Accused: How students respond to allegations of using ChatGPT on assessments

TL;DR

This paper analyzes student reactions to ChatGPT-related cheating allegations on Reddit, revealing themes around trust, legal arguments, and assessment challenges, to inform better educational policies in AI era.

Contribution

It provides a thematic analysis of student responses to ChatGPT accusations, highlighting key issues and suggesting directions for assessment reform and policy development.

Findings

Five key themes identified: legalism, trust issues, societal role of education, cheating definitions, assessment rethink

Students often falsely accused, leading to discussions on evidence and argument strategies

Implications for creating meaningful assessments and guidelines in the age of AI

Abstract

This study explores student responses to allegations of cheating using ChatGPT, a popular software platform that can be used to generate grammatical and broadly correct text on virtually any topic. Forty-nine posts and the ensuing discussions were collected from Reddit, an online discussion forum, in which students shared their experiences of being accused (the majority falsely) and discussed how to navigate their situations. A thematic analysis was conducted with this material, and five themes were discerned: a legalistic stance, involving argument strategy and evidence gathering; the societal role of higher education as a high-stakes gatekeeper; the vicissitudes of trust in students vs. technology; questions of what constitutes cheating; and the need to rethink assessment. The findings from this study will help instructors and institutions to create more meaningful assessments in the age of AI and develop guidelines for student use of ChatGPT and other AI tools.