Michael Kvern

I just gave a closed-book, pen-and-paper midterm exam in my 300-level course at UBC with 100 students. All exams were graded by an experienced graduate-level TA according to a rubric. *** The average was 64/100.*** My class averages at UBC are usually 80-85. Context: • This was the first midterm, covering ONLY 4 weeks of material. • Students had a list of possible questions in advance: no surprise questions. • Questions included (a) 3 concept definitions, (b) 3 paragraph-long questions, and (c) a 1.5-page essay. • I have taught this class multiple times. Nothing in my teaching style changed this semester. • We read entire paragraphs of text in class, so students don't have to do something on their own that wasn't covered during the lecture. • Students take a 10-question multiple-choice quiz at the end of every class (30% of the final grade). • Attendance is 95-99% every class. Attention during lectures and participation in pair-work activities are very high → anticipating the end-of-class quiz. *** But unfortunately, I suspect many students are not reading the material on the syllabus. They are asking LLMs to summarize it instead.*** After the midterm, students reported: • They thought they knew concept definitions but couldn't produce them on paper. • They thought they understood the arguments but struggled to connect them or identify points of agreement and disagreement. My view: It might be “cool” or “innovative” to teach students to summarize readings with ChatGPT or write essays with Claude. But we may be doing them a disservice: reducing their ability to retain material, think creatively, and reason from what they know. If you only read what AI has summarized for you, you don’t truly "know" the material. Moving forward: We have a second midterm coming up. I don't know how to convey to students that the best way to do better on the exam is to rely on and improve their own reading skills.

Ezra Klein: "Having AI summarize a book or paper for me is a disaster. It has no idea what I really wanted to know and wouldn't have made the connections I would've made. I'm interested in the thing I will see that other people wouldn't have seen, and I think AI typically sees what everybody else would see. I'm not saying that AI can't be useful, but I'm pretty against shortcuts. And obviously, you have to limit the amount of work you're doing. You can't read literally everything. But in some ways, I think it's more dangerous to think you've read something that you haven't than to not read it at all. I think the time you spend with things is pretty important." @ezraklein

Important Information | Maps containing incorrect information are currently circulating online and on social media. Please note that the only official map of the corridor under study is available on our website. This interactive map allows you to share your comments and suggestions. Alto is currently analyzing a zone approximately 10 km wide (a corridor) in order to assess various possible scenarios for the route of the future high-speed train. At this stage of the project, no final route decisions have been made. To avoid the spread of false information, we invite you to refer to our website for information about the project: altotrain.ca/en If you would like to take part in our public consultations, all available ways to participate can be found here: altotrain.ca/en/public-cons…

I hope the next viral trend is empathy and critical thinking skills

Ignore all abstract opinions about public transit technologies. Focus on how they’re implemented. Bus Rapid Transit works as well as its designers want it to. In many global cities it’s a backbone of the transit network, carrying huge volumes of people.

Notice how it’s somehow the government’s job to legislate a few Bible verses on human sexuality over our entire country, but it’s suddenly “not the government’s job” when it comes to the +2,500 Bible verses calling for a generous use of wealth that prioritizes the poor.

This World Series commercial shows something crazy. That giant blob of light south of Manitoba is bigger than Chicago but there’s no big city there. It’s actually light from burning off natural gas during the fracking extraction process in the Bakken Oil Fields of North Dakota.

Local man who needed two elections to win his seat sends Thanksgiving message about merit.

The coolest parts of our cities are walkable neighborhoods We go on vacation to visit walkable neighborhoods Our college campuses are walkable neighborhoods Historic districts are walkable neighborhoods The best restaurants and coffee shops are in walkable neighborhoods

I'm currently reading a comparison of health systems globally. There are about 4 sentences that really sum it up. 1/4: “The United States is the only developed country that lets insurance companies profit from basic health coverage”

I find it bleak that ChatGPT now has more users than Wikipedia. Many people would rather be spoon-fed information by a machine than read and research for themselves. Tech isn't just making us dumber. Worse than that: it's killing curiosity itself and the desire to learn.

this a war on christmas

Portage and Main starting to look like a normal place in a normal city.

Why have none of the three main parties published their full platforms yet? People are voting RIGHT NOW

@yfcherries I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that simply being aware of the election does nothing to affect the outcome and only leads me to more anxiety. It's not working, obviously, since I'm still here scrolling

@uglyblender I can't believe I'm defending the ndp as much as I am this cycle but it's nuts how much 338 is being allowed to get away with prejudicing the electorate against them based on very shoddy (at least at the riding level) data

Putting a 25% tariff on automobiles and then saying congestion pricing is a "tax on the working class" is actually so funny tbh

Let's see which Esri north arrow reigns supreme! Complete Sweet 16 Bracket to vote for in the thread below 👇