Letters | In the age of ChatGPT, design better tests to foil plagiarism
- Readers discuss better assessment design, and accountability for the Iraq war
The popularisation of technology like ChatGPT has understandably aroused anxiety in the education community.
Assessments are an integral part of learning and teaching. Administered properly, they provide a useful reference in education planning. Although it is possible to fend off academic dishonesty with professional judgment, it may be better to tackle the issue at source through careful assessment design.
Firstly, the proportion of closed questions should be kept to a minimum for obvious reasons. If closed questions have to be included, they should be made more complex, for example, by asking students to demonstrate inference skills. Instead of asking students to evaluate individual statements, multiple choice questions should ask them to determine whether one or more of the statements are true.
When it comes to open questions, however simple the wording is, students are expected to process information and make judgments.
The assessment should be designed to discourage regurgitation, and to promote creativity, information literacy and values education instead. Rather than turn into walking textbooks, students should be human.
Secondly, use more modalities of assessment. Other than written answers, students could submit videos. They could also be assessed based on their instant responses during online discussions on topics already covered in class.
Thirdly, context is of paramount importance. Students should engage in a variety of contexts, including in-class discussions and experiential learning.
In short, with the rise of ChatGPT, human complexity is the key to countering plagiarism.
John Ng, Lai Chi Kok
US must be held accountable for Iraq war crimes
The year 2023 marks the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, and the start of US war crimes against the people of Iraq. The US government launched the war, after making false statements that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. As a result, over half a million died, millions of people were displaced, and the country was left in ruins.
It is a great hypocrisy that the mainstream Western media has hardly acknowledged the Iraqi victims of the war.
Since the Iraq War, the West – primarily led by the US – has been involved in several wars and armed conflicts.
On this 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq, it is essential for the United Nations to fulfil its function in documenting the war crimes committed by the US in Iraq and convicting the individuals who remain at large. Only then can the US be deterred from pursuing such heinous actions.
Michael Yeung, Toronto
