Employing Artificial Intelligence in Teaching Academic Writing to University Students: Creating Problem-Solving Essays

Abstract

Numerous technological advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) demonstrate that Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) may have multiple potentials in various environments. Experience suggests that nowadays, capabilities of AI are increasingly used in educational contexts, which indicates that in the nearest future, AI and ChatGPT as one of its types will be widely employed in academia. On the one hand, ChatGPT may turn out beneficial for students, since it can significantly save their study time, channel and direct them in their research, and specify the problems to be delved into; on the other hand, excessive reliance and overdependence on ChatGPT may turn out detrimental for mental development of students engendering parasitism and intellectual inertia among them.

The objective of this article is to illuminate potential possibilities and limitations of using ChatGPT in teaching University students how to write problem-solving essays and acquire academic writing experience and proficiency.

Methods. Employing theoretical positioning, comparative analysis, and qualitative research methods, this study examines prospects of using ChatGPT in academic writing, elucidating its benefits and possible challenges, while also delineating the structure and procedure of producing problem-solving essays.

Results. The article first exposes distinct features of a typical problem-solving essay, its structure and stages of its creation, and specifies a strategy of its writing. Then the article illustrates how ChatGPT can be procedurally employed in academic writing classrooms. Every stage of creating a problem-solving essay is instantiated with corresponding examples of how ChatGPT assists in this. The paper also discloses feasible limitations for students when using ChatGPT to produce academic essays and warns against over-reliance on this chat.

Conclusion. Besides, this article offers possible implications for further research in the realm of utilizing AI when acquiring academic writing proficiency by students completing a master’s degree.