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Who Is Solving the Challenge? The Use of ChatGPT in Mathematics and Biology Courses Using Challenge-Based Learning

● high · 2026-08-19 · biology-education, higher-ed, generative-ai, academic-integrity, ethics, active-learning

Synthesis: Elizondo-García, Hernández-De la Cerda, Benavides-García, Caratozzolo, and Membrillo-Hernández (2025) report a pilot study using ChatGPT within challenge-based learning (CBL) in two higher-education digital courses — Fundamentals of Biological Systems (biology) and Mathematics and Data Science for Decision Making. Students solved activities with ChatGPT, then verified output quality against high-quality traditional sources. Surveys and NLP topic modeling revealed that students valued ChatGPT for its immediacy, ease, and accessibility while raising concerns about the veracity and depth of its output, whether it would supplant the teacher, and whether it would erode skill and competency development. The authors call for updated academic-integrity codes and new AI-use ethics, and note that teachers should be prepared to use AI and that AI-text detectors should be available for evaluation.

Design and context

  • Setting: Tecnológico de Monterrey, two digital (distance-learning) higher-education courses: biology (Fundamentals of Biological Systems) and mathematics/data science.
  • Pedagogy: challenge-based learning (CBL) under the Tec21 educational model — students address real challenges, here using ChatGPT to solve assigned activities.
  • Verification step: students were explicitly instructed to validate ChatGPT's outputs against formal, high-academic-quality sources.
  • Method: surveys (Likert-scale items) plus NLP analysis of open-ended responses — sentiment analysis, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), and Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) topic modeling.

Student perceptions (findings)

  • Positive: students appreciated ChatGPT's immediate access to information, ease, availability, and clear/concise explanations; it supported personalized and self-directed learning. LDA revealed five themes: (1) information-retrieval tooling, (2) rapid/dynamic learning with technology, (3) ease and speed of use, (4) research and specific responses, and (5) AI as a support tool.
  • Concerns: veracity and depth of topics, the tool's reliability (outputs "simplify research" but sometimes lack precision or current data), potential to supplant the teacher, and risk of excessive dependency that could impair critical thinking, complex reasoning, and problem-solving.
  • Notably neutral: sentiment analysis showed 90% neutral responses, indicating students were still largely unfamiliar with ChatGPT's full capabilities — "we are still at the beginning of using this tool."
  • Academic integrity gap: a third of surveyed students did not know about modifications to academic-integrity regulations regarding AI use.

Implications

The study emphasizes the need for updated academic-integrity codes and new ethics for AI use in higher education. Teachers should be prepared to use AI effectively and critically, and institutions should make AI-text detectors available for evaluation. When used responsibly, AI tools can help solve academic problems across knowledge domains, but implementation must be guided by ethical principles — responsible use, critical engagement with outputs, and fairness/transparency.

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Citation

Elizondo-García, M. E., Hernández-De la Cerda, H., Benavides-García, I. G., Caratozzolo, P., & Membrillo-Hernández, J. (2025). Who is solving the challenge? The use of ChatGPT in mathematics and biology courses using challenge-based learning. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1417642.