Embracing AI in Education: Understanding the Surge in Large Language Model Use by Secondary Students

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zhu, Tiffany, Zhang, Kexun, Wang, William Yang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Zhu, Tiffany
Zhang, Kexun
Wang, William Yang
author_facet Zhu, Tiffany
Zhang, Kexun
Wang, William Yang
contents The impressive essay writing and problem-solving capabilities of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT have opened up new avenues in education. Our goal is to gain insights into the widespread use of LLMs among secondary students to inform their future development. Despite school restrictions, our survey of over 300 middle and high school students revealed that a remarkable 70% of students have utilized LLMs, higher than the usage percentage among young adults, and this percentage remains consistent across 7th to 12th grade. Students also reported using LLMs for multiple subjects, including language arts, history, and math assignments, but expressed mixed thoughts on their effectiveness due to occasional hallucinations in historical contexts and incorrect answers for lack of rigorous reasoning. The survey feedback called for LLMs better adapted for students, and also raised questions to developers and educators on how to help students from underserved communities leverage LLMs' capabilities for equal access to advanced education resources. We propose a few ideas to address such issues, including subject-specific models, personalized learning, and AI classrooms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_18708
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Embracing AI in Education: Understanding the Surge in Large Language Model Use by Secondary Students
Zhu, Tiffany
Zhang, Kexun
Wang, William Yang
Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
The impressive essay writing and problem-solving capabilities of large language models (LLMs) like OpenAI's ChatGPT have opened up new avenues in education. Our goal is to gain insights into the widespread use of LLMs among secondary students to inform their future development. Despite school restrictions, our survey of over 300 middle and high school students revealed that a remarkable 70% of students have utilized LLMs, higher than the usage percentage among young adults, and this percentage remains consistent across 7th to 12th grade. Students also reported using LLMs for multiple subjects, including language arts, history, and math assignments, but expressed mixed thoughts on their effectiveness due to occasional hallucinations in historical contexts and incorrect answers for lack of rigorous reasoning. The survey feedback called for LLMs better adapted for students, and also raised questions to developers and educators on how to help students from underserved communities leverage LLMs' capabilities for equal access to advanced education resources. We propose a few ideas to address such issues, including subject-specific models, personalized learning, and AI classrooms.
title Embracing AI in Education: Understanding the Surge in Large Language Model Use by Secondary Students
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.18708