The Cognitive Offloading Conundrum: Ensuring genuine learning in the age of AI.

As an international mathematics teacher working with MYP and DP students, I've been keenly observing the evolving role of AI in education. While these tools offer exciting possibilities, my recent experiences have highlighted a significant challenge: the potential for students to over-rely on AI in ways that may impede genuine learning and understanding. This is a concern that I believe resonates with educators across all disciplines.

One area where this issue is particularly apparent is in traditional homework assignments. While AI can provide support and guidance, its current limitations in understanding a student's developmental level and the specific curriculum can lead to unintended consequences. Instead of offering appropriate scaffolding, AI may present complex methodologies or reasoning that are far beyond the scope of the course. For instance, a student working on foundational concepts of statistics might be exposed to sophisticated analysis involving z-scores – a topic typically encountered much later in their academic journey. The outcome is often confusion and a superficial submission that belies a fundamental lack of comprehension.

The examples we encounter can be quite illustrative. We might see students talking about "morphological studies" and when asked casual about the meaning they say it's a type of study session. Or when asked about how they came to an answer, or what made them use that method, some students sort of stumble over themselves saying they "asked ChatGPT to explain it." While it's not a problem to use the technology available to them, this idea of just getting the answer misses the finer point of actual learning.

These instances, while perhaps extreme, underscore a worrying trend: students are utilizing AI as a direct route to an answer without truly engaging with the problem-solving process. The crucial steps of dissecting a question, identifying relevant concepts, and applying prior knowledge appear to be bypassed by the ease of obtaining an immediate, albeit often contextually inappropriate, solution.

This phenomenon brings to mind the concept of cognitive offloading. Similar to how the accessibility of online information can impact memory retention (the "Google effect"), we may be witnessing a parallel effect with AI in education. Students might become less inclined to internalize fundamental concepts, secure in the knowledge that AI can readily provide the information. While AI can be a valuable tool for reinforcing rote learning and quick fact retrieval, the risk lies in its application to more complex, conceptual domains. The essence of true learning lies in the gradual construction of understanding through interconnected ideas. If students consistently circumvent this process by relying on AI that operates at a level significantly beyond their own, we risk hindering their long-term intellectual development.

My own exploration of AI tools designed for educators has revealed that even these resources can sometimes present overly advanced analyses that are not pedagogically sound for the students' current stage of learning. For example, using analysis usually seen in Grade 11 DP for Grade 8 is simply not appropriate.

This highlights the critical need for careful evaluation and thoughtful integration of AI in our teaching practices.

Ultimately, the goal is not to dismiss the potential of AI, but rather to cultivate a learning environment where students develop a deep understanding of the material, not just the ability to generate AI-assisted answers. It requires a focus on fostering critical thinking skills and ensuring students can effectively analyze a question and apply appropriate strategies before resorting to external tools.

I am keen to hear from fellow educators and those involved in AI edtech: what strategies are you finding effective in ensuring students genuinely understand the questions they are addressing, rather than simply becoming adept at producing AI-generated responses? How can we guide students to utilize these powerful tools in a manner that enhances, rather than detracts from, meaningful learning and robust comprehension?