Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

IW: Writing with AI (Face-to-Face)

ENGL 2010-01

Course: ENGL 2010-01
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: ENGL
CRN: 32226

Course Description

This course emphasizes the development of an effective academic style in argumentative essays that makes use of traditional rhetorical patterns, culminating in a major research paper. This specific section is titled "Writing with AI," and it covers how to write with and about generative artificial intelligence.

Required Texts

There are no texts to purchase for this course. All texts/readings will be available through Canvas.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Sources and Evidence: Locate, evaluate, and integrate credible and relevant sources to achieve various writing purposes.
  2. Genre Awareness: Demonstrate critical and conceptual awareness of genre in reading and writing—including organization, content, presentation, formatting, and stylistic choices.
  3. Context and Purpose: Analyze rhetorical situations and adapt to the audience, purpose, modalities, and the circumstances surrounding a range of reading and writing tasks.
  4. Language Awareness and Usage: Recognize and make intentional, critical, and contextually-informed language choices across a range of rhetorical contexts/situations.
  5. Recursive Writing Processes: Develop flexible, iterative, and reflective processes for invention, drafting, workshopping, and revision.

Course Requirements

Grading: 
5% AI Experimentation and Reflection Journals
5% Short Responses
5% Weekly Check-Ins
5% Rough Drafts
5% Peer Reviews
5% Professor Conferences
20% AI as Writing Partner Essay 
20% Research Proposal 
5% Research Proposal Reflection Questionnaire
20% Research Paper
5% Research Paper Reflection Questionnaire

Grading scale: A= 90-100%; B+=87-89%; B=80-86%; C+= 77-79%; C=70-76%; D+= 67-69%  D= 60-66%; F= 59% or lower

Assignments: 
AI Experimentation and Reflection Journals
You will maintain a journal that documents and reflects on significant interactions with AI tools, for course credit. Document your prompts, the AI’s responses, and how the response was used. If you have a lengthy conversation with the AI, you may use an ellipsis to truncate its response, but you must include your own prompts in full, without any omission. Through such documentation and reflection, you will contribute to a knowledge base of best practice and help others learn from your experiences. Your usage journal will be due every week; it must include your AI usage from this class, but it can also include AI usage outside of this class. 

To receive credit for your journal it must: contain documentation and reflection on at least 3 interactions with an AI tool. This includes providing prompts/responses, and your reflections on those interactions.

Short Responses
These are brief, informal writings due at the beginning of class that ensure you come to class prepared for the day’s discussion and/or activity. Specific prompts will be provided on Canvas.

Weekly Check-Ins
The Weekly Check-In is a worksheet that will be due by the start of class every Monday (starting on Week 2). The Check-Ins will report on what you did and learned the previous week (attendance, participation, what you learned, what you’re confused about). This will allow you both to take stock of what you are learning in class, provide accountability for your attendance and contributions to the class, and offer you the opportunity to communicate to me any challenges or difficulties you may encounter. The check-ins will be graded based on completion (i.e. did you answer all parts of the worksheet honestly). These worksheets will take the place of an attendance or participation grade. I will still take attendance but it will not be built into the course grade.

Yes, this means that, theoretically, you could never attend, but still turn in all the Weekly Check-Ins and get full credit for that portion of your final grade. However, I would strongly advise against this for at least 2 reasons: (1) you will miss out on important information, discussions, and materials that will be vital for your success in the course, including peer reviews; and (2) at the end of the semester, if your grade is “on the bubble” (e.g. 68, 78, 88, etc.), your lack of attendance/participation will make it highly unlikely that I will bump your grade up to the next letter grade.

Rough Drafts
Rough drafts will be submitted for all major essays. Rough drafts will receive feedback from both instructor and peers. Rough Drafts are graded based on completion and timely submission. Late submitted drafts, partial drafts, or paper outlines will not receive credit.

Peer Reviews
Peer reviews will be completed on all major essays. Your grade will be determined based on the quality and thoroughness of the review you write for your peer.

Professor Conferences
There will be 3 scheduled one-on-one conferences with me during the semester. These are opportunities to get targeted help and feedback on your writing and revision plans. You are welcome to meet with me beyond these 3 scheduled and required conferences.

