| Writing Instruction in the age of generative AI: Evolving practices for instructors |
| Tamara’s Talk Summary: |
We will discuss the affordances and challenges of the newest large language models (LLM) like ChatGPT to support writing and writers. Students need to understand the basics of large language models and AI writing tools’ functions, strengths, weaknesses, and biases. Instruction targeting understanding of generative AI, accessing and prompting it effectively, critical corroboration of output, and ethical incorporation should be interleaved with pre-existing instruction to promote the effective use of these digital tools as part of the writing and communication process, because digital tools are made to enhance and support existing pedagogies, not replace them. I will discuss what we are learning from our research practice partnership with instructors of upper-division writing courses for engineering students and with freshman composition instructors at the undergraduate level, our work with secondary school teachers of ELA and history, and analyses of extant writing samples to evaluate how ChatGPT compares to human holistic scoring and feedback. Resources for instructors and students will be shared.
PowerPoint: Writing Instruction in the age of generative AI: Evolving practices for instructors