I meant to post about this quite a while ago, but I got busy getting ready for the beginning of the semester, and then of course I got busy actually teaching, and then whammo, we’re starting the fifth week of the semester already. Flyin’ time.
I’m teaching a “special topics” class this semester called “Writing, Rhetoric, and AI,” and it’s a 400/500 level class– that is, both undergraduate (22) and graduate (3) students. The actual course is in Canvas and thus behind a firewall, but there is a website at rwai.stevendkrause.com. The website name– Rhetoric, Writing, and AI– should be Writing, Rhetoric, and AI, but it’s too complicated to change now. It’s the type of typo/error I was always looking for when working on MOOC stuff. Massive Open Online Courses? Massive Online Open Courses? Anyway…
The website is mainly for one of the three major projects for the class, the AI News & Updates Collaborative Annotated Bibliography Website and Report. I landed on using WordPress and running it on the server space where I’ve hosted this blog forever because it seemed like the least bad option. I wanted a space/platform where students could submit entries and I could approve and organize them, and I wanted it to be public. I thought about Substack, but I think that would have required all of my students to sign up for Substack, and while I like it, I didn’t want to force it on anyone. (I suggested a link to something on Substack to a friend/colleague of mine in the field, and this person said they wouldn’t have anything to do with that platform because of the “Nazi problem).”
So the body/”blog-like” part of that site is where students’ entries are published. I have the Syllabus and assignments on the page “Course Documents.” There are three major assignments for everyone and an additional assignment for the graduate students. The first essay project is a reflection essay based on a series of AI writing “experiments” we’re trying out. Then there’s that already mentioned annotated bibliography assignment, and finally a research essay project assignment.
We’re also doing plenty of reading and discussing of the readings, which I list here— at least so far. Because this is a class that is new and a crazily fast-moving target, I thought I’d plan the first part of the class first and then adjust for the second part of the semester, depending on what students are interested in researching/talking about. I know we’re going to talk about the environmental issues with AI, but beyond that, I’ll have to see what students think.
For the first half of the semester, we have mostly been reading/discussing AI and writing fairly directly– comp/rhet, pedagogy, creative writing, tech writing (and AI in the workplace), and so forth. It’s all been a mix of MSM, websites, along with a handful of academic articles.
The graduate students also need complete a book review project where they will each make a short video about a book they read about AI, and then also lead a discussion about their book.
I think things are going reasonably well, though one of the challenges of teaching online is sensing “the vibe,” if you will. Everyone seems friendly enough and engaged, so that is a good thing. I am surprised about two things with this group so far. First, most of these students “hate” AI– at least so far and before this course. That squares with my experiences in introducing AI things into a class called “Digital Writing” last fall, where almost all of them were “against” AI, especially when it came to writing. But I thought a course explicitly about AI’s connections to writing would attract more “pro” AI students than it (apparently) has.
Second, most of them have little experience with AI. Some have even said that this class was the first time they ever used AI at all. Now, maybe some of these students are kinda/sorta underestimating their experiences with AI; after all, there’s good evidence that most students who use AI don’t want to admit it, and also good evidence that the vast majority of students use AI at least occasionally.
Then again, these are almost all English major types. My first year writing classes are almost always composed entirely of students from majors not in the humanities. A lot of these students are not crazy about AI either, but that is definitely less true for the ones majoring in anything STEM or business-related.
Anyway, so far/so good– and it looks like I’m on the schedule to teach this course again next term. Probably. Stay tuned….