Comment by gorgoiler
20 days ago
> I can’t assign papers any more because I’ll just get AI back, and there’s nothing I can do to make it stop.
One idea is to not ask for the papers back. When I was in University it was very much impressed upon me that writing papers was for my own benefit. All our marks came from end of year exams where we were essentially writing a paper in three hours under exam conditions.
Accordingly — and this obviously only works in a syllabus where grades are awarded only on exam results — nothing says “this is for you not for me” more than not even asking for the papers to be submitted.
(Our papers were marked but only with hints. The marks didn’t count and we went through each paper as a class, together, so could essentially mark them ourselves based on the points we did and did not raise.)
Given what the author says about student behavior, this would only result in 99% of them failing the course.
And upon failing the course, the students and their parents sue the university for failing to award a degree. They have, after all, been paying tuition fees of tens of thousands of dollars for the last four years. They damn well expect a degree in return!
In response, universities remove degree grading altogether. As your bachelors degree is now guaranteed, graduation is purely ceremonial. Matriculation immediately awards you the degree of Baccalareus Expectum which automatically converts to Baccalareus Artium after paying for 8 semesters.
These can optionally be paid in advance and, if so, the bachelors degree (or masters, if you pay for 16 semesters) will be available immediately. Attendance is encouraged but optional.
Backlash against a lack of real grades starts to build — without exams or marking, all degrees are the same. Institutions use actuarial tables and AI to determine what grade you would have achieved based on upbringing and family background. Dynamic pricing means the degrees costs less for the rich. Lower class families are able to buy their bloodline a ticket to the elite by proving they are worth it: paying full price.
If you think you are elite material, you can take out a loan of course. Why care about the burden of repayments when you’ll be the next superstar lawyer, programmer, analyst, quant, consultant, etc., right? Instead of an end of year exam to prove yourself you can instead prove yourself by paying off that student loan! Go bears!
the US model has focused less on exams and more on take-home assignments. this can be better because most people perform better without artificial pressure, and it's possible to ask deeper questions than on a timed exam. it's just that it is not viable as of this year.