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Introduction
Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) — notably, the ability for generative AI technology to mimic human tasks with a high level of fidelity — have many educators fearful that AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot) are short-circuiting the learning experience. Recent headlines reflect the views of many of these fearful educators. “AI cheating is hopelessly, irreparably corrupting US higher education,” argues one article while another describes an “AI Cheating Crisis” in which students are a part of an “arms race” that compels their use of AI to cheat in order to stay academically competitive.
Research suggests that these fears may not be entirely unfounded. In a recent survey of over 1,000 students and 100 educators, study.com found that over 89% of students admitted to using ChatGPT to help with a homework assignment, and almost half of students had used ChatGPT to complete a test or quiz. However, contrasting research shows relatively stable levels of cheating before and after the release of popular AI models. Our own research found that students aren’t using ChatGPT to “cheat” but rather to conduct research, brainstorm ideas, and simplify complex topics. Even still, educators’ fears about the impact of AI on cheating persist.
With these headlines and statistics in mind, it is not surprising that AI technology has become viewed as a weapon, threatening the value and role of contemporary education.
But what if the same AI technology that educators fear enables pathways to cheating and academic dishonesty could be repurposed as a tool to enhance learning? What could support that transformation?
What is CBE?
If students are using AI to cheat, perhaps the ultimate blame lies not in the technology but in the education model.
Competency-based education (CBE) is a learning model that prioritizes student development of skills and competencies over time spent in a classroom. CBE begins with identifying or developing industry-recognized skills that form the foundational knowledge base for all curriculum learning experiences. After these competencies have been identified, CBE courses and programs align with them to provide experiences that mirror learning in the workplace and assessments that provide reliable and valid measures of development against industry standards.
How can a CBE model reclaim AI from being viewed as a weapon that threatens education to a tool that supports student learning?
How CBE De-Weaponizes AI Use in Education
As one author described, if cheating becomes easier because of AI, perhaps we should rethink how we facilitate and assess student learning.
CBE establishes a firm, unambiguous connection between classroom learning and workplace expectations, supporting students’ motivation to learn. The backbone of CBE is competencies — the set of skills industries identify as crucial to workplace success — which form a foundation for all learning experiences. Anchored to these industry-recognized competencies, CBE minimizes major student motivations for cheating by establishing a sense of industry relevance in every activity, assignment, and assessment. As a result, students are motivated to learn because of the direct connection between the skills learned in the classroom and what future employers will expect of them on the job.
And this observation isn't merely theoretical. We have observed that CBE students pause or stop their use of AI when they perceive it as being “too helpful.” In our user testing, students expressed concern about relying too heavily on a tool they would either be unable to use on the course assessment (enabling them to pass the course) or would inhibit their skill development for their future careers.
CBE also inhibits the improper use of AI by focusing learning on higher-level, transferable skills that may be more resistant to cheating. In addition to developing relevant industry competencies, CBE seeks authentic learning by integrating industry practices, processes, and applications within the classroom setting. For example, in a CBE nursing education context, students may be asked to perform a routine health assessment on a fictitious patient — testing students' advanced cognitive and psychomotor understanding of the assessment skills expected of nurses — rather than a traditional multiple-choice exam on the same topic.
In essence, CBE neutralizes the threat of advancing AI by enhancing student motivation to learn by focusing on industry-recognized skills and competencies and disrupting opportunities for cheating by integrating cognitively complex, authentic learning into all activities, assignments, and assessments.
How AI Supports Student Learning in CBE
Without the threat of AI-supported cheating, CBE repurposes advancing AI technology into a tool to support student learning. In our research exploring students’ actual and anticipated use of AI in their learning, students at Western Governors University used AI strategically as an on-demand course instructor or tutor to support their skill development. Examples of how they prompted AI included:
- “Explain this concept to me in a simple way that I can understand.”
- “How is this topic or skill used in the real world?”
- “Break down this task into smaller parts, but don’t give me the answer.”
- “Check my answers to this problem and identify areas where this is not correct.”
- “Here’s my answer to this question. How might I have answered it more effectively or efficiently?”
Students' use of AI tools demonstrated intentionality and purpose — oriented toward learning and growth — with the goal of deepening their understanding of the content and further developing their mastery of the course skills.
Conclusion
While student use of AI to cheat or short-circuit the learning experience is worthy of continual discussion, the parallel growth of CBE provides a tested solution for maintaining academic integrity and supporting learning. The more we build competency-based learning environments that promote authentic learning and assessment, the less effective AI will be for corrupting assessments and the more useful AI will be in supporting the learning process.
