How Australia’s university students are using to AI to cheat their way to a degree (The Weekend Australian Magazine Article)

On February 7, The Weekend Australian Magazine published a feature by Ros Thomas focusing on the reliance by University Students on artificial intelligence (AI) to help them complete assessment tasks, especially essays and take-home exams.

It is concerning because it could produce university graduates with next to no knowledge of their field, relying entirely on AI to complete their assessment tasks. They are, in fact, not showing their lecturer or marker what they really know about a topic, because they let the computer do "the talking" for them. 

They also lose the opportunity to develop skills in critical thinking and information skills, such as how to locate, select, and communicate their knowledge, thoughts, and ideas on a topic. Finding information that is relevant, reliable and trustworthy is part of the process as well, particularly in a world where information can easily deceive and mislead us. We need to be able to filter truth from untruth.

While some may have been able to use AI to mould the perfect assignment, AI is not perfect either.  Thomas refers to an account by one student in which incorrect information appeared in a group assignment they had worked on with AI. They, along with another member, had just three hours left before submission and had to rewrite their assignment to ensure they could land a good mark.

From my own experience using AI, I have had to hold AI to account when it omits information, incorrectly quotes information, or provides inaccurate information. More frustrating is wanting a direct quote from a document, only for AI to reword it or ignore it altogether. Even asking for academic papers on a topic (even relating to Teacher Librarianship) has yielded inaccurate results. I still get results that may not answer the question. AI models have improved in reliability, but they can still be inaccurate. There are times my prompts are ignored.

Even in our schools, we face the same situation where students rely on AI to complete homework or research tasks. 

Whether at the school or tertiary level, we need to ensure we set standards for how we use AI. I am not against AI because, in my role, it can simplify tasks. It can help me organise library research lessons or recommend books for a reluctant reader based on the profile I give them (and even upload a reading list or a catalogue listing of books). I then have to check to ensure what I got is accurate. 

If I need to write a report, it can provide a scaffold, template, or draft that I can then tweak to suit what I want to write or present.

It leaves me thinking, what can I teach my students to do? I think I'd have to emphasise the following to encourage AI to be useful, while still encouraging critical thinking and the information skills process.

• Checking the usefulness and reliability of information provided by a chatbot - Is it relevant? Is it correct?
• Organising summaries of notes
• Proofreading written content. Tools such as Grammarly have AI embedded in it. I have found that it has improved my writing skills after regular use of it. 
• Summaries of Pdf files. 
• Fact Checking - Checking to make sure AI-generated summaries are correct. If searching for content, conduct a usefulness and reliability check - Does it answer the research question
• Scaffolding - helping the student to organise their information
• Avoiding situations where one copies and pastes AI-generated content into an assessment task
• Expecting students to edit and reedit written work to ensure that the content complies with assessment requirements and marking criteria, and that it is expressed in their own words. I'd encourage them to think of themselves as the marker and consider what the marker might think of their work. Do they use a word in which they don't know the meaning or usage? I'd tell them not to use it and that teachers know how they typically write. 

These are a few ideas. You may have other ideas.

The first week of students back

The first week of classes for students is over. Being in a NSW public school, classes resumed last Monday (2 February), which was Week 2 of term (Week one was allocated for staff development days).

At 8 am on Monday, I opened the library doors for the first time in 2026. There is always at least one student, and sometimes several, waiting outside. This time, no one was waiting, and even on the previous first days, there would be at least one student outside. I still remember 2024 and meeting two year 7 students on that very first day and introducing myself to them. They are regulars to this day and one loves a chat.

It was certainly quiet, but interestingly, those who came came to borrow, especially for our 20-minute READ sessions that we run schoolwise each day, along with a massive number of returns which extended into the week. The Library Prefects were overloaded with returns. It was great that those who borrowed were generally prompt in returning their holiday loans.

Which day of the week could I say felt that activity was back to normal - Thursday. Sydney had its hottest day since January 10, with temperatures reaching 35 degrees. My school would have its temperatures linked to Sydney Olympic Park, which had a reading of just under 39 degrees. The heat pushed everyone indoors, and an air-conditioned library provides comfort. Friday was cooler, yet the crowds remained.

As the week progressed, the work piled up for our students. Students need to get the work done and I give them the space that they need to get it done. 

I will concede a few regulars have yet to come back that use the library and hopefully they do come back. One gets used to their presence, even to where they choose to sit.

I am looking forward to doing the Year 7 orientation sessions with my colleague in the next few weeks as it gives us a chance to meet them. I did have a chance to meet some of them informally at their orientation back in December as I supervised them completing activities around the school. We have seen a few use it, but I've had to reach out to them via Sentral to tell them that they are welcome and if they want to borrow, to start doing so.

Don't forget NSW Premier's Reading Challenge is around the corner as well - February 23.

The importance of Professional Development Plans

In NSW public schools, every employee is expected to prepare a Professional Development Plan (PDP), a process that allows a teacher to grow and develop in their teaching practice.

