Does the Prompt-based Large Language Model Recognize Students' Demographics and Introduce Bias in Essay Scoring?
Large Language Models (LLMs) are widely used in Automated Essay Scoring (AES) due to their ability to capture semantic meaning. Traditional fine-tuning approaches required technical expertise, limiting accessibility for educators with limited technical backgrounds. However, prompt-based tools like ChatGPT have made AES more accessible, enabling educators to obtain machine-generated scores using natural-language prompts (i.e., the prompt-based paradigm). Despite advancements, prior studies have shown bias in fine-tuned LLMs, particularly against disadvantaged groups. It remains unclear whether such biases persist or are amplified in the prompt-based paradigm with cutting-edge tools. Since such biases are believed to stem from the demographic information embedded in pre-trained models (i.e., the ability of LLMs' text embeddings to predict demographic attributes), this study explores the relationship between the model's predictive power of students' demographic attributes based on their written works and its predictive bias in the scoring task in the prompt-based paradigm. Using a publicly available dataset of over 25,000 students' argumentative essays, we designed prompts to elicit demographic inferences (i.e., gender, first-language background) from GPT-4o and assessed fairness in automated scoring. Then we conducted multivariate regression analysis to explore the impact of the model's ability to predict demographics on its scoring outcomes. Our findings revealed that (i) prompt-based LLMs can somewhat infer students' demographics, particularly their first-language backgrounds, from their essays; (ii) scoring biases are more pronounced when the LLM correctly predicts students' first-language background than when it does not; and (iii) scoring error for non-native English speakers increases when the LLM correctly identifies them as non-native.
Code (0)
등록된 구현이 없습니다.
Tasks
Automated Essay ScoringFairnessLanguage ModelingLanguage ModellingLarge Language ModelSimilar Papers 제목 키워드 기반
Multimodal Programming in Computer Science with Interactive Assistance Powered by Large Language Model
LLM chatbot interfaces allow students to get instant, interactive assistance with homework, but doing so carelessly may not advance educational objectives. In this study, an interactive homework help system based on Deep…
ChatbotLanguage ModelingLanguage ModellingLarge Language ModelHow College Students Use AI to Navigate Course Readings: Evidence from an Eight-Week Study
College students increasingly use AI chatbots to support academic reading, yet we lack granular understanding of how these interactions shape their reading experience and cognitive engagement. We conducted an eight-week …
From Prompts to Propositions: A Logic-Based Lens on Student-LLM Interactions
Background and Context. The increasing integration of large language models (LLMs) in computing education presents an emerging challenge in understanding how students use LLMs and craft prompts to solve computational tas…
An Exploratory Study of Argumentative Writing by Young Students: A Transformer-based Approach
We present a computational exploration of argument critique writing by young students. Middle school students were asked to criticize an argument presented in the prompt, focusing on identifying and explaining the reason…
Effects of a Prompt Engineering Intervention on Undergraduate Students' AI Self-Efficacy, AI Knowledge and Prompt Engineering Ability: A Mixed Methods Study
Prompt engineering is critical for effective interaction with large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. However, efforts to teach this skill to students have been limited. This study designed and implemented a prompt…
Prompt Engineering