#4571

Presentation Classroom application of CALL

Rethinking Summary-Writing in the Age of Generative AI: "Old" vs "New"

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In the 2023/2024 academic year, students in a university-level academic writing course completed a research project which included an annotated bibliography assessment. At the end of the course, 683 students responded to an open-ended survey about their use of generative AI during the assignment. Half of the students reported using AI to complete their annotated bibliography and some provided descriptions of how AI was used. The number of students who reported submitting wholly or partly AI-generated summaries raised questions about revising summary-writing tasks in future courses, including if summarizing should still be taught and assessed. This presentation will briefly look at “old” summarizing skills like reading, annotating, note-taking, paraphrasing, condensing, and citing before exploring possibilities for developing “new” summarizing skills in the age of AI (e.g., critically comparing AI-generated summaries, verifying AI content, developing students’ own voice as authors, maximizing learning with AI summarizing tools). The presentation will conclude with pedagogical implications by inviting attendees to share their thoughts on the future of summary writing in academic contexts.