Dr. Caitlin Riegel, assistant professor in the College of Education, recently published a book chapter titled “Leveraging Online Formative Assessments Within the Evolving Landscape of Artificial Intelligence in Education” in Assessment Analytics in Education.

“As Artificial Intelligence continues to revolutionize education, the use of AI to complete online assessments poses a considerable challenge to assessment analytics,” Dr. Riegel said. “With a goal to support and improve the assessment process, assessment analytics involves deriving meaningful insights from assessment data related to student knowledge and instructional effectiveness. However, when students utilize machine learning to complete online assessments, the validity of assessment data as an accurate representation of student knowledge diminishes.”

In the chapter, Dr. Riegel explores the strategic use of online formative assessments to both enhance understanding of student knowledge and deter the inappropriate use of AI. Acknowledging that there is always a risk of academic dishonesty, Dr. Riegel suggests that online formative assessments offer a unique avenue for teachers to gather empirical evidence of student engagement, current comprehension, and critical thinking. She notes that by adopting the PICS framework for personalized, informal, constructivist, and short online formative assessments, educators can harness assessment analytics to gain valid and valuable insights into student knowledge, an approach that facilitates proactive engagement with students who may be grappling with content and tempted to seek assistance from artificial intelligence and fosters meaningful conversations that aim to address learning challenges and promote academic integrity in online education.