Using Classroom Surveys to Align Grading Practices and Self-Directed Learning in the Age of AI

Abstract

The rapid saturation of research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the classroom reflects concerns with the even more rapidly developing AI in many aspects of society. Framing the parameters of AI literacy can serve as an important context within which educators can guide students toward critical engagement with AI tools in order to develop their self-directed learning. Before this can happen, however, an aspect to consider in order to harness the potential of AI tools includes the necessity of aligning grading practices with self-directed learning. This article explores how such an alignment may foster a learning environment that shifts the use of AI away from merely generating substitutive text and toward actually harnessing its potential as a tool for helping authentic learning to happen. Drawing on relevant research and two survey responses from secondary students, this article aims to establish a context in which reflective classroom surveys can help teachers implement process-based grading structures to empower students in their growth as authentic learners instead of defaulting to passive users of AI. In such a context, the secondary classroom would remove the barriers created by hierarchical grading practices, evolve with emergent technology, train students to interact meaningfully and ethically with it, and ultimately prepare them for the ongoing challenges of using AI in the humanities and society, overall.