“I’d say it was useful. It highlighted some papers I might not have known about otherwise.”
Glasgow University has become the first Russell Group university to publicly support ChatGPT as a potential part of students’ day-to-day learning, saying it understood that the technology was being used anyway and was working with experts to see how it can be used as a “learning tool”. This approach was decided after an investigation by the Glasgow Tab where one fourth-year student admitted to using the software to help with his dissertation, saying, “I’d say it was useful. It highlighted some papers I might not have known about otherwise.”
Another final-year Glasgow University student commented, “I know so many people using it. I just don’t know what the Uni could do to stop anyone writing their whole essay using it…As a fourth year I’m really glad it’s just becoming popular now. I think if I was just at the start of my degree it would have been so easy to become reliant on it.”
Whilst facing fears over students turning towards AI software to help complete assessments, many universities are still dealing with the backlash from online exams and their continued use in a post-covid world, with many calling for their abolishment as they “undermine the whole education system.”
Academic misconduct includes collusion...which has also shot up 130% from 2019, with 201 cases, to 464 cases last year
Academic misconduct includes collusion - students working together and sharing answers with each other to help complete their assessments - which has also shot up 130% from 2019, with 201 cases, to 464 cases last year.
This comes after law firm, Kingsley Napley, reported a 60 per cent rise in students asking for legal advice to defend themselves against cheating allegations. One incident involved a university launching an investigation against two students after they’d spotted that two assessments had been submitted from the same IP address; the students, who lived in the same flat and were using the same WiFi, could not prove they were working in different rooms.
Law firm, Kingsley Napley, reported a 60 per cent rise in students asking for legal advice to defend themselves against cheating allegations.
With advancements in technology and universities still recovering from Covid years, it's unsurprising that they are ill-equipped to deal with new ways of cheating or plagiarising in exams. However, this lack of information should not result in students being penalised, which is the case at the moment, with tests being conducted where markers cannot tell between AI-written essays and essays written by students and students being penalised simply because they live together.