December 17, 2024: Fall Semester Reflections: First-Year Writing

[I thinkwe could all use some reminders these days of the best of our communities andconversations. So for this year’s Fall Semester reflections series, I wanted toshare one moment from each of my classes that embodied those collective goals.I’d love to hear about your Falls in comments!]

I haven’tsaid much if anything in this space yet about AI, although I will be doing sonext week as part of my Year in Review series. As I’m sure everyone readingthis knows, it has become a central focus in the world of higher ed, andperhaps especially for those of us teach writing. I’ve actually seen the mostuse of programs like ChatGPT in my online-only literature courses, where ofcourse all the work is already happening online and where it’s harder to buildthe kinds of communal respect that allows us to talk together about suchfraught topics. I did see a few instances in my First-Year Writing sections thisFall, but what I wanted to highlight here is another product of that mutualrespect: when I identified this AI-driven writing with the individual students,they were willing and able to recognize why this wasn’t a good call, to hear myperspective, and to work together with me to help develop their own ideas andwriting for these assignments instead. If our job is to teach—and yeah, it sureis—then that’s how we should be approaching AI too, as another moment forteaching and learning and growth.

Nextreflection tomorrow,

Ben

PS. Whattayagot?