Great to see a meta-study asking this bold question:
Does ChatGPT enhance student learning? A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies.
See study here.
STUDY
Nice spread of subjects and focus on classroom teaching. Predominantly university-level interventions (84%), with a smaller focus on K-12 (14.49%), language education is most studied (32%), followed by computing, health, physics, and education. Most of the interventions occur in classroom environments (87%) with a duration of 5 to 10 weeks. The AI was primarily used as a direct learning tool (80%), with some integration into broader educational platforms.
RESULTS
The results were, I’s say, quite startlingly positive. Many are decrying this technology as something that depresses academic performance, demotivates students, and blocks higher-order critical thinking. The study suggests the opposite.
Academic Performance
Significant improvement with ChatGPT use, though concerns about whether this is due to the intervention or the quality of AI-generated content.
Affective-Motivational States
Positive effects on motivation and emotional engagement
Higher-Order Thinking Propensities
Positive influence on self-reported propensities.
Mental Effort
Significant reduction, suggesting less cognitive strain with ChatGPT use.
Self-Efficacy
No significant impact observed.
The study covers a broad spectrum of educational contexts and subject areas, providing a pretty wide view of ChatGPT's application in education. I’ll leave the methodological rigour questions for those more qualified but I liked the ambitious approach to examining a range of learning outcomes, offering insights into some key dimensions of student learning. I was surprised that self-efficacy was not positive – interesting finding as it runs against the affective-motivational finding.
Sure there are weaknesses; some small sample sizes, sometimes little pre-testing and one odd one - ChatGPT sometimes used in assessments. But this is a good start.
No comments:
Post a Comment