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ERIC Number: EJ1490530
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0260-2938
EISSN: EISSN-1469-297X
Available Date: 0000-00-00
Talk Is Cheap: Why Structural Assessment Changes Are Needed for a Time of GenAI
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, v50 n7 p1087-1097 2025
Generative AI (GenAI) challenges assessment validity by enabling students to complete tasks without demonstrating genuine capability. In response to this challenge, institutions have developed and implemented various approaches that aim to communicate permissible AI use to students. Familiar examples include the 'traffic light' approach now commonly found within institutional policy. While well-intentioned, these approaches share a common limitation: They focus primarily on communicating rules rather than redesigning assessment mechanics. To clarify why such approaches fail, and to guide more effective responses, this paper introduces a novel conceptual distinction between discursive changes to assessment (modifications relying solely on instructions students remain free to ignore) and structural changes (modifications that reshape the underlying mechanics of assessment tasks themselves). Through a critical analysis of prominent frameworks, we demonstrate that current approaches predominantly rely on discursive changes that create what we term an 'enforcement illusion'. We find that educational frameworks frequently borrow the language of socially familiar structural systems (like vehicular traffic lights) while lacking their actual enforcement capabilities, creating an illusion of assessment security. In place of this, we argue for a shift towards structural assessment redesign that builds validity into assessment architecture rather than attempting to impose it through unenforceable rules.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE), Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia; 2DVC Education Portfolio, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia