The emergence of artificial intelligence presents a significant challenge to traditional assessment methods in higher education.
Authors
Wayne Geerling, Department of Economics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
G. Dirk Mateer, Department of Economics, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Jadrian Wooten, Department of Economics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University College of Science, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
Nikhil Damodaran, Assistant Professor, Jindal School of Government & Public Policy, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
The Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE) is a standardized test of economics knowledge performed in the United States which primarily targets principles-level understanding. We asked ChatGPT to complete the TUCE. ChatGPT ranked in the 91st percentile for Microeconomics and the 99th percentile for Macroeconomics when compared to students who take the TUCE exam at the end of their principles course.
The results show that ChatGPT is capable of providing answers that exceed the mean responses of students across all institutions. The emergence of artificial intelligence presents a significant challenge to traditional assessment methods in higher education.
An important implication of this finding is that educators will likely need to redesign their curriculum in at least one of the following three ways: reintroduce proctored, in-person assessments; augment learning with chatbots; and/or increase the prevalence of experiential learning projects that artificial intelligence struggles to replicate well.
Published in: The American Economist
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