Text features associated with students’ generative AI use: Norwegian teachers’ perspectives

Frontiers in Education, vol. 11

Abstract

The release of generative AI tools has changed the way that educators interact with student writing, as they grapple with the problem of assessing texts for students’ use of generative AI. To investigate how teachers have responded, this article focusses on a qualitative content analysis of an open survey item in which a subset of 129 Norwegian teachers who participated in a larger survey ( N = 530) shared their perceptions of generative AI for writing. We analysed participants’ responses to identify features they associated with genAI use and their stances toward these features. We found that teachers emphasized language features indicative of voice and style when identifying aspects of student text that signalled AI use, and that they generally viewed AI-associated text characteristics negatively. Results revealed a tendency for teachers to associate suspected generative AI outputs with the absence or distortion of text features linked to authorial voice, critical reasoning, and conceptual understanding. The study's results highlight the need for further research into how students use genAI for school writing and the implications of their uses for core educational goals. Results also point to a need for enhanced teacher support, focusing on AI-mediated writing, for navigating the implementation of AI literacy policies.

Authors 4

1. Jill V. Jeffery Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

2. Gustaf Bernhard Uno Skar

   Norwegian University of Science and Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   The Norwegian Centre for Writing Education and Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

3. Anne Holten Kvistad

   Norwegian University of Science and Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   The Norwegian Centre for Writing Education and Research, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

4. Steve Graham

   Arizona State University

   Affiliation as printed

   Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, United States