Anahita Riegler

The widespread use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption poses educational challenges for teaching academic writing. While teaching students ethical AI use is imperative, it is equally important to equip them with comprehensive academic writing skills, regardless of their access to AI resources. Considering the swift integration of AI technologies, employers will begin to place growing importance on promoting and emphasising the responsible and ethical application of AI. This presentation will address the integration of AI in teaching essay writing to first-year criminology students. In doing so, an innovative approach to teaching essay writing and educating first-year students on the strengths and limitations of generative AI was taken. Through this process, students were asked to prompt Copilot to produce the theory portion of their essay, uploading it onto the Learning Management System (LMS). Students were then taught to edit, reference, and supplement the material, and document their corrections. By engaging students in collaborative activities focused on ethical AI use, we fostered an inclusive environment. These activities also provided personalised feedback through AI, reducing academic disparities within our diverse cohort and promoting accessibility, inclusivity, and fairness.