How Educators Can Tackle AI-Powered Plagiarism

Key points:

• The explosion of ai tools has raised interesting questions for educators
• Students who learn to use ai responsibly will develop a useful skill for learning and working.
• See related article: Education in the era of ai and smart technology

From the beginning of their meteoric rise, generative artificial intelligence (ai) tools seemed to provoke a universal reaction: ai-teachers-students-cheat-essays-rcna63352″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>How will students use it to cheat?? However, students were cheating long before tools like ChatGPT became household names. According to a surveyUp to 58 percent of high school students have plagiarized work and 95 percent admitted to some form of cheating.

There are countless past innovations, from portable calculators to Wikipedia, that have raised similar concerns in the classroom. In each of these cases, teachers evolved and adopted new strategies and tools to keep students learning. As ai matures, educators will need to do the same. Many teachers are already reconsidering assessments and assignments to shift the question from how students will use ai to cheat to how students can learn to use ai responsibly.

Set clear expectations

An effective first step teachers can take is to train students to use ai with clear guidance. Setting expectations for when ai is useful and effective, how students can use these tools, and providing guidance on best practices lays the right foundation for students. Guidelines could include at what stage of writing an essay students can use ai; for example, using it to generate ideas about a topic, conduct research, or review a conclusion. Teachers can set parameters that include having students provide the prompts they used to obtain the information. Setting these expectations reinforces the notion that ai is a tool and gives students the opportunity to think about their process, not just the end result.

Strengthen higher order thinking skills.

The rise of ai also provides an opportunity for teachers to adopt instructional practices that move away from memorization and toward higher-order thinking. Tasks that ask students to produce responses using ai can encourage them to critically consider the information provided. Students analyze, evaluate, and critique technology responses to develop strong information literacy skills. This approach also gives educators the opportunity to discuss and highlight the ways artificial intelligence tools provide inaccurate information. Comparing ai-generated content to academic evidence can further develop students’ skills and help them learn to synthesize information to create their own points of view.

Turn ai plagiarism into a teachable moment

Despite setting expectations and engaging in conversations about using ai effectively, some students may still choose to use tools to plagiarize work. Plagiarism detection tools can make it easier to identify when students have used ai on a task. However, many of the most effective teachers understand that reacting to plagiarism in a punitive way is unproductive. Punishing plagiarism places a huge emphasis on the answer rather than the process and changes students’ focus.

Turning ai-based plagiarism into a positive, rather than punitive, learning experience can be as easy as using plagiarism detection tools with a new mindset. Instead of just trying to catch students cheating, educators can leverage detection tools as another way to collect learning data and uncover teachable moments. When screening tools discover that students are using too much ai in their work or not paraphrasing, teachers can start conversations about conducting research, citing the work of others, and synthesizing information in the student’s authentic voice.

Without a doubt, generative ai is more than a passing trend; It is a transformative force that will shape the way students learn and eventually work. Students who learn to use ai responsibly and skillfully to create authentic, integrity-based work will benefit beyond a single assignment or grade. They will develop a foundational skill that can support their success throughout their academic paths and future careers.

Related: Embrace ai to achieve unlimited learning potential