Generative AI::A new landscape for doing “writing center work”

Abstract

In Denmark, the presence of dedicated writing centers is notably lacking, with initiatives to support student writers primarily consisting of standalone efforts. There has historically been an ongoing debate about whether it is the university's responsibility to address students writing practice. Discussions have revolved around whether it should be assumed that students already possess “writing skills” and who is qualified to engage in this work (Jensen et al., 2017).<br/>The advent of Large Language Models offers a unique opportunity to revitalize the discourse on student writing, as generative AI is reshaping the educational landscape (Straume &amp; Anson, 2022). We argue that writing scholars can play a pivotal role in this shift, if we are willing to engage with LLMs and explore how these models might support students writing practices. If we as writing scholars position ourselves in opposition to generative AI, we risk becoming irrelevant to the development and use of LLMs, much like translators did in the past in the development of machine translations. More importantly, we could miss an opportunity to discover new ways of doing “writing center work”, that might hold the potential to be more personalized than ever before, not to mention more accessible and inclusive to students (Salem, 2016). For countries without a strong writing center tradition, the discussion around generative AI and writing serves as a new entry point for doing what matters: supporting students’ writing processes (see also Bryan, 2023).<br/>In this presentation, we present findings from a university course where a teacher and a writing scholar worked together to support students in engaging with ChatGPT throughout the course. We share strategies and data on students responses, and discuss the wider implications for how writing scholars can engage with LLMs in meaningful ways.<br/><br/>References:<br/>Bryan, M. D. (2023). Bringing AI to the Center: What Historical Writing Center Software Discourse Can Teach Us about Responses to Artificial Intelligence-Based Writing Tools. In Proceedings of the Computers &amp; Writing Conference (p. 16). Jensen, T. W., Bay, G., &amp; Andersen, P. (2017). Udvikling af studerendes akademiske skrivekompetencer - en model for en indsats på fakultetsniveau. Dansk Universitetspædagogisk Tidsskrift, 12(22), 88-98 (Development of students' academic writing competences - a model for an effort at the faculty level. Danish Journal of University Pedagogy)<br/>Salem, L. (2016). Decisions... decisions: Who chooses to use the writing center?. The Writing Center Journal, 147-171. Straume, I., &amp; Anson, C. (2022). Amazement and trepidation: Implications of AI-based natural language production for the teaching of writing. Journal of Academic Writing, 12(1), 1-9.

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