Abstract:

Different factors contribute to educators' motivation (or frustration), which in turn affect their teaching style and quality. While factors such as working conditions, job satisfaction, and aspects related to teaching/curriculum, as well as student-related factors, are well researched, a new aspect has only recently emerged. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is fundamentally changing the role of teachers and professors, as well as the way in which students learn, complete their homework, prepare essays, and take exams. One important aspect is that students use AI tools, especially Generative AI models to help them write their essays and workbooks on scientific topics. The support they get ranges from brainstorming to spell-checking and formulation assistance, but also includes the generation of large amounts of text or even illustrations – and soon also videos.

Since some universities actively promote using AI to learn the necessary prompting skills and prepare students for their careers, we in our roles as educators in schools and universities have to develop adequate grading methods. The challenge is to distinguish cases in which AI tools are used and cited in an appropriate way, corresponding with academic best practices, and the rising number of cases in which the students simply try to cheat to save time and achieve better results. The proof of unauthorized use is difficult: even OpenAI had to withdraw their text-classifier in 2023 due to failures. That’s why grading becomes more time-consuming and difficult regarding essays and workbooks. And still we need to ensure academic quality and make sure students respect the ethics of science.

This balancing act can lead to permanent frustration and role conflicts in teachers and professors. We would like to discuss this matter in a panel discussion led by the authors.

Questions we want to ask and debate are:
- Does your school or university actively promote the usage of AI tools and do you appreciate that?
- Does your school or university offer guideline documents for students how to use AI tools? Do these guidelines also explain what is NOT allowed?
- Are there any sanctions if AI tools are used in an inappropriate way?
- How do you FEEL when you read a student’s essay and you KNOW it was generated by AI, but the text doesn’t say so? How would you classify your emotions: anger, frustration, sadness, resignation?
- Did your school or university ever ask you how you felt in these situations?
- Are there any discussions in your school or university how examination formats can be changed (e.g., to oral presentations allowing personal contact)?

Apart from a panel discussion, we would also like to conduct a small survey, asking participants for their experiences. This will allow us to gather qualitative and quantitative data on a subject that will become more and more important.

(In case a panel discussion is not possible, we will provide a poster and discuss with the visitors during the poster session.)

Keywords:

Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models, Cheating, Grading, Emotions, Examination Formats, Academic Writing.