Since 2021, in several Russian universities, student performance will be assessed by artificial intelligence (AI). It is assumed that the use of the new system will allow more objective assessment of students. About this TASS said the director of the Center of competencies in the field of online education and digital corporate training EDCrunch University NUST "MISiS" Nurlan Kiyasov. On the basis of this university, a similar technology should be introduced at the end of 2020.
According to Kiyasov, the system, based on digital footprint data, will evaluate students' activity in lectures, their behavior, academic performance and even participation in public life.
“The digital service will identify students with low academic performance and warn first of all the students themselves and the dean's office about this. The service will be based on the student’s digital footprint: it will evaluate student performance, lecture activity, participation in the university’s public life, and overall behavior, ”Kiyasov said.
Based on the results of the analysis of the information received, the leadership of educational institutions will decide whether to somehow encourage the student, give him a warning, or even expel him. Kiyasov believes that the introduction of artificial intelligence-based systems will help eliminate the element of bias on the part of teachers.
At the same time, the head of EDCrunch University noted that the proposals put forward by AI will be advisory in nature, and the dean’s office will still make the final decision regarding the fate of students. Testing of such a system in several universities will start in 2019, and by 2021 its prototypes will begin to work in leading universities in Russia.
“The primary task is to reduce the proportion of expelled students, to increase students' satisfaction with the quality of educational services and all other types of services that the university provides. Today, the university cannot keep up with what is happening outside the university, where there is continuous digitalization, ”Kiyasov emphasized.
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Commenting on the prospects of introducing such systems, Boris Chernyshov, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Education and Science, expressed an opinion in an interview with RT that artificial intelligence will be primarily useful in the fight against corruption.
“I suggested this, including for schoolchildren, in order to replace, for example, the USE with this methodology. That would be right. But artificial intelligence can more correctly assess (students. - RT ) in those universities where facts of corruption still remain. After all, you will not offer him either a chocolate bar or an envelope, ”said the parliamentarian.
Also, in his opinion, administrations of educational institutions need to evaluate not only students' academic success, but also their extracurricular activities. This will allow students to be encouraged and “give more opportunities to those who are interested in their further advancement” within the framework of their specialty, without focusing on one standard educational format.
“Now, unfortunately, in some universities a decision is made only on the basis of the final results. The HSE works very effectively in this regard, which rates the course not only based on the results of those points that are earned for examinations, but also on the basis of academic performance, activity at seminars, and visits to electronic classes. All this already exists in some universities, it’s just that they give it an automated character, ”noted Chernyshov.
The interlocutor of RT added that, among other things, the student assessment system should combine the “human view” and the recommendations of artificial intelligence. The final decision, for example on deductions, should be made only after a collective discussion of the report of the digital system, the expert is sure.
The president of the All-Russian Education Fund Sergei Komkov also warned of the need for a delicate approach to the use of new technologies in relation to people.
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“I am not opposed to the use of new IT technologies and the possibility of using artificial intelligence, but I think that you need to be extremely careful here, because you need to understand that after all, a student is a living person. And like any living person, he has different periods of life, and artificial intelligence may not take this into account. A situation may arise in which artificial intelligence may incorrectly evaluate this living person. Due to certain subjective factors, this living person may be “overboard” the university: life circumstances may fail, a psychological breakdown may occur. If a living teacher takes this into account, then artificial intelligence cannot take this into account, ”a specialist told RT.
Komkov also believes that the capabilities of artificial intelligence must be combined with the experience and knowledge of the faculty. According to him, it is necessary to find a reasonable balance between these two systems of assessment.
We add that according to the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, in 2018, for one reason or another, 16.8% of students were expelled from Russian universities. According to RIA Novosti, according to experts, with the help of artificial intelligence, this figure can be reduced to ten percent.