Researchers compare math progress of almost 1,000 high school students

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.

  • littlewonder@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    2 months ago

    LLMs/GPT, and other forms of the AI boogeyman, are all just a tool we can use to augment education when it makes sense. Just like the introduction of calculators or the internet, AI isn’t going to be the easy button, nor is it going to steal all teachers’ jobs. These tools need to be studied, trained for, and applied purposely in order to be most effective.

    EDIT: Downvoters, I’d appreciate some engagement on why you disagree.

    • petrol_sniff_kingEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      are all just a tool
      just a tool
      it’s just a tool
      a tool is a tool
      all are just tools
      it’s no more than a tool
      it’s just a tool
      it’s a tool we can use
      one of our many tools
      it’s only a tool
      these are just tools
      a tool for thee, a tool for me

      guns don’t kill people, people kill people
      the solution is simple:
      teach drunk people not to shoot their guns so much
      unless they want to
      that is the American way

      tanks don’t kill people, people kill people
      the solution is simple:
      teach drunk people not to shoot their tanks so much
      the barista who offered them soy milk
      wasn’t implying anything about their T levels
      that is the American way

      Thanks for reminding me that AI is just tools, friend.
      My memory is not so good.
      I often can’t
      remember

      • littlewonder@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        3 months ago

        Ok, I’m going to reply like you’re being serious. It is a tool and it’s out there and it’s not going anywhere. Do we allow ourselves to imagine how it can be improved to help students or do we ignore it and act like it won’t ever be something students need to learn?