Writing Program Launches Robust Web Resource for Faculty on ‘Teaching Writing in the Age of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence

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The UMass Amherst Writing Program has developed a robust web resource hub intended to help faculty and instructors as they teach writing alongside the continually developing terrain of AI technologies.  

The resource, which lives on the Writing Program’s website, includes practical teaching tips; selected ways writing studies has responded to technology; best practices from writing studies; sample assignments; and a look at the current conversation surrounding ChatGPT.  

Tara Pauliny, an associate director of the Writing Program, says she hopes that the resource will be a starting place for instructors who are interested in the relationship between AI technologies and the teaching of writing.  

This collection of materials, she adds, also “reminds us that as scholars and teachers we have been navigating technological advances for decades—if not longer—and that while all technologies come with challenges, they also offer us possibilities. They prompt us to see our work in new ways and to reimagine the work we do with our students.” 

Studies have shown that the best way for faculty to handle the emergence of new technologies in the classroom is through research and careful planning. To that end, the UMass Amherst Writing Program has created and shared these resources in hopes it may help all writing educators—from faculty members within the UMass Amherst community who teach Englwrit 111 Writing, Identity, and Power; Englwrit 112 College Writing; and Junior Year Writing to instructors across the nation who incorporate writing-to-learn strategies into their disciplinary courses.  

As artificial intelligence technologies evolve, the Writing Program will continue to add new resources and studies, including a timeline delineating how the Writing Studies field has historically responded to technological developments. 

To learn more about Teaching Writing in the Age of ChatGPT, visit umass.edu/writingprogram/chatgpt.