Bellwood-Antis High School juniors conduct survey on AI
Students share opinions on use of AI in education
Fatzinger
Clouser
Fatzinger
Clouser
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BELLWOOD -- Curious about how artificial intelligence is changing education, two Bellwood-Antis juniors conducted a survey on AI use in school and presented their findings during Tuesday's school board meeting.
The school board's student representatives -- Sophia Fatzinger and Cora Clouser -- conducted the schoolwide survey asking students to share their opinions about AI in educational settings.
The Google Forms survey was given to students via the English department and about 205 responses were received, they reported.
"A lot of them said how it's already being used very much in moderation," Sophia said. "My teachers seem to be allowing students to use AI. I've used it multiple times on assignments already because they told us to. It was part of the requirements."
After the question-and-answer portion of the survey, Sophia said they added an optional open-ended response asking participants to differentiate between using AI as a learning tool and using AI as a means to cheat.
One response, Sophia said, described AI as a learning tool for struggling students who are learning without a parent, teacher or tutor, but that student also recognized that others may use the program to quickly finish their homework.
Reading the response to board members, Sophia said, "Using AI to get your work done is not learning, and I think trying to complete your work you're given helps you learn so you're prepared, versus using the app to take a photo and getting it done."
She said a few students supported AI and a few students rejected AI.
"There seems to be a middle line that everyone falls into," she said.
Board member Seth Sager thanked the students for creating the survey and reaching out to the student body about this rapidly changing technology.
"Just the feedback alone is showing you that student representatives are starting that initiative and leading AI in education," he said.
Superintendent Edward DiSabato asked the students how they use AI to enhance education assignments, to which Sophia said she generated similar math problems to teach her how to answer a math problem she struggled to complete.
"Being able to see the steps laid out is a lot easier for students," she said.
High School Principal Rick Schreier said some of their professional development has revolved around AI and how to catch students who used AI to cheat.
"Now, as we use it more often, we're trying to determine how to use it more usefully and set ground rules for the students," he said.
Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.