Summary: My friends and I did an overnight trip at Elsen Tasarkhai, a desert-plains area five hours away from the capital, and had an unforgettable weekend. In terms of teaching, I've discovered problems with cheating using AI writing tools among my students. The discovery was disheartening at first, but now I'm more focused on trying to fix the situation and help my students produce their own honest work.
Four friends from my fellowship program and I got in a van on a Saturday morning to make our way down to Elsen Tasarkhai. The area is also known as the Half-Gobi because the half plains - half desert terrain serves as a transitionary land to the actual Gobi Desert further south. The first stop in our trip was Khustai National Park which is one of the few homes of the Przewalski's horses - the only truly wild horse species left in the world. We got pretty lucky because ten minutes into our excursion, we found a group of them relatively close. They get pretty aggressive - often kicking their own kind on their head and leaving a bloody hoof-mark - so I was pretty happy with my distance. In all honesty, they look like cute donkeys.
The drive down to the sand dunes became quite the off-roading experience after the constructed roads went away. It was really fun at first - kind of felt like riding a rollercoaster - but I think a couple of hours of it left me with temporary back pain. When we arrived at the camps, we met the local family that we would be staying with and rode some camels in the sand dunes before the sun went down. The families living in the countryside usually reside in these traditional tents called gers (pronounced like hairs but with a G instead of an H). With the stove going throughout the night, I thought it was pretty warm and cozy. Pictured here is me holding a roll of toilet paper by the ger because I have learned that toilet paper is neither a public good nor a human right in Mongolia. Each of us are responsible for carrying our own (even in my university).
I've always idealized the bucolic, pastoral life, so being able to chase the goats and pet the cows during sunset was extremely fun. However, I was most excited for the night. Prior to the trip, I read that the Mongolian countryside was one of the best places to see stars. For some reason, in my 24 years of living, I didn't know that the moon set in the evening just like how the sun sets. But 11:30pm rolled around, and lo and behold, the moon truly did set. There was not a single source of light in the sky, and the stars shined so brightly. It was so amazing to look up at the sky and realize that even though I'm so far away from home, I am still under the same stars (except they seem a lot clearer here).
The next morning, we woke up early to see the sunrise and then headed out to the sand dunes nearby to go sand-sledding. It was really fun going down, but it was definitely a workout climbing back up the dune. Walking through sand on the beach is already hard and slow enough, but then make that uphill. Then on our way back home, we stopped by another local family who were milking their horses. The locals all seem to be very friendly to strangers as they let us milk the horses and try the milk. It was interesting. I don't know how it's possible, but the milk tasted like watermelon. It was sweet, a bit grainy - a fun experience, but I think I will stick to my normal milk or soy milk.
After the trip, I returned to the reality of my classroom. I was grading my students' homework when I started to find funny patterns in some of their work. My students, in general, are quite good at English, but they still have room to improve in grammar and word choice (which is natural when you're learning a language). So it was very confusing when I read paragraphs that were perfectly written without grammar mistakes, especially when the writing I was reading did not reflect the English level they displayed when speaking in class. Surely enough, after scanning the work through an AI writing detector, I found out that half of my students in one class had used an artificial intelligence writing tool.
My first reaction was shock because I didn't expect so many students to use it. Then, it was disappointment. Using the tools doesn't help one improve their English ability, and I'm not able to do my job of helping them if I'm not reading their original work. Also, I couldn't help but take it personally. I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I am smart enough to see a huge disparity between AI writing and an English learners' ability. Lastly, I just couldn't wrap my head around why students would think about using it. In the first week of class, I distinctly told students not to use AI. I even have policies that allow students to always ask me for extensions, so time shouldn't be an issue. I also give them the option for them to redo their homework or assignments to get half of their missing points back if they are unhappy with their grades.
I remember my direct supervisor telling me that I should not be "too nice" with my students because they would "take advantage of me." Maybe I was and am still naive, but I want to be the person that chooses to trust people rather than distrust. But when this all happened, I started having self-doubts, wondering if I made a mistake with being "too nice." But at the end of the day, I just need to fix my perspective and recognize that there were also many students who were honest with their work. As a teacher, I want to be able to help everyone, so it's tough when you see students make choices that aren't great. But I just got to do my best to be encouraging to my students, and ultimately, it's up to them for how they want to make their education experience. This hasn't really changed my view on human nature necessarily, but it is teaching me to be more prudent but also forgiving. I did have a stern talk with all my classes, letting them know that this is a warning but future attempts with AI writing tools would be met with a 0. Hopefully, the situation improves, but we'll see as I grade new homework this weekend.
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