Empowering Essays: The Impact of AI on Student Writing Processes

Using AI to Generate Thesis Formulae; Amplifying Student Purpose and Agency

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Here at Educating AI, our mission is to craft evidence-based strategies for the adoption and integration of AI, with a special interest in AI-responsive writing curricula. We highly encourage you to share any thoughts, inquiries, or feedback you might have. Your participation enriches our community. We're all navigating these new waters together, so let's continue to exchange ideas and insights.

Today’s post is something of a special edition. I usually release new materials only on Mondays, but I have been doing some cool things in the classroom I couldn’t wait to share with my readers. 

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Context: 9th Grade English

Topic: Unit on Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy

Focus: Thematic Essay

By now, my students have completed the first five sections of our current book. We've come from a recent unit where we took our time, diving deep into research before meticulously shaping our essay's thesis statement. This process involved foundational teachings on how to build, refine, and evolve a thesis. Currently, I'm guiding them through a different process for thesis development. In this process, they learn to take an early stance with an initial thesis, then, as they progress with more reading, they're encouraged to let their theses adapt, evolve, and grow more sophisticated.

I acknowledge there are certain risks with this new approach, yet I'm optimistic that leveraging AI can turn these potential pitfalls into benefits. Here, my main concern lies in how an early thesis might firmly plant itself in a student's mind, potentially overshadowing emerging, more captivating ideas. However, my hope is that initiating this process early enough will ensure that the ongoing reading exerts enough influence to challenge and refine the initial thesis. 

Furthermore, engaging with AI at the outset of their writing journey allows students to explore various potential directions their essays might take, revealing paths not immediately pursued. This aspect, the "possible worlds" effect as I fondly refer to it, is precisely what excites me about integrating AI into writing. It enables the exploration of numerous possibilities an essay could follow, broadening the horizon of choices and focusing the discourse on the merit of specific decisions. Through this method, students maintain command over their writing process, even as the focus of instruction gradually drifts to the locus of rhetoric and ideation. 

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Essay Assignment

At the beginning of this unit, I introduced the essay prompts to my students, developed with the help of ChatGPT-4. A word of caution: Since January 2024, OpenAI has restricted ChatGPT-4's direct access to a wide range of copyrighted content, meaning the AI now relies more on summaries and secondary sources scraped from the web for its assistance. An important note for teachers: it's crucial to continue reading and maintaining oversight of your workflow. Here are the final prompts. My intention is to keep them deliberately broad, allowing students ample scope to embark on their unique exploratory paths. I believe that posing open-ended questions is an effective strategy to directly confront the issue of plagiarism. Broad prompts tend to elicit recognizably general responses from AI, especially now that it operates without access to copyrighted texts. 

Needless to say, there are AI systems, Gemini Pro 1.5 for instance, with context windows large enough to contain the entire text of Just Mercy. In other words, a tech-savvy student could easily train an AI to do the work ChatGPT is presently refusing to do. 

1. Critique of the Justice System in Just Mercy: Describe and analyze Bryan Stevenson's critique of the American justice system. Propose 2-3 specific reforms.

2. Use of Personal Stories to Influence Perception: Discuss how Stevenson uses personal stories to shape the reader’s view of the legal system. Explain why these stories are effective.

3. Lawyers’ Roles in a Flawed Legal System: Reflect on the responsibilities and challenges faced by lawyers in the legal system as presented in Just Mercy. What qualities do you think a good lawyer should possess?

4. Effectiveness of Systemic Change vs. Individual Actions: Analyze whether Just Mercy leans towards systemic change or individual actions for justice system reform. Support your view with evidence from the book.

By this point in the process, my students have completed 2-3 Reading Journals gathering evidence from the text in preparation for the moment of thesis generation. Still much more will be revealed in the remainder of the book, but students at this stage have a good grasp on Stevenson’s purposes, the complexities of Walter McMillian’s case, and thus can begin to shape an initial version of a thesis response. 

