Fullerton, Calif. – Math teacher Al Rabanera at La Vista High School has stopped assigning homework that can be copied into an AI chatbot. Instead, he creates real‑world projects, such as a unit on buying a car that blends interest‑rate calculations with credit‑score education, and asks students to design their own word problems.
National shift in homework practices
Rabanera’s approach reflects a broader trend. Teachers nationwide are rethinking, scaling back, or even abandoning traditional homework as evidence mounts that students are using tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to complete assignments without learning the material.
A recent study by University of California, Irvine researcher Sina Rismanchian examined 3.2 million math problems on the ALEKS platform over ten years. After ChatGPT’s release in late 2022, high‑school students spent 31 % less time on word‑problem assignments—those most easily copied into AI—while time on graph‑based problems remained steady. College students showed a 27 % decline.
When students were tested under proctored conditions with no AI access, the copy‑paste behavior disappeared, and retention of AI‑susceptible problems fell 25 % in the post‑ChatGPT period, indicating a loss of learning outcomes.
Survey data on AI use
The College Board reported that the share of high‑school students who said they use AI tools for schoolwork rose from 79 % in January 2025 to 84 % in May 2025. A separate K‑12 principal survey found 37 % of respondents observing AI use for homework help, slightly higher than the share noting AI‑assisted essay drafting.
University of Rochester economist John Singleton, co‑author of the study, called the current reliance on short AI‑generated essays “insane,” arguing it fails to gauge true comprehension. He and other educators are moving toward presentations and oral exams, though some lament the loss of traditional writing assignments.
Educators’ concerns and responses
Researchers such as MIT’s Justin Reich note that AI places the “do everything for me” button right beside the “teach me carefully” button, undermining the intended tutoring role of the technology. Denise Pope of Stanford’s Graduate School of Education, who has tracked cheating for two decades, observes that copying a classmate’s work has long been the most common form of academic dishonesty, and AI is simply a new shortcut.
Teachers surveyed by Challenge Success identified the erosion of critical‑thinking skills as their top worry, with 58 % citing this over outright cheating. Many are conducting “homework audits” to ensure assignments truly require intellectual effort.
What schools are doing
Some districts are drafting AI‑use policies for syllabi, while others are replacing standard problem sets with unique poster projects, design challenges, and in‑class activities that demand personal engagement. By aligning assignments with students’ interests and real‑world applications, educators hope to restore the productive struggle essential for deep learning.
Original reporting: KTVZ (Central Oregon) — read the source article.
