“Technology can become the wings that will allow the educational world to fly farther and faster than ever before – if we allow it” — Jenny Arledge

ChatGPT has given the field of higher education another opportunity to fly farther and faster. Will we allow it?

We cannot escape the tremendous impact that advancements in technology are having and will continue to have on what we consider most important in education. Every time I use ChatGPT I am amazed at its capability.

ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that was released in November 2022. It has become a game changer in classroom assessment. It is perhaps an understatement to even say that it is capable of understanding and generating fairly accurate responses across a wide range of topics and contexts. With its impressive ability to understand human language, it is clear that ChatGPT can be leveraged to optimise assessment and evaluation in higher education.

Higher education locally and internationally pivoted to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though it was an emergency move for most institutions, arguably, it is proving to be a smart move in most respects. In hindsight, though, we may not have fully embraced the opportunity presented to push adult education farther into the 21st century. The few years of operating in a pandemic saw higher education institutions heightening their efforts in online proctoring, ensuring academic integrity, and earnestly praying for things to return to normal. However, the dawn of AI/ChatGPT is providing yet another opportunity for stakeholders in higher education to reflect on how learning competencies are assessed at the tertiary level.

Our default posture may be to become overly punitive as we exert ourselves in ensuring that those who plagiarise, using ChatGPT, are duly brought to justice. Whilst I strongly agree that academic integrity is crucial, especially in higher education, ChatGPT presents us with a unique opportunity to think creatively about how we design and administer assessments at this level.

Traditionally, assessment at the tertiary level has mainly been standardised exams and course work pieces of varying degrees of realism. Astoundingly, ChatGPT can assist in “levelling up” these exam items as well as aid in designing high-quality alternative assessments. One of the most significant benefits I have found is that ChatGPT is able to simulate real-world scenarios and provide very plausible responses that demonstrate higher-order thinking processes such as synthesising, evaluating, and creating.

For example, in one of my facilitation sessions student teachers were to demonstrate competencies in designing high-quality scoring rubrics for alternative tasks. ChatGPT was able to generate three fairly well-developed scoring instruments for the same alternative task. So instead of spending time on learning about the guidelines for preparing alternative assessments and associated rubrics (knowledge application), time was better spent on knowledge synthesis:

* critiquing the appropriateness of each rubric in assessing the competencies required in the task

* contrasting and comparing the three versions of the instrument

* evaluating the effectiveness of the instruments in ensuring scoring reliability and validity

Don’t get me wrong, knowledge acquisition and application are absolutely necessary, but this can be done independently by learners outside of live sessions. After all, we also want to promote self-directedness, even in adult learners. This also affords the grand opportunity to remind adult learners that not all that appear on the internet or through ChatGPT are accurate. Here is a typical example. In one session student teachers were learning how to construct high-quality multiple choice items at varying levels of rigour. ChatGPT was, therefore, prompted to “write a well-written multiple choice item on equivalent fractions, targeting depth of knowledge level 3 (strategic thinking)”.

In less than eight seconds a response was generated. Of course, as an educator who is dedicated to the intricacies of my craft, you can only imagine that this caused hairs to raise on the back of my neck. I thought: “What if my students decide to use this app?”

Nonetheless, upon analysing the output, the item was fairly well written, with minor issues, but it was not at the required level of rigour. Instead of regenerating the response, I thought: “Why not build on this opportunity?” So my question to the class was: “Do you agree with the output of ChatGPT? Justify your response, making referencing to the quality of the item based on best practices learnt in previous sessions; cognitive rigour; depth of knowledge; evidence from the item that supports your stance; one recommendation as to how you would lift the rigour of the given item.”

I encourage learners at the tertiary level to utilise this tool for good. Use ChatGPT to help stretch your thinking muscles. To my colleagues, there is astounding potential to using this tool to develop and refine creative thinking. Let AI do the hard work while we focus on the best parts of teaching and learning — creative thinking, problem solving, and developing 21st-century learning skills. We have very little choice, I believe.

New technologies such as ChatGPT are remarkable at synthesising information, answering short answers, and generating recommendations. Hence, if this chatterbot can do that on which we have always prided ourselves, how will we level up our efforts in developing critical and creative thinkers who can contribute meaningfully to self and society rather than continuing to expend ourselves standing guard in the name of academic integrity.

This is a call to action! Let us reimagine how we assess learning at the tertiary level. In the same way we are gradually embracing hybrid learning, we should now embrace hybrid assessments — an organic blend of human and AI collaboration. This blended approach will see technology being infused with more authentic tasks — a truly pragmatic approach.

Overall, ChatGPT is an exciting technology with enormous potential, and it will be interesting to see how it continues to evolve and impact education in the future.

Shellon Samuels-White is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at The Mico University College and Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) emerging leader 2022. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or shellon_samuelswhite@yahoo.com.