For such a time as this
January 30, 2026
Tamara Tate, PhD
Associate Director, Digital Learning Lab
University of California, Irvine
Let’s start by introducing ourselves in chat
What do you teach & where?
How much have you used AI?
How do you feel about AI?
Why did I ask you that?
Let’s start by introducing ourselves in chat
What do you teach & where?
How much have you used AI?
How do you feel about AI?
Context matters
We start by assessing where our students are at when they come to us
We are seeing that this impacts if and how instructors use AI in their classrooms, along with pedagogical beliefs
We also need to hold space for exhaustion, overwhelm, grief, anger, fear …. ours & our students’
Why should I care?
Why should I care?
Why should I care?
The “rich get richer” contradiction
AI is incredibly powerful for assisting communication
To get the most out of it, you need to know how to prompt it well, critically evaluate its output, and edit and incorporate it into your work
The “with or without” contradiction
If students never learn to use AI, they will be at a disadvantage in their study and careers.
If they use AI too much and too early, they will also be at a disadvantage as they will be robbed of foundational skills necessary to use it well.
Imitation contradiction
English learners are constantly told they need to imitate native speakers’ or expert writers’ language use.
But when they borrow exact phrases from sources, they can be accused of plagiarism.
If generative AI is unavoidable in the world
“a set of competencies that enables individuals to critically evaluate AI technologies; communicate and collaborate effectively with AI; and use AI as a tool online, at home, and in the workplace”
-- Long & Magerko, 2020
But if we have AI do we even need to write?
In the chat:
Why do YOU write?
But if we have AI do we even need to write?
We write to communicate across space and time
Human connection may be a value (e.g., fan letter)
But not always (e.g., grocery list)
We write to help us think
Synthesize information (e.g., learning)
Precision of language forces us to refine our thoughts
We can string bundles of thoughts together that don’t otherwise fit in our short term memory
But not always (e.g., most administrative paperwork)
Tools Shape Thinking (and Writing)
From Socrates to AI
Every new tool transforms the way humans write and think.
In the chat:
Affordances? Limitations? Sociocultural impact?
So we need to learn to determine
When humanness matters
When using AI offloads key skill building or scaffolds learning
What role AI might play in the writing process, without sacrificing learning or humanness
Back to basics
How do we begin?
Understanding the learning goals will drive the evaluation of if / when / how to use generative AI
Reflections from the Classroom
Understanding the learning goals will drive the evaluation of if / when / how to use generative AI
Reflections from the Classroom
Purpose of writing:
Have you looked at your SLOs lately?
Student Learning Outcome (SLO) | Related assignments or activity | AI disruption (1-5 with 5 being high) | Should the SLO change? | Should the assignment change? |
Example: Organize Oral Communication | Speech Outlines | 5 | Probably | Yes |
AI Disruption & Revision Tables
Student Learning Outcome (SLO) | Rationale for change | Proposed SLO | Stakeholders | Starting Point |
Example: Organize Oral Communication | Outlining speeches is easily done by AI. This will be how presentations are prepared in the workforce or public service | Evaluate and improve oral communication frameworks | Other instructors CMST CAB | Program Curriculum Committee and then CAB |
| | | | |
| | | | |
Assignment | Effectiveness of AI at performing task (1-5) | What AI programs can do this? | Output Example (example of what AI has produced when you input your assignment into an generative ai) |
Example: Formal outlines for speeches | 5 | ChatGPT, almost any large language model |
Assignment | Rationale for change | Alternative | Associated SLO Change? | Stakeholders |
Example: Formal outlines for speeches | Outlining speeches is easily done by AI. | Use prompt engineering to create outlines. Students evaluate and improve outlines. | Yes | Other instructors |
Map quizzes | Little point to ask students to remember things easily found via A.I.; like the calculator. Caveat: no tech, then what? | Scavenger Hunt - screenshot/s of places on map of relevant region/s with comments about the place/region | Yes | Students - value for tuition |
Essay assignments | Strong likelihood that A.I. will be asked to generate written compositions | Podcast and/or video creation - Record a conversation with someone outside of class discussing course material; show what you have learned | Yes | Students - value for tuition |
AI Disruption and Revision Tables for Assignments
Why we are writing?
If we know why we are writing, we can:
Understanding the learning goals will drive the evaluation of if / when / how to use generative AI
Reflections from the Classroom
Purpose of writing:
Writing to show what we know
Susceptible to off loading with AI: Academic integrity challenge
Options:
Probably the hardest to make AI resistant
So if you need to revise some things ….
Principles of Instructional Scaffolding and Tutorial Assistance
Jerome Bruner, 1978
Emerging best practices:
Building good habits
Think First
You are more creative, interesting, diverse, and aware of the desired outcome than any AI can be. Think about what you want to write before you start – you only have one chance to think before being influenced by the AI.