AI as Writing Partner Essay 
A 2-page essay that explores what it means to collaborate with artificial intelligence as a writing partner. Rather than using AI as a final editing tool, you’ll work with it throughout your entire writing process. This assignment will help you develop awareness of your own writing process while experimenting with new forms of intellectual collaboration.

Research Proposal 
For this assignment, you will write a 5-page formal proposal for a research paper on a topic related to the course theme.

Research Proposal Reflection Questionnaire
A Reflection Questionnaire that asks you to reflect on your writing experience for the Research Proposal.
Research Paper
An original argumentative 10-page research paper on a topic of your choosing that relates to the course topic.

Research Paper Reflection Questionnaire
A Reflection Questionnaire that asks you to reflect on your writing experience for the Research Paper.

Course Outline

Disclaimer: Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor. In the event that there are changes to the syllabus, I will notify you both in-person and electronically.

Course Schedule:

Week 1
W 8/27
Overview of course expectations and policies

F 8/29
Read: Janelle Shane, "What Is AI?" from You Look Like a Thing and I Love You (PDF)

Week 2 
M 9/1
No class – Labor Day

W 9/3
Read: “Student Guide to AI” (PDF)

F 9/5
Overview of AI as Writing Partner Essay 

Week 3 
M 9/8
Read: Ian Bogost, “ChatGPT is Dumber Than You Think” (PDF)

W 9/10
Read: James Bridle, “The Stupidity of AI” (link in Canvas)

F 9/12
Writing Workshop Day

Week 4 
M 9/15
Read: Lauren M. Goodlad and Samuel Baker, “Now the Humanities Can Disrupt AI” (link in Canvas)

W 9/17
Writing Instruction Day: Introductions

F 9/19
Due: Rough Draft: AI as Writing Partner Essay 

Week 5 
M 9/22
Read: Jane Rosenzweig, “What Happens When a Novice Writer Asks ChatGPT for Editing Advice?” (link in Canvas)

W 9/24
Writing Instruction Day: Thesis Statements

F 9/26
Writing Workshop Day

Week 6  – Professor Conferences #1
M 9/29
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)

W 10/1
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)

F 10/3
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)


Week 7 
M 10/6
Due: Final draft ofAI as Writing Partner Essay 

Overview of Research Proposal

W 10/8
Writing Instruction Day: Using and Citing Sources

F 10/10
Writing Workshop Day

Week 8 
M 10/13
No Class – Fall Break

W 10/15
Read: Tom Bartlett, “The Worst Internet-Research Ethics Violation I Have Ever Seen” (PDF)

F 10/17
Due: Rough Draft of Research Proposal

Week 9
M 10/20
Read: Anne Kadet, “I Love My New Friend Ray. The Only Problem: He’s Not Real” (PDF)

W 10/22
Writing Instruction Day: Counterarguments

F 10/24
Writing Workshop Day

Week 10 
M 10/27
Red: Kevin Roose and Casey Newton, “Everyone Is Using AI for Everything. Is That Bad?” (PDF)

W 10/29
Read: Martin Gurri, “Will You Be a Dancing Monkey in the Age of AI?” (PDF)

F 10/31
Due: Final Draft of Research Proposal

Week 11
M 11/3
Overview of Research Paper
Due: Research Proposal Reflection Questionnaire

W 11/5
Writing Instruction Day: Organization and Flow

F 11/7
Writing Workshop Day

Week 12 – Professor Conferences #2
M 11/10
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)

W 11/12
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)

F 11/14
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)

Week 13 
M 11/17
Writing Instruction Day: Conclusions

W 11/19
Writing Workshop Day

F 11/21
Due: Rough Draft of Research Paper

Week 14 
11/24-11/28 – No Class – Thanksgiving Break

Week 15 – Professor Conferences #3
M 12/1
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)

W 12/3
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)

F 12/5
Last Day of Classes
Individual Professor Conferences (sign-up on Canvas)


Finals Week:
Wednesday, Dec. 10 @ 5 pm – Final Research Papers due

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

You will turn in most of your major assignments online. It is your responsibility to make sure that your submission goes through, which means going back after you have uploaded your assignment to double check that it is there. Computer problems are not a valid excuse for late or missing work. If you are having trouble uploading an assignment from your home computer, go to the library and upload it from there. Plan ahead.
 
Major assignments that are turned in late will be deducted 10% for each 24-hour-period after the stated deadline. In-class work cannot be made-up.
 
