Latest news with #assessments
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
It's true that my fellow students are embracing AI – but this is what the critics aren't seeing
Reading about the role of artificial intelligence in higher education, the landscape looks bleak. Students are cheating en masse in our assessments or open-book, online exams using AI tools, all the while making ourselves stupider. The next generation of graduates, apparently, are going to complete their degrees without ever having so much as approached a critical thought. Given that my course is examined entirely through closed-book exams, and I worry about the vast amounts of water and energy needed to power AI datacentres, I generally avoid using ChatGPT. But in my experience, students see it as a broadly acceptable tool in the learning process. Although debates about AI tend to focus on 'cheating', it is increasingly being used to assist with research, or to help structure essays. There are valid concerns about the abuse and overuse of large language models (LLMs) in education. But if you want to understand why so many students are turning to AI, you need to understand what brought us to this point – and the educational context against which this is playing out. In March 2020, I was about to turn 15. When the news broke that schools would be closing as part of the Covid lockdown, I remember cheers erupting in the corridors. As I celebrated what we all thought was just two weeks off school, I could not have envisioned the disruption that would mar the next three years of my education. That year, GCSEs and A-levels were cancelled and replaced with teacher-assessed grades, which notoriously privileged those at already well-performing private schools. After further school closures, and a prolonged period of dithering, the then-education secretary, Gavin Williamson, cancelled them again in 2021. My A-level cohort in 2023 was the first to return to 'normal' examinations – in England, at least – which resulted in a punitive crackdown on grade inflation that left many with far lower grades than expected. At the same time, universities across the country were also grappling with how to assess students who were no longer physically on campus. The solution: open-book, online assessments for papers that were not already examined by coursework. When the students of the lockdown years graduated, the university system did not immediately return to its pre-Covid arrangements. Five years on, 70% of universities still use some form of online assessment. This is not because, as some will have you believe, university has become too easy. These changes are a response to the fact that the large majority of current home students did not have the typical experience of national exams. Given the extensive periods of time we spent away from school during our GCSE and A-level years, there were inevitably parts of the curriculum that we were never able to cover. But beyond missed content, the government's repeated backtracking and U-turning on the format of our exams from 2020 onwards bred uncertainty that continued to shape how we were assessed – even as we progressed on to higher education. In my first year of university, half of my exams were online. This year, they all returned to handwritten, closed-book assessments. In both cases, I did not get confirmation about the format of my exams until well into the academic year. And, in one instance, third-year students sitting the exact same paper as me were examined online and in a longer timeframe, to recognise that they had not sat a handwritten exam at any point during their degree. And so when ChatGPT was released in 2022, it landed in a university system in transition, characterised by yet more uncertainty. University exams had already become inconsistent and widely variable, between universities and within faculties themselves – only serving to increase the allure of AI for students who felt on the back foot, and make it harder to detect and monitor its use. Even if it were not for our botched exams, being a student is more expensive than ever: 68% of students have part-time jobs, the highest rate in a decade. The student loan system, too, leaves those from the poorest backgrounds with the largest amounts of debt. I am already part of the first year to have to pay back our loans over 40, rather than 30, years. And that is before tuition fees rise again. Students have less time than ever to actually be students. AI is a time-saving tool; if students don't have the time or resources to fully engage with their studies, it is because something has gone badly wrong with the university system itself. The use of AI is mushrooming because it's convenient and fast, yes, but also because of the uncertainty that prevails around post-Covid exams, as well as the increasing financial precarity of students. Universities need to pick an exam format and stick to it. If this involves coursework or open-book exams, there needs to be clarity about what 'proportionate' usage of AI looks like. For better or for worse, AI is here to stay. Not because students are lazy, but because what it means to be a student is changing just as rapidly as technology. Elsie McDowell is an A-level student from south London. She was the 2023 winner of the Hugo Young award, 16-18 age category
Irish Times
19-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Waiting lists for autism assessments set to surge, HSE estimates
