Can AI support students' development in early writing instruction?

In the Aidentity research project, an AI chatbot will be adapted to support students’ writing without writing for them, thereby opening opportunities to explore their own voice, style, and creativity in the writing process through targeted support and feedback.

Motivational feedback as a key element

In the project, the researchers will first examine existing research on engaging feedback and produce a systematic review. This will help establish the foundation for identifying what kinds of feedback are perceived as motivating and engaging for students in the age group the chatbot is designed to support.

High‑quality feedback that gives students motivation for further learning and a desire to learn is important for both students and teachers. Instructing the chatbot to provide such feedback, in order to create positive conditions for writing practice, will therefore be a central focus of the project, says Associate Professor Bente Walgermo.

Developing a new language model

In the project, the researchers will use a dedicated AI tool tailored to the school context and the student group participating in the study. Here, the chatbot will be limited to asking questions about the texts the students write. It will then be further developed so that the chatbot becomes capable of identifying and acknowledging relevant qualities in a student text, and subsequently generating open, academically grounded questions that support further text development.

This is why the software company Trigram AS is part of the project. Kevin B. Unhammar and David L. Knudsen from the company look forward to contributing to the research project.

-We are both more than usually passionate about reading and writing, so it will be exciting to contribute to helping children and young people experience greater mastery of writing and strengthen their ability to express their own thoughts and opinions, say Unhammar and Knudsen from Trigram.

Artificial intelligence is here to stay

The digitalization of society will continue, and the same is true for artificial intelligence — which has also made its way into schools to a significant extent.

Those who wonder how digitalization in schools could happen so quickly can now look at the introduction of AI. It is a showcase for the same mechanisms. We must first investigate how AI tools promote learning before we send them into schools, says project leader and Professor Per Henning Uppstad at the Norwegian Reading Centre.

In the project, the chatbot will be tested by fifth- and sixth‑grade students from schools in Sola Municipality, as well as by students from Fjelltun School in Strand.