Abstract:

The impact of Generative AI (GenAI) continues to be a topic of interest in the higher education sector. Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, academics have considered the opportunities and challenges presented by this technology, mainly focusing on student use and the risk it could pose to academic integrity, as well as the responsible integration of such technologies into learning, teaching and assessment. Simultaneously, EdTech companies and entrepreneurs have seen an opportunity to utilise GenAI to create tools to assist academics in the assessment, grading and feedback of work. Some tools provide constructive formative feedback only, while others focus on the benefits of timesaving, reduced costs and non-biased outcomes in the summative assessment process.

The literature on the use of GenAI in providing summative assessment grading and feedback is currently limited, specifically in understanding students' and academics’ perspectives and perceptions of its impact on their learning experience. Using an inductive approach, this study will explore this topic through the lens of two primary stakeholders – higher education students who are summiting work for summative assessment grading and feedback, and academics who are undertaking this work.

Following the completion of seven focus group sessions with 24 students spanning various degree programmes from Business Management to Biomedical Sciences at different levels of study from Level Four to PhD, our initial thematic analysis suggests that students’ expectations in relation to feedback in general are varied with several determinants at play, namely their prior experience of receiving feedback (both before and during their current programme of study), the timeliness of feedback and applicability to improving future performance, as well as the credibility of the person providing the feedback. Students’ perceptions of GenAI assisted grading and feedback generate concerns regarding trust, potential bias and a lack of human interaction, but students recognise the potential benefits of receiving feedback and grades more quickly.

In this paper, we are reporting preliminary findings generated by the seven focus groups in the first phase of this study. The next stage of the study is to conduct interviews with academics to complement the findings generated by the first part of the study. We will seek to explore perceptions of the opportunities and challenges offered by GenAI assisted assessment technology, and considerations for ethical and responsible use. The study will complement existing studies that have explored the potential of such technology, by providing the student-academic perspectives to inform future development and potential implementation of such tools in Higher Education.

Keywords:

GenAI, assessment, feedback, grading, student.