Enhancing Higher Education Students’ Academic Writing Skills Through Pen and Paper in the Generative AI Era

The higher education sector is amid an interesting yet challenging time with the omnipresence of Generative Artificial Intelligence supposedly aiding university students in achieving academic success. While digital literacy is a must, a fundamental skill that higher education students need to possess and utilize to perform exceptionally is academic writing. This paper investigates how university students in Macao perform summary writing from sources in a test-like environment using pen and paper without the aid of technology. This exploratory action research case study comprised a small-sized quasi-experiment (i.e., a non-randomized controlled trial with a convenience sample), with a control and experimental group to investigate the effects of an initial summary essay task, pedagogy, and data collection instruments. Thirty-nine university students in Macao were tasked to write a summary essay in English. The cognitive processes of integrated reading-and-writing were found to be challenging and complex for the university students to perform in a limited time and without online devices. Results show their difficulties in writing that include paraphrasing, grammar, mechanics, and content among others. Pedagogical and practical implications reveal the urgent need to strengthen instruction in higher education academic writing to mitigate the threats of Generative AI in writing assessments across the curriculum.