Customized GPT for English Analysis

Story Behind this GPT

Throughout my IB journey, one of the most challenging subjects I have been encountering is English A SL. My main struggle was textual analysis, particularly when it came to making inferences and drawing deeper implications from the texts. To overcome this challenge, I made several adjustments, such as meeting regularly with teachers, seeking feedback from friends, and studying high-scoring exemplars. Despite these efforts, I still found myself searching for more innovative solutions.

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), I wanted to explore a modern approach to addressing this challenge. I noticed that ChatGPT was becoming an increasingly popular tool, used not only by students but also by teachers. This inspired me to create a custom GPT tool designed specifically to help IB English A SL students improve their performance on Paper 1, which focuses on guided textual analysis.

Introduction

I developed the IB English Paper 1 Helper, a GPT designed to assist IB English A SL students with their Paper 1 exam preparation. The tool reviews students’ written analyses of unseen texts, evaluating key textual features such as language, structure, tone, and style. It also assesses how well students explore the deeper implications of the passage, offering feedback based on the official IB Paper 1 rubric. This includes detailed suggestions for improvement in areas such as understanding, interpretation, analysis, organization, and language use. By offering tailored feedback, the GPT helps students refine their essays, making them more insightful, focused, and well-structured. The ultimate goal is to guide students toward achieving higher scores ethically on their Paper 1 exams.

Ensuring Ethical Use of AI

One of my main concerns when developing this tool was ensuring the ethical use of ChatGPT. One of the most controversial issues surrounding AI is its potential to undermine students' critical thinking, leading to over-reliance on the tool for essays and assessments. To address this, I designed the GPT so that it does not provide ready-made analyses or inferences unless the user first uploads their own essay for review. This way, the GPT acts as a supportive guide, encouraging critical thinking rather than replacing it.

Helping Students Succeed

As of October 5th, 2024, I’ve had the opportunity to assist over 100 users by grading and providing feedback on their textual analyses. One of my future goals is to introduce a user survey to gather feedback on the GPT, allowing me to further refine and improve its functionality.

By blending technology with education in a responsible way, I believe tools like the IB English Paper 1 Helper can make a meaningful difference in students’ learning experiences.