“…the only task remains the paradoxical one identified as far back as in Plato’s Meno: Give students work they don’t know they need to do. And yes, help them want to do it.
I have found, to overcome students’ resistance to learning, you often have to trick them. There’s the old bait-and-switch of offering grades, then seeing a few students learn to love learning itself. Worksheets are tricks, as are small-group discussions and even a teacher’s charisma. I’m sure I have used baseball analogies in class, too. In the face of the difficulty of reforming students’ desires, you can trick yourself into believing you’re doing it, and sleep well at night. I don’t know anyone for whom it’s a straightforward task. It’s the challenge for any teacher, and AI offers a tempting illusion to students—and evidently to some teachers—that there could be a shortcut.”
