Generative AI as Writing Support: Exploring Students’ Writing Practices and Ethical Responsibility in Higher Education
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: The integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in higher education academic writing has sparked intense debate regarding technical efficiency versus academic integrity
Purpose: This study aims to explore university students' academic writing practices, ethical responsibilities, and cognitive challenges arising from GenAI usage.
Methods: Employing an explanatory mixed-methods design, data were collected from structured questionnaires administered to 120 students, in-depth interviews with 12 key informants, and desk reviews of student writing drafts across three higher education institutions.
Results: The findings reveal that GenAI is predominantly utilized as a linguistic assistant during editing (85.0%) and an ideation accelerator during pre-writing (78.3%). Ethically, students exhibit pragmatic ethical awareness focused on critical fact-checking (81.7%) and Turnitin similarity score prevention (88.3%), yet neglect formal transparency declaration (23.3%) due to institutional policy voids. Consequently, this leads to the erosion of authorial voice and language style homogenization.
Implication: These empirical insights necessitate a reorientation toward process-based assessment and the official formulation of AI literacy guidelines in higher education.
Originality: This study introduces a novel conceptualization of the 'pragmatic ethical zone' within the human-AI co-writing paradigm, bridging empirical student practices with institutional policy demands.
Downloads
Article Details
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
Bearman, Margaret, Phillip Dawson, Susan Ryan, and Phillipa Kelly. "Re-imagining Assessment in the Era of Generative Artificial Intelligence." Higher Education Research & Development 42, no. 2 (2023): 329–344. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2023.2212300
Chan, Cecilia Ka Yuk, and Wenjie Hu. "Students' Voices on Generative AI in Higher Education: Perceptions, Benefits, and Challenges." International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education 20, no. 1 (2023): 100001. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-023-00411-8
Cotton, Debby R.E., Peter A. Cotton, and J. Reuben Shipway. "Chatting and Cheating: Ensuring Academic Integrity in the Era of ChatGPT." Innovations in Education and Teaching International 61, no. 2 (2023): 228–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2190148
Creswell, John W., and J. David Creswell. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2018.
Dwivedi, Yogesh K., Nir Kshetri, Laurie Hughes, Emma L. Slade, and Arpan Kumar Kar. "Opinion Paper: 'So What if ChatGPT Wrote It?' Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Opportunities, Challenges and Implications of Generative Conversational AI for Research, Practice and Policy." International Journal of Information Management 71, no. 1 (2023): 102642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2023.102642
Eke, Damian Okaibedi. "ChatGPT and the Rise of Generative AI: Threat to Academic Integrity or Solution to Pedagogy?" Journal of Academic Ethics 21, no. 3 (2023): 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-023-09481-w
Field, Andy. Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. 5th ed. London: SAGE Publications, 2018.
Foltynek, Tomas, Bimali Bhowmick, Tomáš Dlabol, and Michaela Králíková. "Academic Integrity in the Age of Generative AI: Policy Gaps and Student Perceptions." Ethics and Information Technology 25, no. 4 (2023): 11–24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-023-09721-y
Gao, Rebecca, Brian S. Park, and Elena L. Glassman. "Evaluating the Robustness and Ethics of Generative AI Detection Tools in Academic Writing." Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence 4, no. 2 (2023): 75–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2023.100120
Holmes, Wayne, Kaska Porayska-Pomsta, and Ken Holstein. "Ethics of AI in Education: Towards a Community-Driven Framework." International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education 32, no. 3 (2022): 501–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-021-00239-1
Hyland, Ken. Second Language Writing. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019.
Kasneci, Enkelejda, Kathrin Seßler, Stefan Küchemann, and Maria Bannert. "ChatGPT for Good? On Opportunities and Challenges of Large Language Models for Education." Learning and Individual Differences 103, no. 1 (2023): 102019. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2023.102019
Kearney, Ryan. "Generative AI and the Rethinking of Assessment Ethics in Higher Education." Studies in Higher Education 48, no. 9 (2023): 50–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2215680
King, Michael R. "The Future of AI in Higher Education Writing: Scaffolding vs. Automation." Journal of Educational Technology 15, no. 2 (2023): 98–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jedtech.2023.01.005
Kroll, Stefan, Maria Hernandez, and Lucas Weber. "Affective Responses and Cognitive Load in AI-Assisted Academic Writing." Educational Psychology Review 36, no. 1 (2024): 105–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09850-w
Lancaster, Thomas. "Artificial Intelligence, Academic Integrity, and the Future of Assessment." Journal of Academic Integrity 2, no. 1 (2023): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-023-00123-x
Lee, Hannah, and Mark Sparks. "Reducing Writing Anxiety Through AI Co-Drafting: A Mixed-Methods Investigation." Computers and Composition 68, no. 1 (2023): 195–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compcom.2023.102780
Liu, Angela, David Zhang, and Sarah Miller. "Redefining Authorial Voice in the Era of Generative AI Writing Assistants." Written Communication 41, no. 2 (2024): 298–320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088323121500
Lund, Brady D., Ting Wang, and Nishant Ray. "The Impact of Large Language Models on Academic Publishing and Authorship Norms." Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology 74, no. 5 (2023): 45–58. https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24750
Miles, Matthew B., A. Michael Huberman, and Johnny Saldana. Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2014.
Moorhouse, Benjamin Luke, Yeung Lee, and Kevin Wai-Ho Yung. "Pragmatic Ethics and AI Integration in University Classrooms." Higher Education 87, no. 1 (2024): 205–222. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-023-01050-x
Neuman, W. Lawrence. Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 7th ed. Essex: Pearson Education, 2014.
Perpetual, Sarah. "AI Detection Technologies: Capabilities, Failures, and Ethical Implications." Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 49, no. 1 (2024): 35–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2023.2245000
Schuster, Daniel, Karen White, and Robert Chen. "Argumentative Atrophy: Assessing Long-Term Cognitive Reliance on Generative AI in Academic Writing." Journal of Educational Psychology 116, no. 1 (2024): 70–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000820
Selwyn, Neil. Should Robots Replace Teachers? AI and the Future of Education. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2023.
Sharples, Mike. "Towards Social Generative AI for Education: Theory, Practices and Ethics." Learning, Media and Technology 48, no. 4 (2023): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2023.2212941
Su, Yu-Sheng, Jacky Chen, and Laura Lin. "Linguistic Scaffolding with Large Language Models in L2 Scientific Writing." Educational Technology & Society 26, no. 3 (2023): 101–115.
Sullivan, Miriam, Andrew Kelly, and Paul McLaughlan. "ChatGPT in Higher Education: Considerations for Academic Integrity and Student Learning." Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching 6, no. 1 (2023): 180–192. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2023.6.1.17
Swales, John M. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Weber-Wulff, Debora, Anja Allard, Fiona Cocks, and Elise Gornitzka. "Testing of Detection Tools for AI-Generated Text." International Journal for Educational Integrity 19, no. 1 (2023): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-023-00146-4
Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. 6th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2018.
Zawacki-Richter, Olaf, Victoria I. Marín, Melissa Bond, and Franziska Gouold. "Systematic Review of Research on Artificial Intelligence Applications in Higher Education." International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education 16, no. 1 (2019): 339–355. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-019-0171-0