In our March 2023 blog, Chris Dickman provided some thoughts on how ChatGPT might impact education going forward. One of the broader concerns is the effect AI will have on student writing. Instructors across curriculums are concerned about students using Chat GPT or other AI tools to complete writing assignments, or to circumvent learning activities designed to measure understanding of course material (i.e., to copy and paste content into asynchronous discussions). We recommend that you and your students become familiar with ChatGPT and similar tools; institutions like Montclair University are providing ideas and resources on how to do just that. But if you aren’t quite ready to let ChatGPT into your classroom, how can you, as an instructor, create an assignment that can both engage students and measure learning objectives, while negating the usefulness of these new AI tools?

One possibility is to create more authentic writing assignments.

What Does “Authentic” Mean?

If you go searching for the term “authentic writing,” you’ll find it’s often placed at odds with what is more traditionally considered “academic writing.” Many researchers define authentic writing assignments as those which have a real-world audience and an authentic purpose. At its core, a writing assignment is authentic when students are required to use concepts and content from their discipline just as professionals in the field would. We can consider a writing assignment authentic when students are:

• Writing for a “real world” audience. It should be clear to students that what they write will be read and what kind of audience persona they are writing to.
• Writing with purpose/to create a product. Assignment topics should be focused and have a function or context. Students should be able to recognize their writing as a product (i.e., a proposal submitted for a grant, a letter posted to a forum, a voice added to the research canon, etc.).
• Writing with motivation. Students are more motivated when assignments are purposeful and relevant to their discipline or to their interests.
• Writing with choice. Assignment topics should allow for flexibility and student autonomy in some way.

Examples of Real-World Writing Products

There are many types of authentic writing assignments that you might consider incorporating into your courses. A few examples include:

• Memos, letters to the editor, professional emails to stakeholders
• Proposals, grant applications, policy briefs and top-sheets, reports
• Reaction essays to fictional case studies or simulation exercises
• Presentations

Even more “traditional” essays can be authentic, as long as it’s clear to students how the final product fits within their discipline or how it ties to future professional goals.

Authenticity as a Motivator

Authentic writing assignments can help motivate students to more actively participate in their learning, to not go searching for a quick answer, and to think more deeply. Research consistently finds that students are more intrinsically motivated when they perceive assignments, activities, and learning materials as relevant and worthwhile to their lives or to the real world. Meaningful writing assignments occur across all disciplines, and they are typically ones that “offer students opportunities to engage with instructors, peers, and texts and are relevant to past experiences and passions as well as to future aspirations and identities” (Eodice, Geller, & Lerner, 2016).

The next section provides you with a few ways to create more authentic assignments in your course.

Authentic Assignment Design

Pair Academic Research with Personal Experience

Students experience the world from their own, unique perspectives. And they approach course content and assignments from all different perspectives, as well. One possibility is to modify your assignments to allow more student reflection or personal experience, while still requiring academic research to support their writing. Outside activities or simulated, real-world tasks can provide students with relevant experiences and clear audiences. For instance:

• Students in a political science course attend a town hall, reflect on the structure and content, and use research to relate the experience to the unit or course learning objectives.
• Students in an advanced chemistry class create a process lab for an intro-level course, apply research to highlight the knowledge students would acquire, and identify potential issues or questions intro-level students might have.
• Students in an art history course visit an online museum exhibit and then reflect on the exhibit, using both personal reaction and knowledge directly from class lecture or course material.

Incentivize the Process, Not Just the Product

Authentic writing does not come out of the brain whole cloth. Brainstorming, research, drafting, review, and revision are all behaviors associated with good writing practice. Grading only the final product of a student’s writing does not fully assess student learning, and students might be tempted to use AI shortcuts if there is no accountability for their process in completing written work. Scaffolding the tasks related to your writing assignment can help make it more authentic, as it gives students an opportunity to reflect on the process all writers go through. Students can also reflect on their choices, their learning, and the final product. Some possibilities include:

• Using minute papers or a one-question, timed quiz for brainstorming. Students can react in real time to a simple prompt as a jumping off point for a larger assignment. This gives you, as the instructor, a sample of their draft writing, and it provides students an opportunity to hone their draft writing skills.
• Asking students to create and submit a list of potential resources, along with their thesis or topic.
• Having students submit drafts. You might even incorporate ChatGPT as a tool for drafting, having students compare it with their own draft, or have them edit a draft created by an AI tool.?
• Including peer-to-peer review to mimic authentic collaborative work.
• Making revision a larger percentage of the final grade. Authentic writing assignments should show a progression of learning or an improved application of course material. Weighting revision in your assignment rubric motivates students to hone a final draft based off feedback (both instructor, peer, and individual).

Final Thoughts and Next Steps

The ultimate goal of our work with students is to prepare them to be critical thinkers, to communicate well, and to excel in the future discipline they choose. There will always be new technology or tools that challenge the status quo and force us to reconsider what we do in the classroom. But assignments and activities that are more authentic to real-world experiences can help us, as educators, motivate students to acquire and showcase the knowledge we hope they get from our courses.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to incorporate more authentic writing assignments into your courses, you can visit the resources and readings, below, or schedule a consultation with an Instructional Designer. We’re more than happy to help brainstorm possibilities that work for you!

Resources

Further Reading