To teach in the era of ChatGPT is to know pain

IChooseY0u•about 3 hours ago

> They may view an instructor as an opponent standing in the way of the grade they want. And they see “getting the right answers” as the goal of education because that’s how you secure that grade. But that’s no more true than thinking that logging a count of reps is the goal of bodybuilding.

The author is essentially saying "you're doing education wrong" to students who never signed up for the author's version of what education is for. Students are making a rational economic calculation: they need a degree to get a job.

nostrademons•4 minutes ago

Although I don't see why more don't go for the even more direct pathway to having a degree. Find out who answers queries about whether a student actually has a valid degree from the university. Phish them. Or if it's an automated system, hack it. Say that you have a degree from that university. Now you too can be the world's richest man.

FloorEgg•about 2 hours ago

> Students are making a rational economic calculation: they need a degree to get a job.

Except it's not true. They don't need a degree to get a job. Maybe they need a degree to get a very specific job, but then they will be doing what the degree taught, and so they might as well learn how to do it.

This whole "I need a degree to get a job" is the problem. It's how people end up with $200k in student loans working front line retail.

The default natural state rewards value creation. Corrupt/artificial systems don't, so there are exceptions. If students reframe their reasoning from "get a degree to get a job" to "learn how to create lots of value for others in a way I find sustainable and satisfying" they are far more likely to enjoy the lives they build for themselves.

The author is more right about this than you give them credit for. Students who are getting a degree just to get a job are doing it wrong. If they don't enjoy doing the things the degree teaches, they really won't enjoy what comes after they graduate.

jjmarr•about 1 hour ago

Most white collar jobs require a university degree. They don't care what it's in or your GPA or if you understood history/philosophy/English. Just that you have literally any degree.

FloorEgg•1 minute ago

I don't think this is true anymore.

I agree some do, but I am very skeptical about most. It's also changing rapidly.

ckemere•about 6 hours ago

The title really should specify “to teach remotely”. And I think more broadly the context is the dream that widespread internet would make it easier to educate people “at scale” (meaning for less money per student).

So maybe the real question is why we ever expected “teaching at scale” to be effective.

I think that it’s quite clear that for an individual, curious student, the ability to use modern LLMs probably makes the ability to be 1-1 tutored (by a human!) cheaper/better. But I don’t think anyone claims that watching random videos on the internet will be as effective for LeBron James as having a personal trainer focused on him.

It seems like the overriding issue is to understand whether students need to take courses they’re not interested in. If the answer is yes, perhaps we need find ways of having these topics be taught by tutorial…

To teach in the era of ChatGPT is to know pain

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