Assessing the Use of ChatGPT as a Pedagogical Tool: A Small Study

ChatGPT has been on the lips and minds of academics and students alike since the launch of the generative technology in November 2022. Students have made use of it and academic institutions have debated how to respond to its use, variously either banning it outright or arguing that there should be a place for such technologies in our teaching and learning pedagogies. Guidelines around its use, and especially ethical use, have yet to be fully delimited, and research around its usefulness is still embryonic. This study assesses the use of ChatGPT as a pedagogical tool in higher education based on a study in an honours-level module at a university in South Africa. It concludes that the tool, when used proactively, can have numerous useful pedagogical applications but also notes several shortcomings. Ultimately, educational institutions will need to develop clear policies around its use while also clarifying what constitutes artificial intelligence plagiarism and guiding students in terms of the parameters in which ChatGPT and similar emerging tools may be used ethically. Further, students may benefit from training in how to prompt the tool most efficiently.