“Good Enough” Prompting
Harness prompting techniques like using personas, goals, and details + content knowledge, but if all else fails, use a conversational tone.
Be the Boss
Remember you are the boss of the AI. Ask it questions, make it clarify, expand, or revise things – iterative prompting allows you to define what is needed. Make the output fit your needs and desires.
Reflect
Taking a moment to consider what worked, what didn’t, and what could be done differently allows for improvement and agency.
Corroborate & Interrogate
Corroborate the information AI provides with other reliable sources. Interrogate the output: is there bias you need to address? The human is ultimately responsible for any output they use.
Human-Driven GenAI Use
Think First
“Good Enough” Prompting
Be the Boss
Reflect
Corroborate & Interrogate
Human-Driven GenAI Use
Reflect
Self regulation ends with reflection--did I meet my goals? What did I learn in the process? Should I do anything different? Do I want to adjust my goals next time?
Set Goals
Self regulation begins with an end in mind, what are my goals for using generative AI? What are my intentions?
Self-Monitor
While I’m using generative AI, I’m checking whether the output fits my needs, looking for bias, critically evaluating the content,
Self-Regulated Learning
Think first
Like in reading when we tap into background knowledge.
Strength based: respects what the student already knows.
Keeps the student in charge of the AI.
ALSO: Because of its fluency, language patterns, and good old psychological realities, once you start down the AI-driven path, you rarely diverge.
SRL: Setting goals/intentions needs to be a habit
Think first: What’s that look like in practice?
What if our SLO is related to revision?
AI-Assisted Peer Review
Example
Good enough prompting
You and your students don’t need to be prompt engineers.
Models are improving quickly and dramatically.
Get started, when it doubt treat it like a conversation.
Where are the books on animals?
Where are the books on birds?
Where are the books on eagles?
Good enough prompting is easier if you think first about what you want
A couple of tips when prompting
What do you know that the AI doesn’t but might find useful?
Example: Practicing prompting in class
Adapted from Karchmer-Klein, 2026, p. 84
Example: Asking better questions
Adapted from Karchmer-Klein, 2026, p. 83
Be the Boss -- Iterative Prompting
Be the boss: What’s that look like?
Initial AI output
Try to ask a critical question of the output
Even if (especially if?) you’re not a content area expert
Corroborate
Important habit to get into when using generative AI
Corroboration: What’s that look like?
Students work together or on their own to make the summary more accurate, precise, clear
Reflection
Building metacognition, self regulation, executive function, habits of mind
Student agency
Build transferable skills
Part of every assignment using AI:
What did you do and how did it work? What would you do differently in the future?
Students + AI requires AI literacy
Should generative AI have a role in writing instruction?
Generative AI might play a role throughout the process of writing
Reviewing
Planning
Drafting
Graham, S., & Sandmel, K. (2011). The process writing approach: A meta-analysis. The Journal of Educational Research, 104(6), 396-407.
Scoring & feedback is decent and improving
Feedback Quality
Impact of AI on the Process of Learning to Write
Students were intentional users, minimalists, and offloaders, reflecting different levels of agency and self-regulation in their use of AI tools.
We found that students could make deliberate choices that reflected both their own agency and AI literacy.
Regular reflection supported both self regulation and AI literacy.
Impact of AI on the Process of Learning to Write
Students were intentional users, minimalists, and offloaders, reflecting different levels of agency and self-regulation in their use of AI tools.
We found that students could make deliberate choices that reflected both their own agency and AI literacy.
Regular reflection supported both self regulation and AI literacy.
But using AI didn’t just make things easier. It actually made me more careful. I started questioning whether the suggestions made sense, whether they fit what I wanted to say, and whether they were supported by good evidence. These tools helped a lot, but the biggest learning came from being deeply involved in the topic and thinking hard about how to communicate it well. [P41]
Course Implementations
Debate Partner
Elevator Pitch
Team Evaluation
Topic Exploration
Brainstorming
Outlining
Peer Review
Revision Feedback
Understanding the learning goals will drive the evaluation of if / when / how to use generative AI
Reflections from the Classroom
Purpose of writing:
Have you looked at your SLOs lately?