Extensions are negotiable. If you anticipate needing more time for an assignment, you must get in touch with me at least two days before the assignment is due. Together we will arrive at a later due date. I will hold you to that new due date and deduct points if you miss it. Do not email me the day before something is due to ask for an extension; I will refuse. Plan ahead. I reserve the right to refuse extensions.

Attendance Policy

While regular attendance is expected and is crucial to your success in the course, there is no explicit grade or penalty for attendance.

AI Policies

Generative AI Policies
Three Principles: Generative AI (artificial intelligence that can produce content) is now widely available to produce text, images, and other media. I encourage the use of such AI resources to inform you about the field, to understand the contributions that AI can make, and to help your learning. However, keep the following three principles in mind: (1) an AI cannot pass this course; (2) AI contributions must be attributed and true; (3) the use of AI resources must be open and documented.

To pass this course: AI generated submissions cannot achieve a passing grade. This is necessary to ensure that you are competent to surpass generative AI in the future – whether in academia, research, the workplace, or other domains of society.

Openness: I encourage you to use AI tools to explore the field, play with knowledge, and help you study. But you need to be open about this, and document your use.

General writing: In principle you may submit material that contains AI-generated content, or is based on or derived from it, as long as this use is properly documented. This includes, for example, drafting an outline, preparing individual sections, combining elements and removing redundant parts, and compiling and annotating references. Your documentation must make the process transparent – the submission itself must meet standards of attribution and validation. 

Referencing and validating: You are taking full responsibility for AI-generated materials as if you had produced them yourself: ideas must be attributed and facts must be true.

AI and Factual Accuracy: AI is prone to writing factually incorrect statements, inventing fake quotes from real sources, and inventing entirely fake sources. It is your responsibility to double-check that any AI-assisted work you submit is free from these errors. Work containing obvious factual errors or fictitious quotes or sources will be marked as incomplete. If the problematic work is a major essay, you will be allowed to rewrite and resubmit it within the deadlines stipulated on the syllabus. If the problematic work is in any other type of assignment, you will not be allowed to rewrite or resubmit it. Submitting more than one assignment with these types of errors will result in you failing the class.

Technology in the classroom: 
This course will require you to use your laptop and/or cell phone during class time. Research suggests that the human brain is not as excellent at multitasking as we think it is. Please be respectful of your classmates and restrict your use of digital devices to course content only. If I see that you or your peers are distracted, I will ask you to put your devices away or ask you to leave the class. I understand that your devices connect you to your friends and family (a wonderful thing!) but the classroom should be a place apart, however briefly (even if it seems like an eternity to you), from the outside world and distractions. You will learn more if you concentrate on the course while you are here and your classmates will thank you for not impeding their ability to learn.

General Grading Rubric for Major Essays
If you want to be competitive in the job market, you now need to be better at reading, writing, researching, and critical thinking than Large Language Model AIs such as Chat GPT.  To set the bar for outpacing AI, submitted writing that exhibits the characteristics of AI-generated writing is the standard for a failing grade in this course. AI-level work is defined as any assignment that is vague, generic, poorly researched, includes factually inaccurate information, and offers little relevant textual evidence. Submitted work that exhibits these characteristics—whether you wrote them with AI or not—will earn a maximum of 50% credit. 

Below is the general grading rubric for this course. Please see Canvas for specific assignment rubrics.
  • A-level work (90-100): Assignments are exceptionally well-crafted, thoughtfully researched with a mix of credible secondary popular and scholarly sources, include new or compelling ideas that are thoroughly developed, and offer relevant textual evidence with accompanying analysis.
  • B-level work (80-89): Assignments are well-crafted, thoughtfully researched with credible popular secondary sources but few scholarly sources, include new or compelling ideas that need further development, and offer relevant textual evidence that may need further analysis.
  • C-level work (70-79): Assignments are hastily crafted, foundationally researched and cited with some credible secondary sources but few to no scholarly sources, include new or compelling ideas that are poorly explained, and offer some textual evidence that needs further analysis.
  • D-level work (60-69): Assignments are sloppily crafted, chaotically researched and cited with many tertiary sources, include rote information, and offer minimal textual evidence.
  • AI-level work (50 and below): Assignments are vague, generic, poorly researched, include factually inaccurate information, and offer little relevant textual evidence.

Course Fees

HSS Standard Course Fee: $12

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.