Embedding ChatGPT and process writing in academic writing

Benefits, drawbacks, and writer cognition

Abstract

This article explores the integration of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into the academic writing process. Guided by the principles of the academic literacies model, the authors embedded process writing alongside the use of ChatGPT-generated texts within an academic writing course. As part of the course’s second module, students reflected on their reactions to using GenAI. This article shares the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating GenAI into the writing process from the students’ perspectives, with a particular focus on how the students saw GenAI influencing their thought processes. We conclude with a discussion of the practical implications of our findings for other academic writing educators. This is the first half of a two-part article; we discuss additional themes resulting from this study’s analysis in the companion paper, as well as an emerging framework inspired by the module’s design.