photo credits: Malak Chahboub
It took the founding fathers eight months to write and review 85 essays. Yet, teachers can write and grade work in just a week using ChatGPT. The use of ChatGPT and other AI tools have grown tremendously throughout schools, but not just with students, teachers have been impacted as well.
Ever since ChatGPT was published in 2022, it has been consuming conversations and possibly contributing to student work throughout the nation. Teachers have been putting essays and homework through ChatGPT, asking it to answer and critique the work.
Teachers question why and what are the benefits for this use of grading.
“A year ago, I was very closed off to AI grading tools like ChatGPT, but it can be very accurate and useful. They actually just created a policy for police officers, and it uses artificial intelligence to transcribe camera footage and create accurate police reports. It has benefitted them a lot, so why can’t it benefit teachers? I think people just seem to close their minds off to things that can help,” Choir Teacher Cheryl Brooks said.
AI tools have impacted a variety of career areas, not just in schools. Teachers just want to make sure that students are getting the best possible feedback they can. ChatGPT has helped teachers in every subject to make things correct and easier for students and themselves.
Not only ChatGPT though, CoGrader is another popular grading tool that teachers specifically use. All teachers have to do in CoGrader is type the prompt in the box, and it will give the answer on the other side. It’s that easy, this tool can help teachers spend more time teaching rather than grading. Despite that, it can also lack the attention teachers can give their students.
“Artificial intelligence grading should not be normalized. It’s fair to the students to be grading each assignment thoroughly, so teachers can understand the student. So, you can see what the student may be needing to work on. It’s better to understand your student rather than save time,” Social Studies Teacher Jesse Tierney said.
AI grading tools can create teachers to not truly look at repeated bad habits in students’ work. It’s important to make use of AI tools, like ChatGPT, carefully. But, grading tools can make work easier for the busy schedules teachers have, especially when they teach an AP course or direct choir for more than 100 students.
“I do both AI tools and normal grading. For choir, it’s hard to do a lot with it, but I can generate music notes for choir packets to make it easier. Plus, they are always correct and make my day a lot easier because I direct many choirs,” Brooks said.
Teachers know the negatives and positives when it comes to grading with ChatGPT, but a majority of teachers need more efficient ways to get grading done balancing school and their personal lives. These tools, like ChatGPT and CoGrader, are used in different ways. Teachers use it when they need to and want to make sure they are giving all their students the same accuracy of grading, which AI grading tools help with.
“Well, I think it’s just a matter of how much time they have. As a teacher or director, you want to give your students an equal amount of accuracy of grading,” Brooks said.
Teachers want to make sure that they are giving the same attention to each individual work the students turn in, principally because teachers get tired after grading a great amount of students. Teachers have strong opinions on AI grading tools, but students also have an opinion on how their work is being graded.
“I’m indifferent towards its use in either completion-based tasks or assignments with a clear answer, but in more subjective pieces, like essays and art, I don’t believe it’s the place,” Sophomore Lila Urbanic said.
Students believe it doesn’t matter if there is one answer to the question. But, it’s better not to use it for English essays and assignments that can have perspective because teachers should be looking at every student’s way of thinking. Students want teachers to recognize their thoughts and talents too. Although these AI grading tools can be a debated topic, teachers are going to utilize it whether it’s normalized or not. It’s important for educators to understand their students and, at the same time, make time for themselves. Using AI tools in grading has benefitted many teachers in a variety of ways, but they need to make sure they are using it attentively and at the right times