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Thesis Brainstorming

When designing the next stage of our process, ChatGPT-4 played a key role in streamlining my tasks. I utilized the AI to deconstruct each essay prompt into a sequence of four questions, designed to guide students towards generating their initial thesis. While I was fully capable of performing this breakdown myself, the time saved allowed me to devote more attention to assessing Reading Journals and planning the subsequent stages of our process.

Here are the prompts students worked through. Note that in my classroom integration of AI, students write first, then engage with AI. It is my belief that it is pedagogically most beneficial for students if they come to AI with work already in hand. 

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1. Critique of the Justice System in Just Mercy

Critique of the Justice System in Just Mercy: Describe and analyze Bryan Stevenson's critique of the American justice system. Propose 2-3 specific reforms.

Question 1: "What are two or three major criticisms Bryan Stevenson has about the American justice system as you understood from Just Mercy? List them."

Question 2: "Based on the criticisms you've identified, what specific reforms does Stevenson suggest or imply could address these issues? Describe 2-3 reforms."

Question 3: "How do these suggested reforms address the criticisms you've identified? Provide a brief explanation for each reform."

Thesis Development Prompt: "Using the criticisms and suggested reforms you've identified, formulate a thesis statement that encapsulates Stevenson's critique of the justice system and his proposed reforms."

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2. Use of Personal Stories to Influence Perception

Use of Personal Stories to Influence Perception: Discuss how Stevenson uses personal stories to shape the reader’s view of the legal system. Explain why these stories are effective.

Question 1: "Identify one or two personal stories shared by Stevenson in Just Mercy. What aspects of the legal system do these stories highlight?"

Question 2: "Why do you think Stevenson chose these particular stories? What emotions or thoughts did they evoke in you as a reader?"

Question 3: "How do these stories effectively change or influence the reader's perception of the legal system?"

Thesis Development Prompt: "Craft a thesis statement on how Stevenson uses personal stories to shape the reader's view of the legal system, including why these stories are effective."

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3. Lawyers’ Roles in a Flawed Legal System

Lawyers’ Roles in a Flawed Legal System: Reflect on the responsibilities and challenges faced by lawyers in the legal system as presented in Just Mercy. What qualities do you think a good lawyer should possess?

Question 1: "Reflect on the book, what challenges do lawyers face in the legal system as depicted in Just Mercy?"

Question 2: "According to Stevenson, what qualities make a good lawyer within this flawed system? List any qualities you find."

Question 3: "How do these qualities help lawyers overcome the challenges you've identified?"

Thesis Development Prompt: "Develop a thesis statement that reflects on the responsibilities and essential qualities of lawyers in the flawed legal system presented in Just Mercy."

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4. Effectiveness of Systemic Change vs. Individual Actions

Effectiveness of Systemic Change vs. Individual Actions: Analyze whether Just Mercy leans towards systemic change or individual actions for justice system reform. Support your view with evidence from the book.

Question 1: "Does Just Mercy suggest that systemic change or individual actions are more effective for justice system reform? Provide examples from the book."

Question 2: "Think about the evidence you've found. How does it support the effectiveness of systemic change or individual actions?"

Question 3: "Considering your analysis, which approach—systemic change or individual actions—does Stevenson seem to favor for reforming the justice system?"

Thesis Development Prompt: "Formulate a thesis statement analyzing whether Just Mercy leans towards systemic change or individual actions for justice system reform, supported by evidence from the book."

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I asked my students to complete the first three questions in their digital Reading Journal to the best of their abilities. When I saw their spirits flag a bit, I allowed them to pair up strategically in class and these social networks brought new energy to the endeavor, helping them push through their initial hesitations and reservations. Once everyone had a few items for each of the three questions, we transitioned to the second stage of the process: utilizing AI to generate a thesis formula.

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Using AI to Generate a Thesis Formula

Access to AI in today's classroom raises significant practical and ethical issues. Commercial AI models do not protect our students' data. Everything students input can be absorbed into a larger dataset for the company's use. I'm currently reevaluating how we use AI in my class. Last semester, I informed parents that their children would be using a ChatGPT account for class. 