Student Learning Outcome (SLO) | Related assignments or activity | AI disruption (1-5 with 5 being high) | Should the SLO change? | Should the assignment change? |
Example: Organize Oral Communication | Speech Outlines | 5 | Probably | Yes |
AI Disruption & Revision Tables
Student Learning Outcome (SLO) | Rationale for change | Proposed SLO | Stakeholders | Starting Point |
Example: Organize Oral Communication | Outlining speeches is easily done by AI. This will be how presentations are prepared in the workforce or public service | Evaluate and improve oral communication frameworks | Other instructors CMST CAB | Program Curriculum Committee and then CAB |
| | | | |
| | | | |
Assignment | Effectiveness of AI at performing task (1-5) | What AI programs can do this? | Output Example (example of what AI has produced when you input your assignment into an generative ai) |
Example: Formal outlines for speeches | 5 | ChatGPT, almost any large language model |
Assignment | Rationale for change | Alternative | Associated SLO Change? | Stakeholders |
Example: Formal outlines for speeches | Outlining speeches is easily done by AI. | Use prompt engineering to create outlines. Students evaluate and improve outlines. | Yes | Other instructors |
Map quizzes | Little point to ask students to remember things easily found via A.I.; like the calculator. Caveat: no tech, then what? | Scavenger Hunt - screenshot/s of places on map of relevant region/s with comments about the place/region | Yes | Students - value for tuition |
Essay assignments | Strong likelihood that A.I. will be asked to generate written compositions | Podcast and/or video creation - Record a conversation with someone outside of class discussing course material; show what you have learned | Yes | Students - value for tuition |
AI Disruption and Revision Tables for Assignments
Why we are writing?
If we know why we are writing, we can:
Understanding the learning goals will drive the evaluation of if / when / how to use generative AI
Reflections from the Classroom
Purpose of writing:
Writing to show what we know
Susceptible to off loading with AI: Academic integrity challenge
Options:
Probably the hardest to make AI resistant
So if you need to revise some things ….
Principles of Instructional Scaffolding and Tutorial Assistance
Jerome Bruner, 1978
Emerging best practices:
Building good habits
Think First
You are more creative, interesting, diverse, and aware of the desired outcome than any AI can be. Think about what you want to write before you start – you only have one chance to think before being influenced by the AI.
“Good Enough” Prompting
Harness prompting techniques like using personas, goals, and details + content knowledge, but if all else fails, use a conversational tone.
Be the Boss
Remember you are the boss of the AI. Ask it questions, make it clarify, expand, or revise things – iterative prompting allows you to define what is needed. Make the output fit your needs and desires.
Reflect
Taking a moment to consider what worked, what didn’t, and what could be done differently allows for improvement and agency.
Corroborate & Interrogate
Corroborate the information AI provides with other reliable sources. Interrogate the output: is there bias you need to address? The human is ultimately responsible for any output they use.
Human-Driven GenAI Use
Think First
“Good Enough” Prompting
Be the Boss
Reflect
Corroborate & Interrogate
Human-Driven GenAI Use
Reflect
Self regulation ends with reflection--did I meet my goals? What did I learn in the process? Should I do anything different? Do I want to adjust my goals next time?
Set Goals
Self regulation begins with an end in mind, what are my goals for using generative AI? What are my intentions?
Self-Monitor
While I’m using generative AI, I’m checking whether the output fits my needs, looking for bias, critically evaluating the content,
Self-Regulated Learning
Think first
Like in reading when we tap into background knowledge.
Strength based: respects what the student already knows.
Keeps the student in charge of the AI.
ALSO: Because of its fluency, language patterns, and good old psychological realities, once you start down the AI-driven path, you rarely diverge.
SRL: Setting goals/intentions needs to be a habit
Think first: What’s that look like in practice?
What if our SLO is related to revision?
AI-Assisted Peer Review
Example
Good enough prompting
You and your students don’t need to be prompt engineers.
Models are improving quickly and dramatically.
Get started, when it doubt treat it like a conversation.
Where are the books on animals?
Where are the books on birds?
Where are the books on eagles?
Good enough prompting is easier if you think first about what you want
A couple of tips when prompting
What do you know that the AI doesn’t but might find useful?
Example: Practicing prompting in class
Adapted from Karchmer-Klein, 2026, p. 84
Example: Asking better questions
Adapted from Karchmer-Klein, 2026, p. 83
Be the Boss -- Iterative Prompting
Be the boss: What’s that look like?
Initial AI output
Try to ask a critical question of the output
Even if (especially if?) you’re not a content area expert
Corroborate
Important habit to get into when using generative AI
Corroboration: What’s that look like?
Students work together or on their own to make the summary more accurate, precise, clear
Reflection
Building metacognition, self regulation, executive function, habits of mind
Student agency
Build transferable skills
Part of every assignment using AI:
What did you do and how did it work? What would you do differently in the future?
Students + AI requires AI literacy
Should generative AI have a role in writing instruction?
Generative AI might play a role throughout the process of writing
Reviewing
Planning
Drafting
Graham, S., & Sandmel, K. (2011). The process writing approach: A meta-analysis. The Journal of Educational Research, 104(6), 396-407.
Scoring & feedback is decent and improving
Feedback Quality
Impact of AI on the Process of Learning to Write
Students were intentional users, minimalists, and offloaders, reflecting different levels of agency and self-regulation in their use of AI tools.
