I teach a first level University writing course where students never write University essays. Aside from a short stint of teaching American History at a Liberal Arts college, I have never taught or required them.
Instead we focus on different forms of writing that are useful in their careers. The skills and some of the format is the same, but they are designed for different audiences and purposes. One reason is that we want them to connect what they are doing in the classroom with their career path, not just as a hurdle to overcome in the race to get a degree.
As an example, the major assignment for my current class is a Case Study. Just like a College Essay, students must start with a thesis statement and develop an argument. They then need to find a concrete real-world example to frame their discussion. The conclusion must include specific recommendations. The examples that we give them are written by professionals in their fields so that they can see how the document is used professionally.
The skills are the same. They must find sources, read them, extract information to support a thesis, and use conventions to integrate sources into their argument.
Because I teach a writing course, we look at writing as a process. I don't just see a final paper. I get a lot of their research and planning materials before I see a finished paper. They revise work multiple times.
So of course my colleges and I have spent a lot of time thinking about how AI impacts the writing process, and how to help students to continue to develop their critical thinking skills in this changing landscape. The last two years we have spent a lot of time researching and discussing various types of AI. We have just received word from our University president that AI will be covered in all relevant courses, an area where I have been out in front of. It is clear that using AI is going to be a requirement for many entry level workers in STEM. And what we are hearing from people in industry is they need our students to tell them how it works.
So with that lead up, I would throw out a few points:
- We teach writing as a process. That means I see preliminary work and have opportunity to discuss work with students so that I can be sure they really understand their sources. Writing instructors are looking at helping subject area instructors to create more scaffolded assignments to ensure understanding.
- We have novel assignments that reflect industry needs and student interests. Students who care about the subject are going to put in more discretionary effort. I want them to love their topic and take ownership of their thesis. This also means that when an LLM assumes you want a 5-paragraph essay, you are going to miss key requirements of the assignment.
- LLMs are C students. We are a competitive program, and most of my students are not going to settle for a C in even a GenEd class. Writing an A paper requires individual effort.
- LLMs can't effectively replace jobs. They can replace tasks. Companies that outsource, for example, drafting a legal filing and submit it get severe reprimands from courts. You can get a first draft from an LLM, but if a real attorney does not read and check the work, they are taking a risk. Just like if you have a paralegal do the work unsupervised. Our best examples of problematic LLM writing comes from the legal field because it is an adversarial process: someone is reading your filing to find weaknesses and knock down your argument. Peer reviewers in STEM are not as dedicated to tearing apart a draft, so a lot slips past to publication if it sounds plausible.
- When we think of writing as a process and using LLMs to do tasks, we start to find where it can help writers instead of replacing them. I have my students use LLMs to brainstorm ideas, to develop a concrete thesis statement, and to probe counterarguments. But then it is up to them to do the research, frame an argument, and incorporate sources to support their ideas. Once they have a complete draft, using tools to smooth grammar is acceptable. But the main draft is entirely theirs.
I find that my students are having pretty much the same struggles they had 5-6 years ago transitioning to college writing. A lot of which is because high school writing is dry and formulaic, and they are rewarded for vocabulary more than the strength of their ideas.
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