The number of children awaiting assessments of need for disability or autism services for six months or longer will grow from 15,000 now to 25,000 by the end of the year, the HSE estimates. Huge increases in the numbers of people seeking assessments of need due to their disability and/or autism have overwhelmed the system, with HSE projections showing the situation is expected to deteriorate significantly this year. More than 15,000 children are now waiting longer than six months for an assessment of need, but that number is expected to grow to 25,000 by the end of the year, the HSE has told Labour TD Alan Kelly . Under disability legislation, children are entitled to an assessment of need, a formal process which evaluates their condition and what services they require, within six months of applying for it. READ MORE The Government will come under intense pressure on services for children with autism this week with a 50-hour protest by a 14 year-old activist outside the gates of Leinster House and questions and a motion from Opposition leaders on the floor of the Dáil. Cara Darmody, a disability rights activist from Co Tipperary who has previously met the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Children says she will begin a 50-hour protest outside Leinster House on Tuesday morning to protest at delays in providing assessments of need to children. Opposition leaders will meet Ms Darmody before putting questions to the Taoiseach in the Dáil. The Government has also allocated 3½ hours on Tuesday for statements on the issue, while Sinn Féin has put down a motion for debate on Tuesday evening demanding that the Government takes emergency action to comply with its legal responsibilities under disability legislation. Ms Darmody campaigned last year for the government to allocate extra funding for assessments of need – leading to an allocation of €10 million in the budget, which then taoiseach Simon Harris described as 'Cara's fund'. Ms Darmody also met the Minister for Children Norma Foley last week to discuss the issue and has tabled a number of 'asks': for the Government to declare a 'national emergency for children'; increased funding to deal with waiting lists for assessments of need; the creation of a taskforce to address difficulties in the recruitment of staff; additional funding for services for children with autism; and that she be allowed to address the Cabinet committee on disability. [ Percentage of children diagnosed with autism rises threefold in less than a decade Opens in new window ] Ms Darmody says her activism was initially motivated by the experiences of her two younger brothers who have autism and intellectual disabilities but that she is now focused on the 'national picture'. Her father Mark says that his two sons Neil (12) and John (8) 'receive almost no services from the State'. 'Neil in particular is among the most profoundly intellectually disabled children possible and was failed dramatically by the HSE,' he told The Irish Times. Government sources acknowledge that they are likely to come under extreme pressure on the issue this week, especially after making promises to improve disability services during the general election campaign. In a statement, a spokesman for Ms Foley said: 'We fully acknowledge that the waiting lists for assessments of need are far too long and that this has a significant impact on the lives of children and their families.' The statement added that the Government will introduce a series of reforms to overhaul the entire system and that proposals have been repeatedly discussed by the Cabinet committee, including legislative change. But Government sources admit that capacity constraints will continue to mean people are waiting for assessments. Meanwhile, some parents have resorted to legal action to force the State to provide services. Autism: Why are so many children being diagnosed these days? Listen | 20:42
National Post
08-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
HiBoop Launches Beta Stage of Mental Health Assessment Platform to Wider Market Following Successful Pilot
Article content Article content VICTORIA, British Columbia — Following a successful pilot phase, mental health tech company, HiBoop, is launching the beta stage of its assessment platform to the broader market. Designed to streamline mental health support, the platform is now available to clinics and healthcare providers across Canada for early access. The beta launch builds on strong early adoption and positive feedback from pilot users. Article content 'The pilot proved that there's a real need for HiBoop, and it works,' said Jason Morehouse, CEO of HiBoop. 'Clinics saved time, clients felt heard, and the feedback was clear – we're filling a gap in the system. This launch is about building on that momentum and getting the platform into the hands of more people who need it.' Article content The broader rollout brings new opportunities for clinics to improve efficiency and client outcomes. HiBoop's self-guided assessments allow patients to complete evaluations on their own time, using evidence-based tools that screen for a wide range of conditions, including anxiety, ADHD, depression, substance abuse and dissociation. Clinics receive concise, algorithm-driven reports that offer insight into patients' symptoms ahead of appointments, allowing for more targeted care planning from day one. Article content For providers, this means a significant reduction in intake time and more confidence in determining the right course of care. The platform uses machine learning to identify potential comorbid conditions and uses assessments to provide a comprehensive overview of the patient's mental health. Article content 'HiBoop has exceeded our expectations with their professionalism and seamless collaboration, making it easy to achieve exactly what we need from the system,' said Clinical Leadership Team at Canadian Addiction Treatment Centres. 'Their team is responsive, values our feedback, and takes action to deliver solutions. HiBoop addresses a real need in our clinical workflows – helping us streamline processes, improve decision-making, and better support our clients.' Article content The platform was developed in collaboration with clinicians, and its pilot phase included testing across different healthcare settings, including mental health and addiction recovery centres. Early partners helped shape the final experience to ensure it meets real-world needs. Article content About HiBoop HiBoop is a mental health technology company on a mission to improve access to diagnosis and treatment. Using existing standardized methodology and scientific research, HiBoop creates preliminary and condensed self-assessment tools for individuals to complete at their own pace from anywhere. Bridging the gap between technology and well-being, HiBoop improves access to mental health care and decreases diagnosis times for both individuals and providers. HiBoop is a Living Wage Employer and recipient of Douglas Magazine's 10 to Watch Awards 2025. For more information, please visit Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content
