ChatGPT Raised Student Work Almost A Full Point, New Study Finds
OpenAI published a post on its own site titled "Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training". Everything below comes from that post.
Transcript
A new randomized experiment tested what more than one thousand students actually gain from ChatGPT.
Researchers at Bocconi University worked with OpenAI Economic Research. First year students wrote marketing recommendations for the university merchandise store.
Students were randomly assigned ChatGPT access, causal reasoning training, both, or neither. ChatGPT access raised scores almost a full point on a five point scale.
The training did not raise rubric scores. It produced a wider range of more distinct ideas. Students who got both showed both effects.
This was one university, one business case, first year undergraduates. The rubric measured only two marketing goals. OpenAI says assignments may need to reward originality.
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Sources
Every claim in this video comes from the top ranking coverage of this topic. The claims and where each one came from:
- A new experiment from researchers at Bocconi University, in collaboration with OpenAI Economic Research, found distinct and complementary effects from ChatGPT access and critical-thinking training.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- In a randomized experiment with more than 1,000 students, access to ChatGPT and training in causal reasoning improved student work in complementary ways.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- During the experiment, more than 1,000 first-year undergraduate students at Bocconi University worked on a real-world business case developing marketing recommendations for the university's merchandise store.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- Students were randomly assigned by class period into one of four groups that received: access to ChatGPT (GPT-4o), training in causal reasoning, both, or neither.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- Student submissions were evaluated by trained human graders using a five-point rubric.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- The students who had access to ChatGPT scored almost a full point higher on the five-point scale.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- Students who completed the exercise explained more clearly why their ideas might work and when they might fail, but did not score higher on the grading rubric, which only measured how well the recommendations addressed two standard marketing goals: increasing awareness and use of the university store.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- Across the group, students who completed the exercise produced a wider range of ideas that were more distinct when compared to what their peers produced.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- Students who received both ChatGPT access and the critical-thinking exercise showed the benefits of each.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)
- These results highlight the importance of rewarding students for producing work that reflects originality, reasoning, and consideration of multiple approaches, not just the most conventional or polished answers.(OpenAI's official announcement, Better answers, broader thinking: What students gain from ChatGPT and critical-thinking training, published August 27, 2026)