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ChatGPT has Aced the Test of Understanding in College Economics: Now What?
Open accessAbstract
The Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE) is a standardized test of economics knowledge performed in the United States which primarily targets principles-level understanding. We asked ChatGPT to complete the TUCE. ChatGPT ranked in the 91st percentile for Microeconomics and the 99th percentile for Macroeconomics when compared to students who take the TUCE exam at the end of their principles course. The results show that ChatGPT is capable of providing answers that exceed the mean responses of students across all institutions. The emergence of artificial intelligence presents a significant challenge to traditional assessment methods in higher education. An important implication of this finding is that educators will likely need to redesign their curriculum in at least one of the following three ways: reintroduce proctored, in-person assessments; augment learning with chatbots; and/or increase the prevalence of experiential learning projects that artificial intelligence struggles to replicate well.
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“Generative AI, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has rapidly emerged as a disruptive technology capable of achieving human-level performance on a broad range of tasks (1–5).”
From Generative AI without guardrails can harm learning: Evidence from high school mathematics (2025) · cites this paper as [4]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“In economics education, Geerling et al. (2023) demonstrate that ChatGPT scores in the 90th percentile on standardized exams, showing how easily it can produce high-quality academic work without genuine student engagement.”
From Generative AI-Enhanced Oral Exams in Economics Education (2026) · cites this paper as Geerling et al. (2023)
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“An alternative to using GenAI in education, beyond exams and assignment writing, is building supportive and engaging learning environments that complement traditional pedagogical methods. This proposition can provide a dynamic and interactive platform to foster knowledge acquisition and acknowledge the existing concerns on plagiarism and academic integrity [8,16].”
From Using Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools to Explain and Enhance Experiential Learning for Authentic Assessment (2024) · cites this paper as [8]
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“Some recent research results show that ChatGPT can provide answers in exams that exceed the mean responses of students, which poses a significant challenge to traditional assessment methods in HE [8].”
From Using Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools to Explain and Enhance Experiential Learning for Authentic Assessment (2024) · cites this paper as [8]
In the citing paper
“Related research shows that ChatGPT performs well in exams in disciplines such as engineering (Uhlig et al., 2023), economics (Geerling et al., 2023), medicine (Currie et al., 2023), and geography (Stutz et al., 2023), indicating that the issue of academic integrity in higher education is facing unprecedented challenges.”
From A Scoping Review on How Generative Artificial Intelligence Transforms Assessment in Higher Education (2024) · cites this paper as Geerling et al., 2023
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“Moreover, ChatGPT offers opportunities for authentic assessment by challenging students’ beliefs and critical thinking (Crawford et al., 2023; Currie et al., 2023; Geerling et al., 2023).”
From A Scoping Review on How Generative Artificial Intelligence Transforms Assessment in Higher Education (2024) · cites this paper as Geerling et al., 2023
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“as traditional examinations and assignments may become obsolete due to AI-generated content (Geerling et al., 2023; Gorichanaz, 2023).”
From A Scoping Review on How Generative Artificial Intelligence Transforms Assessment in Higher Education (2024) · cites this paper as Geerling et al., 2023
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Metadata
- Authors
- Geerling, W., Mateer, G. D., Wooten, J., & Damodaran, N.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- Virginia Tech (US)
- O. P. Jindal Global University (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Geerling, Wayne
- Venue
- The American Economist
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2023-04-08
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 233-245
- ISSN
- 0569-4345 (ISSN-L)
- 2328-1235
- OpenAlex
- W4362723020
- Cited by
- 119
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 38 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 28
- FWCI
- 27.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- The American Economist (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- VTechWorks (Virginia Tech) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Artificial Intelligence in Education
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Adaptive Learning
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Health Informatics › Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
- Keywords
- ChatGPT, economics education, artificial intelligence in education, automated assessment, microeconomics, macroeconomics, economic principles, chatbots, experiential learning, curriculum redesign
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