Application of Generative Artificial Intelligence in assessment

Teaching ethical, moral, and civic values is a complex aspect of education that relies heavily on human judgment and context. These are areas where GenAI may fall short. In this context, the role of the ‘human’ educator is to provide the contextualisation, mentorship, and role modelling of these ethical, moral, and civic values at the appropriate depth.

An overreliance on GenAI for answers can limit opportunities to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills and developing the mental process of exploring, understanding, and responding to complex problems. In this context, the role of the ‘human’ educator is to design learning and teaching tasks and experiences that engage students in critical and creative thinking, and problem solving.

While GenAI has enhanced the fidelity of simulated learning environments, it cannot substitute hands-on learning and application of theory into practice in real-world contexts. The role of the ‘human’ educator in these real or virtual learning environments including workplaces, is to expertly guide, coach, observe, assess, and supervise learning including the application of knowledge.

GenAI-generated content may not always align with specific curricular standards or educational objectives, or the depth of explanation or exploration that is required at a particular academic level.  The role of the ‘human’ educator is to provide the alignment and contextualisation and at the appropriate depth to support deep learning.

While GenAI can support personalised learning experiences, it is not adept at understanding the individual student and their cultural context and the diverse backgrounds e.g., their learning needs, emotional states, and any accommodations and adjustments that are required. Understanding the complexity of factors that underpin effective learning is crucial for effective teaching. The role of the ‘human’ educator is to demonstrate understanding of these diverse factors and to deploy context appropriate strategies to maintain focus, motivation, and engagement, and provide mentoring and emotional support that are aligned to the needs of the individual/cohort.

GenAI systems may not be effective in providing nuanced, constructive feedback on student work in all areas equally and support students to develop their feedback literacy (i.e., skills to seek, use and critically evaluate feedback). In this context, the role of the ‘human’ educator is to critically appraise what feedback is needed, when and by whom and deploy appropriate feedback strategies including those that support the development of student feedback literacy.

An overreliance on GenAI-enabled learning may impact on how students learn including self-regulation of learning and lifelong learning. The role of the ‘human’ educator is to implement pedagogically sound strategy and methods that support students to become lifelong learners.

An overreliance on GenAI tools may lead to a dependency that might reduce students' confidence and self-belief in their abilities. The role of the ‘human’ educator is to support students to develop their GenAI literacy, with a specific focus on understanding the strengths and limitations of gen AI tools, the role and value add of the ‘human’ in the human-GenAI relationship, and to regularly reflect on and adjust their approach/interaction with GenAI for learning.