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

submitted 2 months ago by Stopthatgirl7@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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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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[–] Cornelius_Wangenheim@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

This isn't a new issue. Wolfram alpha has been around for 15 years and can easily handle high school level math problems.

[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Only old farts still use Wolfram

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago (2 children)

What do young idiots use?

[–] GooseFinger@sh.itjust.works 0 points 2 months ago

ChatGPT apparently lol

[–] PriorityMotif@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I can't remember, but my dad said before he retired he would just pirate Wolfram because he was too old to bother learning whatever they were using. He spent 25 years in academia teaching graduate chem-e before moving to the private sector. He very briefly worked with one of the Wolfram founders at UIUC.

[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago

Where did you think you were?

[–] zarcher@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago

Except wolfram alpha is able to correctly explain step by step solutions. Which was an aid in my education.