SP 26 ENGL 199A

Writing in the Natural Science

4/21/2026

Anqi Zu

Agenda

• Very Long Housekeeping
• Lecture: What makes a good writing?
• AI Generated Literature Review Discussion
• Thursday Preview
• Exit Ticket
• [If time remains] Group Working Time

Housekeeping (1)

• How to best use Canvas to maximize learning?
• Check weekly overview on top of all modules
• Read through Canvas announcements and messages
• Contact me if Canvas is NOT functioning as expected.
• Do readings BEFORE class
• Schedule conference with me ASAP. Take a moment to check the form, and write down your name now.
• Bring your drafted essay for conference. It could be VERY INCOMPLETE (in bullet point)

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Housekeeping (2)

• If you have NOT submitted annotation, please complete with earliest convenience and schedule a late conference with Anqi. We will need your annotation for draft of critical analysis essay, and the drafted essay for conference.
• If you click “post to myself”, change it to “to ENGL199” or I cannot see your post.
• Class plan and deadlines changed: moved APA learning forward, and moved peer review later + drafted paper & completed paper later
• Try to work on it earlier, since there are multiple deadlines next week.

Scientific Article Critical Response (Critical Analysis Paper)

[Final] – Sunday 5/3

At least 600 words for critical analysis, and 150 words for writers' memo

Single- or double-spaced

Times New Roman, 12-pt font

1” margins

Top Left Side of Assignment: Your Name

Refer to (use) your annotation!

[Draft] – Tuesday 4/28

At least 450 words for critical analysis, and 100 words for writers' memo

Single- or double-spaced

Times New Roman, 12-pt font

1” margins

Top Left Side of Assignment: Your Name

Refer to (use) your annotation!

Group-Lead Discussion

• 20 minutes long, interactive presentation
• Paper your group selected in your literature review
• Be creative, be interactive
• Your peers will skim through the paper, but not in detail. If you have a section you want them to look more closely at, let me know.
• Additional courtesy for first two presentation groups

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Academic Writing Tips - Critical Writing

1. You read, you analyze, and write about your opinion.
2. You are synthesizing and responding to the author(s)’ methods and points of views and more!
3. Accurately summarize the section you discuss, the general points of the essay, etc.
4. Share your analysis
5. Show evidence for your claims
1. Paraphrase
2. Direct quote

AI Generated Literature Review (1)

Step 1: Push the AI

Go back to the same chat and add stronger, more demanding prompts such as:

• “Can you add some additional direct in-text citations for me?”
• “Can you find two more scholarly sources and add them in the literature review?”
• “Can you give me the full APA references for all sources you just cited?”
• “Can you explain how exactly this study supports your claim?”
• “What should I double-check before using this in my paper?”

Do some cross checks: Does the citation appear? Can you find original sources and correct direct citation? Does the source look recent and reliable?

Step 2: Individual Reflection

• What broke?
• Did AI give fake or unclear citations?
• Did it avoid answering directly?
• Did it become repetitive or vague?
• What surprised you?
• Anything AI actually handled well?

AI Generated Literature Review (1)

In groups, discuss:

• Which prompt “exposed” AI the most?
• Did anyone catch fake sources or weak evidence?
• When did AI sound confident but not actually say much?
• What is one rule you would create for using AI responsibly?

How to Use AI for Literature Review

(For ENGL 199)

• Generate key words (i.e., I am writing a literature review about ….., what are some keywords that I should use to search for papers?)
• Check you citation (i.e., Here is the APA citation I found for my paper, can you check the format and tell me how to do in-text citations?)
• Understand certain sections of the paper (i.e., I cannot understand the method section, can you turn it into the language to general audiences?)
• Write a title (i.e., I have a couple of titles in mind, can you choose one, or make a title based on the ones I shared?)

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Do not share your peers’ work on any AI. For your own work, I recommend to only share with UW Microsoft Coplilot

Thursday Preview

• [Before Class]Skim Through Citation Matters: by Carrie Mott & Daniel Cockayne
• Bring a pen/pencil/highlighter to class for APA guide learning + activity
• APA quick “quiz” + activity
• Guranteed group working time

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Exit Ticket

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• Have you scheduled a conference meeting with Anqi? If not, schedule before you go.
• Any questions for group-lead discussion/critical analysis paper? Write N/A if not.
• [If you write N/A] Please write one thing surprise you from today’s AI activity.