Catholic and Independent schools may have their own PDP frameworks in place, but recently, I have had an opportunity to reflect on its importance as I reflect on my 2025 PDP but also consider the PDP in 2026.

I have come to value its importance in 2025, because I can use it as a benchmark to determine if I am professionally growing in my practice as a teacher. If not it gives me an opportunity to identify why it was not met and what I can do to address it.

This year, with the aid of ChatGPT, was able to organise reflective statements that were thorough to explain either how the goal was met or why it wasnt met along with what I learnt. If I did fail, I reflected on why.

As a teacher librarian, it gives me the opportunity to be able to identify areas that I'd like to work on, not just in my professional practice but for the library itself. I have been thinking about my 2026 goals and what I want to do and how to meet it because I feel that the doors will open for me to be able to achieve those goals and hence grow the library.

The Primary Libraries: Creative Collaboration website has some ideas that you may wish to consider in development of your PDP. Even if you don't work in a NSW public school, you may wish to consider them in your own setting or modify them as needed. 

Schools Cataloguing Community of Practice

Last month, In posted an entry relating to cataloguing different editions under one SCIS Record.

SCIS Connections (Term 4, 2025), features an article by Renate Beilharz. A networking group (Schools Cataloguing Community of Practice) has been created for library staff in schools to discuss cataloguing within professional settings. Questions such as what I raised on online forums (i.e. multiple editions under one entry) can be discussed as well.

If interested, send an email to education@alia.org.au with 'Schools Cataloguing CoP' in the subject line.

Advocating for better library budgets

Back in 2020, Jan Sheridan's research paper School Library Funding, Staffing and Resourcing - A 10 Year Review was published in ACCESS (Australian School Library Association). It encompasses three areas relating to school libraries:

• Funding
• Staffing
• Resourcing

This entry focuses on the funding of school libraries.

Over the years, working in various schools before gaining permanency has provided me with valuable insight into how different schools approach funding of school libraries, the processes involved and even how different teacher librarians approach their budget submissions. This, combined with the processes involved in my permanent role, has provided me with a what-to-do-and-what-not-to-do list.

It feels like I am preaching to the converted, but there is a need for a reminder, and also in a manner that keeps it simple. This blog is not just a place to reflect or share what I put into it, but to simplify what is out there in terms of research.

I read the reasons why school library budgets were increased, e.g. new principals, new resources to accommodate new curriculum and one-off grants.

But I felt one reason was missing for increased budgets - advocacy

Why?

I have found that advocacy can be used to secure increased funding for a library. Consider the data that is taken to a budget meeting - loan records, resource acquisitions, quotes for equipment and much more. Surveys and feedback have their place as well. 

Even if you are not asked to justify why you want xxx for your library, make sure you do. Take the initiative to do so. For those in systematic schools, especially public schools, make sure your supervisor or Head Teacher is briefed before any meeting to discuss funding. If they know what you want, they are more likely to be able to press your argument forward. It will likely pay off for you.

Whereas if you request a figure and provide no justification, the answer is likely to shift to "no," even if the requested figure is low or conservative. 

Connect it to school initiatives and strategic plans. Does your school have a wide reading program? Establish connections. Relate it to school outcomes—how does the funding help the school achieve the outcome? Consider the connections to curriculum outcomes? How will they be met?

I know of one (now retired) teacher librarian who took the initiative to itemise every item that they needed for the library, especially with stationery. I would also suggest that, as purchases are made for items such as stationery, you keep a record of what you do use and refer to invoices to help you estimate how much they would cost if purchased. You may keep this in a procedures or processes guide or create a system that works best for you. 

Merging different editions under one SCIS Record & local practice in School Libraries

After a recent discussion with a colleague, I was curious whether it would be acceptable to merge different editions of a title into a single SCIS record and whether any schools engage in this practice. 

I posted a request for advice on the OZTL-Net form, along with a Yammer Group for NSW Public School library staff to obtain different perspectives.

A big thank you to the dozen or so who responded to my request in either group and enjoyed reading through each insight. I felt the need to share a summary of those responses with the broader professional community

The majority of responses favoured merging records, though the approaches and circumstances varied by school and its particular needs. Based on my responses, the reasons given were:

• Some want to know how many copies of a particular title are available, not the smaller details, e.g., the edition number or ISBN.
• Simplifies the search process
• Feedback from library users, e.g. if there are two copies of the same title, why do they appear twice in a search result? This included one response of placing the students first.
• Ability to merge catalogue records from SCIS

Some who did posed their own rules, e.g., it would apply to specific sets or collections, such as class sets, or would only create separate copies if the edition was distinct, e.g., an illustrated edition. One would create separate entries if the covers were different, i.e. if the same cover had different ISBN numbers, they were still merged together.

I was given one tip, and I would recommend it: If merging different editions, make sure that there is a documented process for doing it.

There were a few responses suggesting they prefer not to, and, if so, it was because they preferred separate records; in that case, it would come down to having correct data and bibliographic records.

I will take the ideas on board and work towards a practice that best suits my school and our needs.