Illsley said that the school is not embracing ChatGPT as a learning tool due to the danger of it being used as a “primary or solitary source for research”.
The primary threat of the tool is its use in the humanities and languages, he said.
Although the school has yet to formulate a policy concerning this form of AI, Illsley said it is “likely to regard the use of ChatGPT as a form of plagiarism, and sanctions would be in line with our policy on this form of academic dishonesty”.
He said that some assessment forms, such as creative writing and oral presentations, may need to be adjusted to be under test conditions.
“Our three biggest concerns are the impact that ChatGPT (and similar) could have on critical thinking; genuine research, and writing ability,” said Illsley.
Hilton College
Hilton College headmaster George Harris said it would be very difficult to limit the use of ChatGPT, but the college is looking to embrace the tool anyway.
He said students are already using the tool, which is helpful for providing students with instant answers to questions they have.
Systems will need to be developed to ensure that students still have to apply their minds critically, said Harris.
Harris said that the challenge is for schools to embrace technology while finding ways to assess learners.
Universities
MyBroadband received a response from three universities explaining their position in response to AI language models like ChatGPT.
University of Cape Town (UCT)
Sukaina Walji, the director of the Center for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at the University of Cape Town (UCT), said that restricting the use of AI language tools is not possible or desirable.
Emphasis should instead be placed on students using the tools ethically.
UCT advises lecturers to include a declaration with assignments that says these AI language tools have not been used or that their use has been cited. This is unless the assignment expressly calls for using ChatGPT or a similar language model.
Walji said many lecturers have already integrated ChatGPT into lessons and communicated the terms of acceptable use with students.
University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg (Wits)
Professor Diane Grayson, the senior director of academic affairs at Wits, said the fact that tools such as ChatGPT still make mistakes provides an opportunity for students to engage critically with the responses.
“ChatGPT can be useful in generating suggestions for a paper. But ChatGPT sometimes combines text in a way that the answers it gives are factually incorrect, controversial, biased or made up.
“We are therefore proposing that in some assignments, students could include text generated by ChatGPT and then engage with the text critically.”
Students must reference what material came from ChatGPT in assignments.
Professor Grayson said Wits couldn’t prohibit students from using ChatGPT — nor would they want to.
It may be difficult for lecturers to tell when ChatGPT has been used for assignments, but Grayson said they have the tools to deal with the situation when Wits suspects ChatGPT was used unfairly.
“If we do suspect that the work submitted was not the student’s own, we have tools at our disposal, including follow-up assessments, such as orals, and disciplinary processes, to deal with the situation,” she said.
Stellenbosch University (SU)
While Stellenbosch University (SU) does not yet have a specific position or policy for dealing with AI-language models like ChatGPT, SU spokesperson Martin Viljoen referred to a position paper from the SU Division of Learning and Teaching Enhancement as a resource.
The positional paper argues that there are ways for SU to embrace AI.
Among the proposals in the paper is to redesign assessment at the university.
The paper suggests that less frequent assessment focused on more creative topics would be beneficial given the reality of AI language models.
SOURCE:What Michaelhouse, Pretoria Boys, and universities are doing about ChatGPT (mybroadband.co.za)
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