In dialogue with AI

the eleventh grade “Pitch-a-Play” assignment. Like Jack, Yeo felt the writing was missing key elements; ChatGPT’s intelligence was clear, but its artificiality was even clearer.

“I was shocked at the facility with which it came up with a historical analog to a contemporary issue,” Yeo said. “However, what reassured me was the total absence of detail and the kind of banality of the perspective and the voice. I was reassured because it was without flavor.”

Carpenter, however, was concerned. She met with Upper School Computer Science Teacher Wes Chao, faculty’s ChatGPT point-person, to discuss the new AI. Her main concern was that students who used ChatGPT dishonestly would be ceding the opportunity to learn how to write for themselves.

“I don’t want there to just all of a sudden be this quick fix for my students—especially those who struggle with writing,” Carpenter said. “I want them to actually learn what it means to go through the writing process—to develop sentences, paragraphs, full essays.” writing, the synthesizing of sources, and the argumentation?”

Carpenter left her conversation with Chao feeling hopeful that she could use ChatGPT as a tool in her classes, provided that it wouldn’t detract from student learning.

“I think that right now, one of the biggest questions is how we can keep ChatGPT in mind as a possible tool rather than something negative,” she said.

Julia T. ’24 suggested ChatGPT was like “one of those foam bath toys” that expands when put in water, only “expanding upon” rudimentary and simplistic ideas rather than developing its own. Students spent the remainder of the class discussing how they might revise the passage that ChatGPT had produced.

Chao believes that Nueva has a headstart in implementing or experimenting with emerging AI such as ChatGPT.

“We’re already heavily project-based learning and student-centered, with a lot of student choice,” Chao said. “We’re already constantly thinking about multiple modes of assessment on top of the conventional essay—pitching a play, giving a presentation, creating art. These things already lend themselves [to working alongside ChatGPT].” how we’re creating incentive structures that there’s enough of a relationship teachers and students here that students won’t feel that kind of sense of helplessness that makes them take that option,” said. “That’s my hope. And maybe hope, or maybe it’s a sort of hope reflective of the authentic learning

Dorrance also envisions a valuable way that students in his class might use ChatGPT to improve their essay writing without just handing their work over to the chatbot: through streamlining the reverse outlining process.

Reverse outline, an essay writing technique Dorrance has long advocated for in his students to use, is a process of checking the logic and structure of an essay by creating an outline based off of finished work. Dorrance believes that ChatGPT could be used productively as a second pair of eyes in this way, by identifying the main points within a chunk of writing.

“If the AI can complete the reverse outlining process for a student, as if someone has been checking their work, maybe there’s potential for students to calibrate their own paper organization,” Dorrance said.

One thought weighs more heavily Thedosopolus’ mind than does academic dishonesty.

“If the justification [for using ChatGPT] ‘Well, I have to write this paper but enough time to write it,’ that would bigger problem: we’re trying to do too in too little time,” Thedosopolous explains. see [ChatGPT use] as more as a symptom quantity over quality that we need rather than grasping at straws like we have to face the problem up front.”

In a similar way, ChatGPT introduces new plane of thought to Nueva’s curriculum aside from concerns on academic or student ability. A Nueva education structured around a unique mission: lifelong learners. So as ChatGPT starts to redefine conventional “writing ability,” teachers find themselves reflecting they’re really trying to teach—what Nueva curriculum meant to do?

Chao believes that this means assessments that are not only engaging bring something new to the table, subject and their content.

“It’s about defining, ‘What is the this assessment? What is the point unit?’” Chao said. “Our courses are that we really need to consider, for elective, ‘What is the goal of this class?’”

In the same mindset, history teacher Tom Dorrance began the spring semester of his eleventh grade classes by introducing two passages: one written by a historian and one written by ChatGPT.

“I want you guys to look over this passage and tell me what you think,” he said to the class. “What do you notice about the

Alexis similarly views ChatGPT as a peer, suggesting that it could serve as a soundboard to provide critique of a student’s work or introduce a new perspective. She envisions ChatGPT as a more accessible writing tutor—a source of assistance that some students may already have.

And while Dorrance understands how ChatGPT might be a means for academic dishonesty, he believes that the curiosity of Nueva students mitigates the concern.

“I would just like to believe that that’s not

Likewise, Dorrance believes that should be viewed less as a disruption academics, but as an opportunity what education is. Dorrance drew to the launch of Wikipedia in 2001, the history community riddled with about the future of history education, ultimately changed education for “Pedagogically, [historians] were moving away from tests of memorization, and I think Wikipedia was almost the coffin in terms of a deemphasis memorizing rote facts and dates,” explained.

ChatGPT is a powerful tool that has had a significant impact on high school education. As a language model trained by OpenAI, ChatGPT can generate responses to text-based prompts that range from simple questions to complex essay topics. Its ability to understand and process natural language has made it an invaluable resource for high school students and teachers alike.

One of the most significant impacts of ChatGPT on high school education has been its ability to provide personalized assistance to students. With the help of ChatGPT, students can receive instant feedback on their writing, ask questions about specific topics, and receive guidance on how to improve their understanding of a subject. This personalized assistance has helped to level the playing field for students of all abilities, ensuring that every student has access to the resources they need to succeed.

In addition to personalized assistance, ChatGPT has also had an impact on the way that high school teachers approach their teaching. By using ChatGPT to generate prompts and questions, teachers can provide more engaging and interactive lessons that promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This has helped to create a more student-centered learning environment, where students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning and pursue their interests.

Overall, the on high school significant. By assistance, promoting and facilitating has helped to and effective for high school technology continues is likely that increasingly of high school

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