"I do not want to see more tech in schools, and not just because of the cost"

"Do not stumble down this path of least resistance: go to the library"

Dr Alan Eustace, of Trinity's School of Law, argues that students could benefit from less technology, not more, in a piece he originally wrote for the Irish Independent

What connects the resignation and tragic death of former Cambridge professor Jason Arday and parents in Meath shelling out €2,400 on iPads?

In schools, the debate about the relentless march of technology revolves around the financial cost to parents. In universities, where tech is ubiquitous, we are counting the cost to the integrity of research and teaching.

Academics from astrophysicists to ancient historians routinely use various kinds of technology to assist our own research, whether collecting and analysing data, or locating state-of-the-art scholarship.

When I gaze out from the lecture podium, a forest of laptop screens obscures the faces of my students. Even the few brave holdouts who continue to avail of the benefits for understanding and memory associated with handwriting their notes still use computers for research and writing assignments.

I do not want to see more tech in schools, and not just because of the cost. My colleagues in science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) might have a different perspective, but for students in arts, humanities and social sciences (about half of all students in Irish third-level institutions), tech skills are not the problem.

We do not assume that all of our students can afford to purchase their own laptops, so many university libraries routinely offer on-site desktops, and IT departments offer training in basic computer skills. These can be picked up relatively quickly. I am much more concerned about research and learning skills. I am worried that more technology in secondary schools, or at least greater reliance on technology which time-strapped teachers cannot supervise effectively, will mean students coming into university unprepared for the step-up implied in the name ‘higher’ education.

Generative AI is part of this story, but it is not the whole story. When I write a reading list, I am well-aware that the material on it which can be easily accessed online is more likely to be read by students than hard-copy textbooks.

Do not stumble down this path of least resistance: go to the library.

If there are not enough copies of a given book, let your lecturer and the library staff know: resources are not unlimited, but we will do our best to solve these shortages once we are made aware of them.

For digital material, use the databases provided – at great expense – by your university, not dodgy websites which are unreliable and often violate copyright law. Read the primary material assigned by your lecturer, not summaries gleaned from blogs and (shudder) ChatGPT.

Whatever the glossy ‘policy statements’ say, universities around the world are panicking about artificial intelligence, particularly that which is capable of generating documents which mimic the essays we require students to write in order to demonstrate their understanding of what we have been trying to teach them.

We are losing confidence in the ability of the essay to assess students’ knowledge and skills. Of course, the same tech industry that has ‘disrupted’ teaching and learning promises salvation in the form of AI detectors, but this technology is too new to know if it is reliable yet.

In my experience, established plagiarism-detection software, with an ostensibly much easier task, has a mixed record. Those of us who care about upholding academic integrity, both for its own sake and to verify whether our teaching is actually helping students to learn, will instead rely on a number of techniques which students will have to get used to.

This is not because we assume all our students are cheaters looking to game the system. Students choose their degrees and modules because they want to learn, and most misuses of AI I have encountered have been due to time pressure, lack of confidence, or not understanding the rules.

Each university has its own policy on academic misconduct, and some departments are stricter than others. Do not rely on what your friends have done for their assignments: if you are not sure what you can and cannot do with AI, ask your lecturer in advance.

Remember, these are not tricks to catch you out: we signed up to be educators, not AI detectives. For your own sake, and the reputation of our universities, we need to make sure our teaching is effective and your degree is worth the parchment it is written on.

Expect to encounter a wide range of assessment techniques in university, under the ‘Swiss cheese’ approach to academic integrity: misconduct like AI falsification might slip through one type of assignment, but it will be caught during another. Expect to deliver a lot of oral presentations during your degree, alongside short quizzes, group projects and simulations (like client consultations and courtrooms). Some of these have standalone value, teaching you different skills that essays could never assess anyway; others will be used simply to develop a reliable overall picture of your learning.

In some disciplines, the in-person exam will make a comeback. And where the essay survives, responsible lecturers will insist on measures like the ‘integrity viva’, where students are called at random to discuss their essays with the lecturer to assess deep comprehension of the issues, ‘research trails’, where you must show how you found all the material you cite and the notes you made about it, and ‘file versioning’, where you must produce time-stamped draft copies of your assignment all along the research and writing process.

These are good research practices which your lecturers should be following in their own work. This is how we avoid the plagiarism, falsification and other misconduct which has resulted in major scandals in recent years at such heavyweight institutions as Cambridge, Harvard, Hong Kong University and MIT and cost some authors millions in book deals.Even unfair allegations need good research practices to fight off. If you are starting college in September, you should be keeping research trails and file versions from day one. These will help you demonstrate your academic integrity when the time comes, and in the meantime help your learning. Get into these habits now, and seek guidance from your lecturers and librarians.