Just when you thought you had your writing assignments figured out… new technology throws a kink in the system. Whereas once we spent hours searching the web to find the source of suspiciously familiar or well-written paragraphs submitted to us by students, now many instructors confront “student” essays written entirely by generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Although AI is not going anywhere, there are techniques we can use to lessen its use, or at least make students learn something in the process….and work for their grades.

Scaffolding

With scaffolding, you are breaking up a writing assignment into smaller tasks (and sometimes smaller grades) to keep students from feeling overwhelmed, and thus less likely to reach for AI help. This is a great strategy for traditional research papers. In addition, it gives you a chance to allow students to do redo the assignment, providing an opportunity for more content mastery.

One way I scaffold a writing assignment is by breaking the overall assignment into the following tasks below. Each task can carry some of the points for the overall assignment. I often provide instructions task-by-task, so students can’t jump ahead.

  • Topic: Students submit one paragraph explaining their choice of topic, taken either from a pre-defined list I provide them, or a subject they choose on their own.
  • Questions: Have students come up with questions they have for their topic. You can give them feedback about their questions and push them to go beyond the surface level of information.
  • Introduction: Have students write just the introductory paragraph(s) to their essay. The main requirement is that the introduction tells the reader what the paper will be about. Your institution’s composition or rhetoric department can likely provide a rubric you could use to evaluate how effective the Introduction is.
  • Outline: This can be a basic outline or a more detailed outline (described below). You can assign the Outline as a separate task, or pair it with the Introduction and Research Sources tasks.
  • Research Sources: Have students find sources for their topic and write a summary of each source in their own words. You can use this assignment to ask them questions about their sources or direct them to more reliable/credible resources.
  • Detailed Outline: Have students enhance the a Basic Outline of their paper, by inserting brief summaries of their research using their own words, with citations. You might also treat this as a first draft, by requiring that they use complete sentences.
  • First Draft / Peer Review Draft: There are many approaches to the first draft. You can use the first draft to give feedback for improvement; as a graded step; and as a way to help students stay on track to complete the overall paper. If you haven’t the time to read first drafts, consider involving your tutoring or academic success centers. You can have a sign-in sheet or a paper that students bring back with feedback from their tutor. Another option to consider is peer review. Have students exchange papers and give them a rubric to use to provide constructive, actionable feedback. Virtual students can use your LMS’ discussion board, or you can assign them partners. Some textbook software includes convenient built-in peer review applications.
  • Final Draft: This will be the finished, graded paper. (Sometimes I have students use their research to create a presentation instead of a final draft of the essay.)

When I scaffold a writing assignment, it is easier for me to catch plagiarism and AI intervention early on. It’s also faster/easier for me to grade the final draft. If you’re worried about students skipping the earlier steps, make the steps part of the final essay grade.

One thing to note with scaffolding: you will have occasional students who want the final instructions so they can complete all the steps at once. Don’t let this type of pressure derail you from the goal of scaffolding!

Reflection

In Reflection Writing, the goal is for the student to share their raw thoughts on a subject. You can use this kind of assignment to find out from students what they did or did not understand in the lecture or course materials. You can also use Reflection Writing to develop students’ critical thinking skills. I’ll assign a work of art from a different (frequently later) chapter in the book, and ask students to apply the current chapter’s information to writing/thinking about the work. For example, early in the semester I’ll assign a work of art from Chapter 22, and ask them to apply what they are learning in Chapter 1 to analyze the work. This assignment also signals early on that one of my goals for the term is to have them make linkages among periods, artists, genres, etc.

Art Show Review

Many of us are familiar with assigning students to attend a visual art gallery in person and write about the artwork or their experience. In my instructions I require them to take a selfie in front of the building or in the exhibition. I also require that they take pictures of a certain number of works to include in their review. Prepare students for success by explaining the general practices of galleries. I try to suggest galleries that I know allow photographs. For students who cannot go to a physical location, I give them links to virtual exhibitions to explore. And, instead of a selfie in front of a building, they submit pictures in front of their laptops.

These are a few techniques I use to compete with AI. I also change up the requirements or instructions in the assignments every semester or year, and sometimes between different sections of a course offered multiple times in a semester.

Will these changes completely prevent students from using AI? Probably not. But assignments like these encourage students to constantly look at and read what they have produced, catch mistakes, and establish relationships with their instructors. Building critical thinking skills, becoming more self-aware about how they approach assignments, and learning how to accept mentoring and guidance may be among the most transferable skills students learn in college.