5 effective ways to stop your students from using ChatGPT to cheat

ChatGPT is currently a hot topic, with teachers worldwide pondering, ‘How can I ensure that my students don’t become overly reliant on ChatGPT to complete their homework?’

Based on our experience, we understand that outright prohibition of ChatGPT is not the correct solution. In the long term, it may only promote secretive usage among students, leading to an atmosphere of mistrust and dishonesty. Instead of preventing students from utilising it, you can permit the use of the language model in your own unique manner. 😉

1. Promote the Use of ‘Responsible’ Labels

Offer your students the option to use ‘responsible’ labels to indicate whether their homework or assignments were generated by ChatGPT, created entirely by humans, or a blend of both. This approach makes it more challenging for students to engage in dishonest practices, as it fosters open and transparent communication. Your students will understand that the use of ChatGPT is permitted, while simultaneously appreciating ‘100% human creation’ as something valuable and distinctive.

Hogeschool Rotterdam, a Dutch secondary school, is actively involved in a targeted ‘AI and Ethics programme’ aimed at encouraging the ethical use of AI. They achieve this by promoting collaborations between teachers and students, partnering with EdTech companies, and accumulating knowledge, skills, and tools such as these labels.

Human and/or AI labels

2. Challenge Your Students to ‘Outperform’ ChatGPT

How about setting a challenge for your students to compete against ChatGPT? You could assign a task to your students, instructing them to initially complete it with the assistance of ChatGPT and then rewrite or recreate it without using a language model. This way, they may acquire new insights from AI, while also pinpointing any inaccuracies or areas that could benefit from enhancement or a more personalised touch. Encourage your students to not only work on the content but also on the structure and formatting of the text.

More about how to use ChatGPT

3. Make sure homework is done at school

An uncomplicated approach to ensure that students independently complete their homework is by encouraging ‘homework time’ during school hours or adopting a flipped classroom method. This not only safeguards against ‘cheating’ but also ensures your availability for any questions, assistance, or motivation they may require. If you wish to be even more accommodating, you could permit the supervised use of ChatGPT and instruct them on how to use it as a helpful tool. However, it should never supplant their human approach.

4. Integrate Student Experiences into Their Homework

What sets students apart from a language learning model? The model lacks personality, insights, opinions, and personal experiences. Its function is solely to scour the vast expanse of the internet for answers. In contrast, your students, despite their youth, have already accumulated a wealth of experiences and possess their distinct personality, insights, and opinions. Our suggestion is to infuse their personal experiences and emotions into their homework tasks. At LessonUp, we promote learning techniques that can assist you in achieving this.

5. Encourage teamwork and responsibility

Assigning homework to groups of students can prove to be an effective method to ensure mutual accountability. They can collaborate after school or during school hours, provided you can facilitate such sessions. Working together, they can delve into a subject, tackle questions, or engage in research tasks, all the while ensuring that fellow team members are not employing ChatGPT in an irresponsible manner. This could be the ideal formula for motivating your students to put forth their best effort while honing their social skills.

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The author

Thomas Courtley

Thomas Courtley is a former faculty leader and teacher from South East England, with a true passion for human culture and society. For 10 years he worked within the UK educational system, in a variety of teaching roles and, over time, as head of different departments. He worked his way up the ladder with energy and dedication, seizing his chances to implement positive changes within the secondary schools he worked in. During this period of time, he worked in various roles, starting as a trainee and later taking on responsibilities as a literacy and numeracy coordinator, a history teacher, and a geography teacher. With time, he became head of humanities, geography, PSHE and RE. His deliberate choice led him to work in the outer South East London area, primarily in comprehensive schools with a substantial population of Pupil Premium Students. His personal background served as a powerful motivation to teach and connect with students who faced similar socio-economic challenges. Thomas believes that digital tools can support teachers in expressing themselves, engaging students, and promoting equality in the classroom.

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