Year Capstone Completed

2024

ENG997 & ENG998 Instructor

Zachary Garrett, D.A.

Abstract

Composition and rhetoric instructors' concern about the impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on education has dramatically amplified since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, leading some to fear the end of our discipline as we know it. The controversy surrounding GenAI has led some educators to call for a complete ban on AI programs in the classroom, while others blindly accept what the technology has to offer without considering the risks involved, with a final group resting somewhere in the middle. Inspired by this debate, this study seeks to answer the research question: "Could teaching students how to use Large Language Models (LLMs) and other Generative AI technologies in their research help community college composition students learn how to use AI technology ethically, deter academic dishonesty, and ensure equitable student success outside the classroom?" This paper reports the results of implementing the AI and the Research Process curriculum unit in two English Composition II courses on a small community college campus in north-central Mississippi. The findings of this study suggest the importance of avoiding stereotyping students as "digital natives" enamored by technology and teaching students how to use GenAI tools, critically analyze their outputs, and ethically apply the technology.

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