[Martinify]

With the closure of major homework help platforms in 2024 and emergence of AI-powered alternatives, I'd like to discuss: How should we balance academic integrity with technological innovation? What are constructive ways AI could support learning while preventing misuse? Looking for perspectives from educators, technologists, and students.

[quacked]

I think schools must move on from the "homework" model--that is, the model of education where the students must turn in homework assignments to receive grades that count toward their final GPA--and return to in-person handwritten and verbal examinations as the final measure of student competency. Any system of examination where the task of measuring an individual's competency is outsourced to a fixed system (homework problem set, standardized test, auto-graded essay, take-home exam, etc.) can and will be gamed, including homework. [1] Homework is like working out; it's just practice, and it should be optional.

The only way to keep academia honest and up-to-date is to keep it laser focused on the true purpose of a degree, be it a high school degree or a graduate degree. The purpose of a degree is to confer the recommendation of the institution upon you, certifying that you possess a certain unaided mastery over a body of knowledge. School, especially by high school and certainly above that, should be optional, and your final grades should be assigned entirely based on final exams, rendered in-person and handwritten.

[1] Eventually, people will be able to sneak AI into an examination room via a mini-camera and an earpiece or tiny lens; this will require yet more innovation in testing security and will never be 100% secure.

[Martinify]

Education is about developing sustained understanding and skills that can be reliably applied over time.

A student who crams for and performs well on a final exam hasn't necessarily developed the deep, lasting comprehension that comes from regular engagement with the material.

Education at China is the way you mentioned, students just learn for exam, them learned nothing but exam

[musicale]

I am sure the system can be gamed somewhat, but I like interactive grading of assignments, where the student presents the work and answers questions about it.

I also like in-person practical/lab assignments, which can occur throughout the course.

Also quizzes can be made more frequent. As an instructor I think I might be OK if you crammed for 10 quizzes in addition to the midterm and the final and passed them all with flying colors.

[rahimnathwani]

  Homework is like working out; it's just practice, and it should be optional.

Practice is essential to developing skills and retaining knowledge. Why should it be optional?

[Martinify]

Agree. Education doesn't like sport, just for a peak time, education is about long term human well-being

[AStonesThrow]

A classroom may take many forms, and pedagogy has many methods, but your standard college course looks like a lecture hall full of students, with one professor, presenting a stream of facts, and perhaps demonstrating a few exercises on a screen or whiteboard. The students pay attention, take notes, and they may ask or answer a few questions.

But in a lecture-based class, the information stream is thick, and goes mostly in one direction. The professor's best time is invested in imparting knowledge and wisdom to the students.

But all of that knowledge and wisdom will go in one ear and out the other, if a student doesn't put it into practice, refer to it repeatedly, and reinforce it. So we have textbooks, and we have homework, and we have study groups.

With a high student:teacher ratio, there's simply no efficient way to place students under a microscope and eliminate cheating from their homework. But you need students to practice and do some "workouts" outside of class time, when the prof's not on the clock. And, those students crave feedback on how they're doing. If they just do homework and grades or comments aren't forthcoming, then what's the point?

Ultimately, a cheating student is hurting himself. The cheating will eventually ruin their life if they try to make a career out of it. Unfortunately, unchecked cheaters can ruin a credential or brand as well. If an institution gives "A"s and diplomas to cheaters, what will their reputation be, when such "experts" get into the workforce but they're incompetent frauds?

There's no easy answer, for sure, but something's gotta give. I believe that we're going to see a decline in the supremacy of the University system, and a decline in the prestige of diplomas and degrees. Vice-President Kamala Harris has vowed to eliminate the degree requirement for civil servants, so I believe that alternate education pathways will be widened and endorsed in a big way, in the near future.

[musicale]

In a number of courses I've taken and/or am familiar with, homework "grades" are basically a participation/study incentive, but actually completing the assignments yourself is highly recommended if you want to pass the in-person exams which the course grade is actually based on.

In other courses, problem sets aren't graded and solutions are provided the next week for self-assessment (often with a discussion session to explain the solutions.)