Generative AI may impact students’ marks: a case study from a large first-year statistics course

Abstract

The arrival of generative AI (GenAI) near the end of 2022 impacted higher education in ways still being understood. In this study, marks and grades for students in a large first-year course are examined before the arrival of GenAI (for two offerings in 2022) and after the arrival of GenAI (two offerings in each of 2023 and 2024). The course itself, and the profile of the students studying the course, have remained very similar from 2022 to 2024, so any observed changes are likely to be a result of the emergence of GenAI. We found that GenAI potentially had a minimal impact on some assessment types (online quizzes; an assignment with guidelines requiring creativity), but a substantial and significant potential impact on other assessment types, some beneficially and some detrimentally. While pass rates in the course have remained relatively constant, the distribution of passing grades has also shifted since the introduction of GenAI. In addition, the introduction of GenAI has enhanced overall marks for passing students but reduced overall marks for failing students.