Writing in the Age of AI: Redesigning Critical Reading and Writing for the Contemporary Scholar
Graduate students in social work are entering a research and practice environment shaped by rapid shifts in how knowledge is generated, organised, and communicated. Artificial intelligence tools are already embedded in how many students read, write, and think, often without clear institutional guidance on how to use them responsibly or strategically. Some institutional responses have been prohibitive, positioning AI as a threat to academic integrity and discouraging its use.
This approach does not reflect the realities students are already navigating.
When I redesigned the Critical Reading and Writing course in September 2025, I positioned the ethical and strategic integration of AI as a core learning outcome. The question guiding the redesign was not whether students would use AI, but whether they would know how to use it critically, transparently, and in ways that strengthened rather than replaced their own thinking.
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The redesigned course positions writing as a process of thinking, analysis, and discovery, moving students from personal reflection to sustained academic argument and synthesis. What distinguishes this version of the course is the deliberate integration of AI as a tool within that intellectual process.
From Week 3 onward, students engage with AI as part of their writing practice. This engagement is structured and accountable. Students are required to document their use of AI, describe their prompting strategies, and explain how they incorporated AI into their work alongside the decisions they made independently. This documentation ensures that AI functions as a support for thinking rather than a substitute for it.
Students are taught to use AI for idea generation, argument development, structural organisation, and revision. At the same time, they are required to critically evaluate AI-generated responses, identify limitations, and assert their own analytical authority. The course emphasises that the presence of AI does not change the expectations of academic work, but it does require a more explicit articulation of process, authorship, and responsibility.
Ethical engagement is addressed directly. Students examine issues of transparency, disclosure, bias, and the non-neutrality of AI systems. They are required to situate their use of AI within these broader considerations, developing both practical competence and an ethical framework for its use in academic and professional contexts.
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This redesign strengthens students’ ability to write with clarity, rigour, and confidence at the graduate level. It also equips them with a set of competencies that extend beyond conventional writing instruction.
Students develop the capacity to:
use AI strategically as a tool for thinking and revision without becoming dependent on it
document their writing process transparently and account for their intellectual decisions
critically evaluate AI-generated content and identify its limitations
maintain ownership of their analytical voice in a context where machine-generated text is increasingly present
engage ethical questions related to authorship, responsibility, and knowledge production
As a result, students are better prepared to navigate academic and professional environments in which AI is already shaping how knowledge is produced and communicated.
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This approach is transferable across graduate programmes seeking to respond constructively to the integration of AI in academic writing. The framework is grounded in three principles: ethical integration rather than prohibition, accountability through documentation, and strategic use rather than passive consumption.
These principles can be adapted to a wide range of disciplines and institutional contexts. The approach does not require specialised resources, as the tools are widely accessible and the pedagogical model can be integrated into any writing-intensive course.
At a time when universities are still developing formal policies on AI, this course provides a working pedagogical model that engages the issue proactively and with academic integrity.
Writing in the Age of AI
Evidence
As part of the course design, students maintained a Weekly Writing Portfolio across the semester, submitting short writing tasks each week alongside AI reflection notes documenting how they used AI tools, what prompting strategies they developed, and what decisions they made independently. The four samples below are drawn from submitted portfolios, included with written student permission, and offer a view of the AI integration framework as it was actually practised across the semester.
Student Sample A: Returning to Academic Writing
Student Sample B: Reclaiming an Academic Voice
Student Sample C: Writing Independently, Using AI Carefully
Student Sample D: Finding an Academic Voice Without Losing Your Own
What Students Are Saying
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My experience on learning to write with Ai was nothing short of profound. Prior to, Ai for me was just a tool you used to find out things, you may not be able to readily ask Google for, as well as better structuring my sentences. However, after being taught how to navigate Ai, it has expanded my thinking and shifted my knowledge on usage from merely asking questions, to utilizing it as a tool that pulls on my own voice, and challenges me to think deeply on an academic topic, rather than just generating information, that may actually not even be accurate. The course reminded me that I am the user, therefore, how and what I prompt, determines what I get. This was the major turning point for me and has been a great help since.
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Before the course, I viewed AI as a simple tool, like a dictionary, to rephrase or find information. After Dr. Rogers’ class, I began to see AI as an idea provocateur, pushing me to think more critically. Now, it is where I blurt out all my initial ideas; it helps me refine them and clarify my thinking. Instead of just retrieving answers, it challenges me to analyze more deeply, research with intention, and uncover new possibilities. This dialogue with AI pushes me to consider angles and insights I might have overlooked, refining both my ideas and academic practice.
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When I first heard about AI’s usage, it seemed like such a taboo topic. I remember some of my lecturers would be completely against it, thus, I tried my best to stay away from it to avoid being penalized. I was very surprised when it was taught and I had absolutely no idea there were “responsible” ways to use it. Even now, I am still learning to use it as often times the spirit of cyah baddaness attacks me and I just want to feed everything into it and get the answers. However, I know better to just allow it to help with idea generation and to actually use it as an assistive tool, instead of using it to replace me as a person. Still very hard, but we’re getting there.