High school students in Denmark will be required to orally defend their written assignments as part of the government’s emergency measures aimed at combating AI cheating.
Denmark’s Education Ministry announced in a statement on Thursday that all exams written at home will require an oral defense, adding that it will work with schools to develop the best framework for this.
The ministry said the regulation would come into effect immediately and apply to students in upper secondary education, which usually starts around the age of 16. The ministry said it includes about 9,000 students enrolled in the country’s two-year advanced preparatory exam program, which requires them to submit a major written assignment each year.
The ministry is also calling on high schools to use tools to monitor students’ screens during exams and firewalls to filter content that can be accessed during exams and classes.
Additionally, schools are encouraged to have students complete more in-school work in a controlled environment to facilitate supervision.
“Unfortunately, there is a problem with students using AI to cheat in high schools,” Education Minister Magnus Heunicke said in a statement. “Action is needed now, and we are starting with these three initiatives.”
“Over the coming period, I will be working with schools, teachers and students on what we can do in the short and long term to ensure that AI does not undermine students’ skills, academic performance and, above all, their ability to think for themselves.”
Three high school associations representing school leaders, teachers and students welcomed the move but called for a longer-term solution, citing the “rapid pace of technological development”, the high school association Danske Gymnassie said in a statement on Thursday.
Anders Fricke, president of the Danish High School Teachers’ Association (GL), said teachers were “thankful to the education minister for taking swift and decisive action”. However, there are additional proposals that I would like the Minister to consider.
“This includes having students clearly declare when AI was used in key written assignments and ensuring that preparation for oral exams is done without access to AI,” he added.
Students also “welcome” the urgent initiative, but “it is important that the increased amount of written learning that takes place in schools is organized in a way that truly enhances student learning, rather than simply transferring learning from home to school,” Oskar Tonsberg Hofmann, president of the Danish Upper Secondary Students’ Association (DGS), said in a statement.
He added: “It is essential that students have the opportunity to contribute to the development of long-term solutions.”
