Generative AI is reshaping the way students produce work—and challenging the validity of many traditional assessment tasks. Essays, reports, and other product-only assessments are now easily influenced or even generated by tools like ChatGPT and Claude.
If educators continue to focus only on the final product, they risk assessing a piece of work that may not fully represent the student’s own learning. The solution is to redesign assessment so that the process is as important as the product.
This shift aligns with the Australian Curriculum’s emphasis on higher-order thinking, authentic contexts, and the integration of general capabilities such as ICT competence and critical thinking. It also reflects the direction of the Australian Framework for Generative AI in Schools, which calls for safe, ethical, and purposeful AI integration.
By embedding process evidence into assessment design, teachers can:
- Better verify that the work is the student’s own.
- Capture the thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving behind the final product.
- Support students to develop self-regulation, reflection, and evaluative judgment.
Incorporate Drafts and Logs
Require students to submit drafts, notes, or planning documents. This could include AI prompts and outputs if generative AI was used, with reflections on how those outputs were evaluated and adapted.
Make Thinking Visible
Integrate oral components such as viva voce interviews, project presentations, or in-class checkpoints where students explain their reasoning.
Design Authentic Contexts
Base tasks on real-world problems, personal experiences, or current events. These are harder for generative AI to complete without student-specific input.
Integrate Transparent AI Use
If generative AI is permitted, require students to disclose their use and critically evaluate outputs for accuracy and bias. This builds discernment and ensures alignment with legitimate sources.
Link Tasks Across the Unit
Make assessments build on each other so sudden changes in style or quality are easier to detect.
Process-driven assessment not only reduces the risk of academic misconduct but also strengthens learning outcomes. Students engage more deeply when they know they must show how they arrived at their answers—not just present the final product.
By shifting the question from “Can the student produce the right answer?” to “Can the student show and defend how they got there?”, educators cultivate skills that are valuable well beyond school: adaptability, critical thinking, and ethical judgment.
In the generative AI era, assessing the process is not an optional enhancement—it’s essential for protecting integrity and fostering meaningful learning.
NexEd AI delivers PD and consultancy to help schools create AI-aware, integrity-focused assessment strategies.
