I Asked My Students What They Actually Use AI For. Results Were Surprising.
Ran an anonymous survey this week. 94 students, grades 9-12, PE and health so not exactly the academic-writing-heavy classes. asked them to be honest about AI use.
top answers:
1. to explain concepts they didn’t understand from class (67%)
2. to check grammar and improve sentences they already wrote (54%)
3. to generate ideas when they’re stuck (48%)
4. to summarize things they’d read (41%)
5. to write content they submitted as their own (18%)
18% admitted to that last one. probably undercounted given the social desirability bias but still much lower than the teacher perception in our staffroom.
ban it and they use it at home. teach them to use it well and at least you have some influence on the 18%.
not defending the 18%. just saying: calibrate the response to reality.
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what works for 25 students might not work for 1500 but this is useful baseline data. the 67% using it for concept explanation is essentially using it as a tutor - which we don't prohibit in any other form.
"I use it to make my writing sound smarter" was my students' most common answer too. none of them volunteered that. I got it by asking follow-up questions about what they didn't like about their own writing. the real insight is that they already know their first drafts are weak - AI is filling a gap we haven't addressed.
the 18% is real and thats the problem. but treating all AI use like the 18% case is how we end up with policies that alienate the 82% who are using it legitimately.