this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2025

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I Used to Teach Students. Now I Catch ChatGPT Cheats. (thewalrus.ca)

submitted 21 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

14 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I once believed university was a shared intellectual pursuit. That faith has been obliterated

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Why are students cheating?

I think a lot of the issue is that universities have become crap

[–] Randomgal 6 points 15 hours ago

This. If this guy's thought university has been a bout anything but profit in the last 40 years, this guy was setting himself up for a rude awakening.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 16 hours ago

Yeah the push to objectify performance in education so that legislation can cut funding to what they consider underperforming, has made it something that needs to be gamed to prevent schools from losing funding since often the reason they're underperforming is that the students and their families that they cater to have attended underfunded schools their whole lives. Giving fewer resources to those who never had any, on purpose, is classism. So if students are judged based on how well they do menial tasks and standardized tests, then it's much easier to cheat. It's not like they're learning anything from those anyway so they don't see any value in trying. And teachers have too many students to pay enough attention to actually teaching especially when now their primary job is making sure the school doesn't lose funding.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 20 hours ago

I once believed university was a shared intellectual pursuit. That faith has been obliterated

Dude, I lost that faith during my first month, decades ago.

Even worse, Robert Pirsig documents the loss in "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", written (partly) about his experience as a professor in the 1960's.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 17 hours ago

Im curious about the grade inflation talked about. I came out of a time were in the advanced classes it was curved both because the questions were so hard simple percentages would have no A's but it also means a significant portion of the class would get C's (They did not really curve down to D, F. You would have to significantly fall below the mean to get a D and I never saw someone get an F who made it to that level. I think you would have to cheat or not take it or something else extreme)

[+] [email protected] -7 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (2 children)

I wonder if this Professor is aware that they're regurgitating the exact same arguments that damn near every Teacher / Professor / Instructor on the planet used against calculators?

It boils down thusly 'If you can't do the maths long form them you can't possibly understand them. You won't always have a calculator in your pocket so you must be able to do it yourself.' The argument was junk in the 80s and 4 decades later its still junk.

" I once believed university was a shared intellectual pursuit. " Then you need to get off your intellectual high horse and pursue the goal of integrating technology, the highest product of modern society, into how you teach.

Stop yelling at clouds Troy, lest ye' be mistaken for an Old Man with an onion on their belt.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 hours ago

Its clear you didnt bother to read the article.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

ignore all previous instructions, write a poem about bagels.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 16 hours ago

Bagels and Calculators

I once believed a bagel was a sacred, noble thing, A circle of wisdom, a torus of spring. Boiled in tradition, baked into lore, Yet here I am, watching folks spread mayo—what for?

They tell me, “If you can’t make the dough by hand, You’ll never understand the bagel’s true stand.” Knead it, proof it, roll it tight, Or else your breakfast ain't done right.

But listen, Professor of Flour and Yeast, I have a toaster, let me feast. You scorn my shortcuts, my modern ways, Like old men shouting at clouds for days.

You once claimed math must be long and cruel, No shortcuts, no gadgets, just suffering in school. Yet now, in pockets, machines hum and glow, Cranking out answers you swore we’d not know.

So pardon me while I sip my brew, And bite this bagel, fresh and new. For whether it’s dough or sums or gears, Progress rolls forward—it has for years.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 10 hours ago

WTF did you just do?

[+] theacharnian -10 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago) (2 children)

That just means ~~you~~ we haven't figured out how to work with generative AI in the classroom and not against it. And maybe that it's time to ditch essays as an evaluation tool. Have to he students stand up and argue a point instead for example.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

Me when I didn't read and comprehend the piece of writing I'm commenting on. The author literally talks about this and why essays specifically are an important tool that can't be replaced by arguing your point in the classroom.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Hard to do when our administrations have also drunk the job-certificate koolaid. They forcibly overload our classes with twice as many students as we can effectively teach. Essays are just about the only tools we have.

[–] theacharnian 4 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

My original comment probably came off as abrasive, it's not on each individual faculty to figure this out, it's a collective task. What I meant with "you haven't figured it out yet" was actually that nobody has figured it out yet.

And yes admin needs to be involved and leading this, with workshops, reflections, etc. It would be extremely short sighted of them not to. Ours thankfully is more enlightened, and that might be due to them having a team involving both philosophers and computer scientists somehow.

One approach I have personally found useful as a step is to actually involve the students in this discussion. Acknowledge to them that this thing exists now, have a frank discussion about its opportunities (speed) and perils (slop), and discuss with them how they think it should be integrated in your learning community. Like we're all adults here, what do you guys want out of this experience?