Looking back, I believe requiring a written agreement on usage from both students and parents would have been better. Thankfully, new options are emerging. For example, Schoolai provides enhanced data protection and privacy for students. Teachers create an account and a class where students can log in. This setup allows teachers to monitor student activities without their work being shared with a larger commercial database. I aim to implement Schoolai or a similar platform in my classroom within the next couple of months.

These caveats in mind, I asked my students to open up ChatGPT and enter this prompt in the context window. I used to use more complicated prompts with students, but as GPT grows more powerful, I am finding less need to do so: 

I am working on an essay. Here is the question [insert]. What kind of information do I need to generate a good thesis statement? Offer me a formula for a good thesis statement. Do not generate a sample thesis statement for me. Let me do that work.

In order to get better results, I had some students enter a model formula:

"[Just Mercy] primarily advocates for [systemic change/individual actions/both systemic change and individual actions] as the most effective method for justice system reform. Through [specific example 1] and [specific example 2], Bryan Stevenson illustrates the [impact/effectiveness] of [chosen method] in achieving lasting change.

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ChatGPT-3.5 Results

Essay 1:

"[Bryan Stevenson's critique of the American justice system] in 'Just Mercy' highlights [specific flaws or injustices], evidenced by [supporting evidence from the book]. To address these issues, [2-3 proposed reforms] should be implemented to [address the root causes or improve the system in specific ways]."

Essay 2:

"In 'Just Mercy,' Bryan Stevenson utilizes personal stories to provide poignant insights into the legal system, shaping readers' perceptions by [describing the impact of personal stories] and demonstrating their effectiveness through [explaining why storytelling is effective]."

Essay 3:

"In 'Just Mercy,' the portrayal of lawyers navigating a flawed legal system underscores the importance of [identifying responsibilities and challenges], while also highlighting the essential qualities of [qualities of a good lawyer]."

Essay 4:

"In 'Just Mercy,' the narrative [leans towards systemic change / emphasizes individual actions] as the primary catalyst for justice system reform, as evidenced by [examples from the book]. However, it also acknowledges the importance of [the alternative approach], ultimately advocating for a balanced approach that addresses both systemic flaws and individual efforts."

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After students create a formula, I prompt them to consider how the information they gathered in response to questions 1-3 could be structured to populate the formula. I acknowledge that the outcomes were often lengthy and cumbersome, sometimes resembling a short paragraph more than a concise formula. However, I view this not as an issue but as part of the process. At this stage, our emphasis is on developing ideas rather than perfecting their expression. We aim for these ideas to be rich and productive, without prematurely pruning them. There's still a lot more to explore and uncover.

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Why Not Make a Chatbot?

Some might question why I haven't developed a chatbot to streamline this process for my students. My reasoning is straightforward: I prefer not to simplify the use of AI any further than it already is. I believe it's crucial for students to go through a step-by-step process that requires active engagement, thoughtful consideration, and maintained control. Although this method does result in a longer completion time in class and can be challenging for students as they navigate between various windows and applications, I view these challenges as beneficial. Alan Knowles from Miami University (Oxford) distinguishes between "human-in-the-loop" and "machine-in-the-loop" writing cycles. 

In "human-in-the-loop" cycles, the individual minimally interacts with the automated tool, mainly to input initial data, and then lets the tool generate most or all of the content. Conversely, "machine-in-the-loop" cycles position humans as the primary agents, with the automated tool playing a supplementary role, enhancing the process while the human creates most or all of the content. 

As educators in the age of AI, I believe our objective should be to foster "machine-in-the-loop" cycles in our writing classrooms. This can be achieved by developing methods that enhance student autonomy and agency and by teaching the discrete steps involved in operating AI tools.

Hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for being an important part of the Educating AI community.

Nick Potkalitsky, Ph.D.