We found that students could make deliberate choices that reflected both their own agency and AI literacy.
Regular reflection supported both self regulation and AI literacy.
Impact of AI on the Process of Learning to Write
Students were intentional users, minimalists, and offloaders, reflecting different levels of agency and self-regulation in their use of AI tools.
We found that students could make deliberate choices that reflected both their own agency and AI literacy.
Regular reflection supported both self regulation and AI literacy.
But using AI didn’t just make things easier. It actually made me more careful. I started questioning whether the suggestions made sense, whether they fit what I wanted to say, and whether they were supported by good evidence. These tools helped a lot, but the biggest learning came from being deeply involved in the topic and thinking hard about how to communicate it well. [P41]
Course Implementations
Debate Partner
Elevator Pitch
Team Evaluation
Topic Exploration
Brainstorming
Outlining
Peer Review
Revision Feedback
AI-Assisted Peer Review
Example #1
“I would say that it [AI] definitely encouraged me to get feedback because I wasn’t afraid of the stigma. That barrier to entry was much lower. It didn’t cost me anything to use the AI, if that makes sense.”��- UC Irvine Student
Feedback
AI as a Feedback Partner
Example: Student conversation with PapyrusAI on 2nd draft of Project 1.
�“Going to office hours is helpful in determining what the professor wants to see in a paper as well as improving my structuring and see if I missed anything throughout my research. AI was helpful in revisioning too. It provides solid suggestions that sometimes matches the professor’s and peers’ review, and also captures minute details that sometimes may be overlooked.”�� - UC Irvine Student
Field Notebook Post Assignment Observations Reveal Blended Feedback
Reverse Outline
Example #2
Debate Opponent
Example #3
“I would say it definitely made me think. It made me think about my argument a lot. It was a little bit daunting, a little scary because it provided really good counter-arguments. … I had to think a lot in order to provide a good argument.”��- UC Irvine Student
Brainstorming
AI Serves as a Debate Partner
How to Decide:
Skip It When:
Use It When:
How can instructors use AI ethically?
Think of a learning objective, activity, or assignment that your students struggle with. Use AI (we have prompts in the resources) to:
Multilingual prompts
Prompt Type | Description | Prompt Examples |
Brainstorming Partner | Provides brainstorming assistance in the user's native language (L1), helping generate ideas or concepts, leading to the generation of a bullet-listed summary or table | |
Vocabulary Tutor | Supports vocabulary learning by offering definitions, examples, collocations, common errors, with opportunities to reinforce learning through quizzes or sentence writing. | |
Translation Tutor | Assists in translating text between languages, followed by vocabulary quizzes, writing exercises, or translation practices. | |
Multilingual Feedback | Supplements other PapyrusAI feedback prompts (focusing on content, organization, style, or mechanics), this prompt additionally identifies language and rhetorical errors potentially influenced by L1 and provides revision suggestions | RAG source materials:
|
Revision Tutor | Using a dialogic feedback model, this prompt provides revision assistance through tutor-tutee interaction, based on the learner's identified needs or focusing on one prioritized area at a time, while scaffolding the revision process at both the sentence and text levels. |
Good idea ✅
Nope, missed the point--same habits apply!🚫
If you only do 1 thing this term…
Pick ONE move. Keep it small. Make it modular.
1
Put one of your assignments into AI
2
Use AI to modify ONE assignment
3
Insert AI into one assignment
Resources you can use/remix/adapt for free!
Activity / Lesson | Learning Goal |
Students will explore the capacities and limitations of generative AI. | |
Students will be able to use generative AI to efficiently generate feedback and understand their own role in ensuring that feedback is accurate and useful. | |
Students will be able to use generative AI to efficiently generate suggestions for peer feedback and understand their own role in ensuring that feedback is accurate and useful. | |
Students will be able to selectively use generative AI to produce concise summaries of a text, while also recognizing its supportive role and their responsibility to ensure the summary is accurate and meets their objectives. | |
Students will be able to use generative AI to receive feedback from an imagined audience and explore ways to improve their writing to meet the expectations and needs of different audiences. | |
Students will be able to use generative AI to create a reverse outline of their draft, analyze the structure of their writing, and identify areas where the organization can be improved. They will also learn to adjust the flow of their work to ensure clarity and cohesion. | |
Students will be able to use generative AI to effectively brainstorm writing topics, explore background knowledge, and refine their ideas to align with assignment goals. They will also learn how to evaluate each potential topic. | |
Take a look at our “Think First” Question Bank and Reflection Question Bank! | |
Let’s use AI only in ways that support learning and humanness.
PapyrusAI Team
Thank you!
Tamara Tate, PhD
Associate Director, Digital Learning Lab
University of California, Irvine
tatet@uci.edu
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2315294 and the California Educational Learning Lab AI Grand Challenge
© 2025 The Regents of the University of California
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