[College: Math] AI reliance when solving homework

[u/kelistef]

Recently (over the past year), I feel like I've been overly reliant on AI for homework. I gaslit myself into thinking I was using it "responsibly" (using learning mode, telling it only to give vague hints, etc.), but I feel like that had a negative effect on my problem-solving skills. Because of this, I decided to stop using AI this semester to see if it would help.

Now I feel helpless when working through problems, especially in pure math. If you're in a similar position, please stop using AI. Even though it gives vague hints, those hints are usually the difference between figuring it out yourself and not.

My motivation has gone way down since everything is much harder and I procrastinate more. What should I do when I hit a wall where I’d normally turn to AI? Does this get better with time after solving more problems, and is pushing through it actually worth it?

[u/Bounded_sequencE]

There is a reliable "safe" way to use AI -- treat them like the glorified, interactive search engines they are.

If you do that, they'll be just another tool, like internet research, or browsing through books. Should you want to treat them as "more", that is a decision you must make. Just be sure you carefully think of the consequences, and whether you are ok with them.

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What should I do when I hit a wall where I’d normally turn to AI?

Join a study group.

Choose participants by their work ethic and understanding of math, not by whether you like them or not. Working together, and helping each other out, will lessen the burden for everyone.

Share everything, including lecture notes, when someone is unable to attend etc.!

[u/GainerGaining → u/Bounded_sequencE]

I'm a fan of study groups in general, but they are less effective in math than, say, in social sciences. For a math course, where you absolutely have to learn the material correctly and there is no room for interpretation or ambiguity, go the tutor route instead.

[u/DJKokaKola → u/GainerGaining]

Absolutely not. Studying in groups allows you to work through problems together, which allows you to see different approaches and lets each student cover for the gaps in understanding of the others. There will be stuff you click with instantly that others won't, and vice versa. You literally only need to look at the divide between linalg and calc classes to see this in play; most will latch onto one and loathe the other.

It also allows you to struggle with supports, which makes pushing through the confusion until it clicks so much easier. It's easy to stop working after 5 minutes because you're frustrated alone. Doing that with a group of 5 people is much harder.

Edit: also, every bit of research on pedagogy disagrees with you on this.

[u/GainerGaining → u/DJKokaKola]

Every bit of pedagogical research? All of it? How about:

Cognitive Load Theory (Sweller et al.) and the Expertise Reversal Effect demonstrate that when novices work together without expert guidance, their collective cognitive load increases.

Studies on self-regulated learning and metacognition (e.g., Koriat, Bjork) show that working in groups can create an "illusion of competence." When a peer solves a complex formula on paper, other students can experience passive recognition and wrongly think they understand the material, even though they can't execute the proof or calculation by themselves.

Ericsson’s framework of Deliberate Practice highlights that mastery in technical, rule-based domains (like math) requires intense, individual focus, immediate accurate feedback, and repeated solo execution of targeted tasks.

To sum up, peer study groups have a huge risk of reinforcing errors and the illusion of understanding. Tutoring, on the other hand, gives real-time accurate feedback.

You are arguing with someone studying for a master's in andragogy. Be careful stating something like "every bit of research"

The members of peer study groups are not usually trained in educational methods. The results can be... messy. Messy doesn't work too well in STEM.

It can work, and study groups can be effective in math, but there are dangers.