Wei Xu
Northern Illinois University
The activity asks students to use the provided example prompts to feed ChatGPT for producing texts on a Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) topic, evaluate the GPT-generated texts, and then rewrite the GPT-produced texts with the author’s voice and considerations of inclusion. This activity is ideal to be used as a low-stakes experimental activity for students with an open-minded disposition who would like to explore the pros and cons of using GenAI in TPC. It also contributes to developing students’ critical GenAI literacy through evaluating and revising AI-generated texts.
Learning Goals
Original Assignment Context: Undergraduate-level asynchronous, online course of Introduction to Technical and Professional Communication (TPC)
Materials Needed
Time Frame: The estimated time for students to complete this activity in an asynchronous online course is approximately 30 minutes.
Overview: This activity was developed for an introductory asynchronous, online course of Technical and Professional Communication (TPC), aiming to guide students to discover the importance of their own voice and considerations of inclusion in TPC. This activity can be used as a credit-bearing activity or an activity for students to earn bonus points. If it is used as an online course activity, it is recommended that students complete it individually. When adapted for in-person teaching, this activity can be an in-class small-group (3-4 people) activity. Either way, this should be a low-stakes experimental activity and there is no right or wrong answer. Instructors may remind students to see this activity more of an experiment and learning opportunity rather than an assignment. This activity has been experimented once in the online TPC course for junior and senior undergraduates in a summer semester. The outcome is that students gained an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of using AI in technical and professional writing. Most of the students described this activity in their reflections as very useful and helpful for them to develop a motivation to further explore AI-assisted writing and an awareness of incorporating their own voice and considerations of inclusion into TPC.
Discover Your Own Voice and Centralize Inclusion with AI
“Your individual talents, voices, and perspectives are what make communication accessible, effective, and ethical” (Gonzales, 2024).
Step 1: Distinguishing Information from Perspective
Instructor lists the scenario (e.g., car battery replacement) and two resources (one tutorial from ChatGPT & one tutorial from Youtube). Ask students: “Which tutorial did you find more helpful? What might cause the difference?” and offers an example response from the instructor themselves.
Example offered response: “I personally found the Youtube video more helpful to me as a social sciences major who has zero knowledge in car battery replacement. The reason why it is more helpful is, of course, related to the fact that a video is more multimodal. It can show things step by step. However, another important reason is that the video creator wrote the script based on his assumption of his target audiences, namely, people who watch this video may be the audience without knowledge of car batteries. Therefore, the language used is more accessible and the explanations are more thorough where necessary. What caused my different feelings towards the ChatGPT-produced tutorial and Youtube tutorial made by the human creator is perspective (or, voice) present in the video tutorial.”
Step 2: Experiment, Critique, and Rewrite
Ask students to select a TPC area that they already know a lot about, better from their idea proposal for the final project of the course. Guide them to ask ChatGPT to generate texts related to that specific topic. Provide an optional prompt for them to use:
Ask students to copy and paste the response they get from ChatGPT.
Next, provide some scaffolding for students to evaluate and critique the GPT-produced texts. Use the following guiding information:
Step 3: Rewrite to increase accessibility and inclusion
Ask students to rewrite the areas that they identified in Step 2 to make the GPT-generated texts more accessible and inclusive. Create a space for students to put both the original GPT-produced texts and the texts that they rewrite. If desired, instructor can encourage students to exchange their works to see more cases and learn from each other .
Step 4: Document and Reflect
Let the students know that the experiment is over. Prompt them to think about the following questions and document their reflections below. Remind them that the provided questions are just for guiding purposes and they are welcome to document any other thoughts that they develop through this experimental activity.
This activity is developed based on the idea presented in Gonzales, L. (2024, June). From Content to Ideas: Helping Students Craft Their Voice in Writing Technical Documents During the Age of Generative AI. Published in Norton Learning Blog.