As localities continue to release the results of the 2022 college entrance examination, filling in the application form has become the most concerned issue for current college entrance examination candidates and parents. At the same time, the "semi-self-service" voluntary reporting model has gradually become the mainstream. So, are the predictions of volunteer application software that rely on so-called algorithms, big data, and AI artificial intelligence accurate, and are the admission probabilities obtained credible?
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, the number of applicants for the national college entrance examination in 2022 will be 11.93 million, an increase of 1.15 million from last year. Experts have previously predicted that the reform of the college entrance examination and high recruitment will create a market size of 600 billion, and a new market of 200 billion will be created every year. The huge market growth of
has given birth to unlimited business opportunities, and has also made filling in the college entrance examination application form a popular project. The popularity of AI volunteer filling has also faced many people’s doubts: Is this really reliable? Can
completely rely on AI algorithms?
Under normal circumstances, candidates only need to fill in the province and test score as required, and the reporting system will recommend schools based on the algorithm and give the probability of admission.
But in fact, the computing logic and data reserves of the reporting system come from public data provided by education departments and colleges in various places. Candidates and parents can obtain it for free from official channels. The advantage of the platform lies in the use of algorithms to integrate data. and visual presentation.
Some of the volunteer application software currently on the market
In July last year, Quark Browser once ranked first in the App Store's free application download list and tool application list, surpassing WeChat and Douyin that have long dominated the App Store. , Pinduoduo, etc. rely on the college entrance examination volunteer system. As long as you download the app and search for the word "gaokao" in the search box of Quark browser, you can easily enter Quark's college entrance examination service.
Compared with last year, this year's Quark College Entrance Examination did not add any new features. The inquiry of professional information of colleges and universities and the application reference suggestions for the three categories of "rush, guarantee, and stability" are relatively simple and easy to use. However, last year’s Quark College Entrance Examination would provide a rational analysis to the candidates’ application list, and would make comments such as “the arrangement of the application list is reasonable” or “there are too many guaranteed schools”. However, this function was canceled this year, which is really surprising. .
According to the Beijing Daily reporter, as a fresh science candidate in Jiangxi Province and with real college entrance examination results, he tried four apps: Quark, Excellent Volunteer , Extreme Volunteer , and Perfect Volunteer. The probabilities of admission to the same college were completely different. For example, Tongji University , the four APPs show that their admission probabilities are 47%, 14%, 60% and less than 1% respectively. The difference between the highest probability and the lowest probability is 59 percentage points.
As for the "one-click filling function", the four APPs also gave very different suggestions. The "safe institutions" given by Quark are Zhejiang University , Harbin Institute of Technology , Xi'an Jiaotong University . The top three "safe institutions" given by Perfect Volunteer are South China University of Technology, East China Normal University and Xiamen University.
AI: Not an artifact, just a reference tool
In fact, the so-called AI algorithm software is just a tool for data analysis. It will do probabilistic prediction analysis based on past data. It can be used as a reference but cannot be relied upon too much.
On the one hand, the quality of the AI volunteer reporting software itself varies, making it difficult to guarantee the authenticity and objectivity of its data. For example, a user once complained that according to a certain software prediction, the probability of admission to the first six universities he filled in should have been above 70%. However, the results slipped all the way, and in the end he was only admitted to the guaranteed school. This user also suffered a bitter consequences because of his superstitious software.
On the other hand, AI prediction is just a purely instrumental data analysis. Filling out the college entrance examination involves more complex factors, including human psychology, social public opinion, admissions policies, school dynamics, etc. It is difficult to make accurate predictions by itself. . What's more, the software's predictions will also affect the actual admissions situation. For example, if some software predicts that the admission score for a certain major is very low, many candidates may apply for this major, but the scores will be raised, forming a traditional "big admission score". year" phenomenon.
According to Sina Finance, many relevant people from the admissions office said that it is not clear what algorithm the AI-filled application cards sold online are based on and the system behind them, so the basic data recommended may be different.
The above-mentioned relevant person also said that some merchants’ databases may directly enter data without processing, or even directly capture the data through the admission score lines announced by various universities. "Each school's publication format is different. If the data is only captured through screenshot software without verification, the data will be very different. If inaccurate recommendations are given, it will mislead or even harm students."
Gao Liangyuan, deputy director of the senior high school department of Shandong Experimental Middle School, also expressed similar views to the media. He believes that these tools may help some parents and candidates who have not made more preparations in advance and provide them with a quick reference range for college application. However, at this stage, the big data used in volunteer application cannot meet the needs of every candidate. Therefore, it is recommended not to rely on or exclude these online volunteer application apps. "AI plays more of a data query and reference role."
Chu Chaohui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences, said that the AI college entrance examination application filling software can be used as a reference, but you should not trust it too much, let alone let it become a life navigator. . "No matter how many data analysis dimensions these software claims to have, its considerations are still extremely limited." Chu Chaohui said that excessive reliance on absolute scores should be avoided to fill in application applications. Students' interests, hobbies, strengths and potential and other characteristics are far more complicated than scores. and important, "Parents and students should comprehensively consider the three dimensions of college entrance examination scores, self-advantage potential and social needs, and finally find a fitting point."
21 Century Education Research Institute Dean Xiong Bingqi also said that there are currently many candidates filling out the application form When I was volunteering, I acted as a "hands-off shopkeeper" and let my parents choose schools and majors. After entering college, I realized that I didn't like them at all. The same goes for AI application filling. These software can provide services such as analyzing policies and data, but they are not necessarily suitable for candidates. Xiong Bingqi suggested that parents and high schools can serve as consultants for candidates, or seek professional tools to give advice, but the final choice should be made by the candidates themselves, analyzing their interests and making long-term plans, rather than blindly following trends and focusing only on the present.
Where can I find volunteer information?
Qin Chunhua, dean of the Peking University Examination Research Institute, said that in recent years, various universities, social welfare organizations and social welfare people have done a lot of work to help students fill out their volunteer applications.
The first category is the admissions offices of various colleges and universities. Not only the staff of the college admissions office, but also the school mobilized teachers and students to volunteer to participate in the admissions process. This is the most important channel.
The second category is media. Conduct various admissions consultation sessions, including online consultation sessions.
The third category is some volunteers and a large number of volunteer reporting agencies that have emerged. Some of these institutions rely on their professional knowledge and in-depth research to provide professional services to customers and candidates, but there is also a mixed bag of good and bad. Some people even have not even gone to college. He also guides others to fill out the application form. volunteer. The service and quality of such an organization can be imagined.
Regarding the major selection issue that many parents and candidates are concerned about, Qin Chunhua said that there are no popular majors. Even if a major is popular at the moment, the situation will change in a few years. "If you follow the profession entirely based on the popularity of your profession, you will always be in a state of swing. A person's life is very long, and the career changes he experiences are also cyclical, so we should use a stable and unchanging professional expectation. To cope with changes in the outside world."
END
Author: Fenghua
Source: China Well-off Network Beijing Daily, Finance Network Technology, China Voice of China Radio and Television, China Education Online, Palm Spring City, etc.
Reviewer: Gong Zimo
Visual: Long Hao
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