Writing Fellows Publish in The Utah Statesman

English Department Principal Lecturer Lezlie Christensen-Branum, director of the USU Writing Fellows program, fostered a collaboration between Writing Fellows and the university’s student-run newspaper, The Utah Statesman, this semester. Three Writing Fellows, Morgan Evans, William Bouck, and Abigail Hoffman, published individual researched opinion articles on AI in education and writing.

The idea came about in the Writing Fellows Seminar course, where the class discussed how the impact of large language models on writing has highlighted the broad range of perspectives that comes with the complex topic. During this class discussion, which demonstrated that range of different perspectives, Lezlie realized she wanted to find a way to amplify the students’ voices so they could be heard more broadly. 

“As an educator, I view learning to write as an important life skill, though I see writing to learn as equally valuable. But my views represent just one vantage point,” Lezlie comments. “No single AI policy meets the needs of all across educational contexts, as the three writers of this Statesman series clarify beautifully. Instead, our perspectives on appropriate uses of AI in education are informed by our experiences and goals.”

“In helping interested Writing Fellows publish this article series, I had two goals. The first was to provide an opportunity for these writers to engage the wider university audience in this important discussion through student perspectives,” Lezlie reflects. “The second was to facilitate student resume-building through a publication experience. I’m proud of their contributions and hope the articles catalyze further conversations on this important issue.”

One of the students who published, Morgan Evans, found the experience of writing about AI to help her learn new information and better understand her own perspective.

“AI’s influence on education has always felt like this daunting, unsolvable mess that’s too complex to do anything about,” Morgan shares. “Writing this article and learning from my peers has helped me make sense of my opinions and gain a deeper understanding of others’ opinions and experiences as well. I hope it helps some readers to make sense of their own perceptions of AI. I’m so grateful for the support of my co-writers and Lezlie during the process.” 

The articles, “Artificial intelligence and the ethics of lightening your cognitive load” by Abigail, “The plight of the generation, AI from a student perspective” by Morgan, and “Science fiction blinds students to new meaning, purpose of AI” by Will can be found online at The Utah Statesman.