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.

  • petrol_sniff_kingEnglish
    2·
    4 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·
      4 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?