How Process Checklists Support Student Writing Skills in the Age of AI

I learned how to assess process over product from a veteran home economics teacher while I was on a classroom visit (my school used the pineapple chart method). She had a checklist of things students needed to have done or be able to show before they asked her to evaluate their dish or sewing product. Students were given the checklist along with the standard and skills targeted in the project.

Each time students thought they completed the next step on the checklist, they needed to follow up with her. She told me that she started to do this to prevent wasting resources and because many students were making errors in their final products. The checklist helped students get on a path to show that they could meet or exceed the standards before they turned in their final assignment.

Her line of thinking can help all teachers who are struggling with the effects of AI in the classroom. This isn’t an article on how AI is bad and it’s terrible for this generation or how it’s making teaching harder. Rather, I hope to provide solutions for assessing student writing products that show evidence of organization and higher-order thinking like comprehension, application, analysis, evaluation, and creation.

11 ITEMS to Include on an Assessment Checklist

Give students a checklist that they will use to show completion of each task before they begin their final product. You could grade the checklist as part of the final product, or make the checklist mandatory before you accept the final product. The checklist can include the following points or others that better suit your assignment.

1. Students identify the rationale: Usually, teachers will provide the rationale to students, but I suggest you ask your students to do this instead. I’ve found that when students have to tell me why something we’re doing is important and how it’s connected to their life, they come up with more reasons than I do. You’d be surprised how many students are also worried about their overuse of AI for learning. Having them dig deep to discover why writing, researching, and making connections is meaningful can yield some interesting insights.

2. Initial questions: Students write a list of questions they have about their topic and the assignment by hand and share it with peers and their teacher. This shows students that teachers value curiosity—the investigation process is a journey, not just a paper that needs to be submitted.

3. Verbally explain the thesis or main points: Have students write their thesis or main points by hand. When they show them to you for review, they should be able to clearly explain how they came up with their ideas.

4. Time management plan: For example, a timeline for the work might contain the following categories and dates for when the work will be completed: brainstorm, research, outline, draft, feedback, revision, final.

5. Outline: Have students write an outline by hand and check it. Outlines are an important step that can be overlooked in the writing process. An outline would show the main idea broken down into steps or supporting details.

6. Random resource verbal checks: Once students have resources, they should be able to provide them and explain them to you at any given time after the research has been done. You might implement random research queries so that students understand there’s an expectation that they know how to summarize their sources verbally. Not all students need to be called up, but if you do this enough, your students will understand that it’s important for them to be able to summarize what they researched over just having a resource listed in their paper or presentation.

7. Note-taking as an essential step: Insist that students write notes in the margins of at least one summary comment, one question, and one connection per page of reading on their resources. If their resources can only be digital, then it’s fine to write these notes on paper. This shows students that teachers value deep interaction with a text. For another way to do this, try a dialectical journal—ask students to pull four to six quotes from an article and write commentary and questions about the quotes. This reinforces the concept that thinking about and interacting with the resources is the goal.

8. Random resource check: A teacher might ask a few students if they have physical copies of their resources and ask to see them just before it’s time to write. It’s a simple check for organization. Most students will have them, and this preparation gets them on the path for feeling successful in a new way of being evaluated for writing.

9. Student-made rubric check: Instead of giving students a previously prepared rubric or even making one with your students, I suggest having students create a rubric to evaluate the final product. Then, you can give them the one you made to check what they got right or see if anything is missing. This process gives students the opportunity to share insights about what they think is important for the final product and compare that with the actual learning standard.

10. First draft on paper: Give students time in class to write a first draft without a computer (unless there’s specific need for the student). Usually one class period is enough for them to get started. Here, you can spot-check with students to see who needs help developing their ideas. Additionally, your students might have an easier time focusing on writing without the distraction of an internet browser. If students are drafting a presentation, they could draw out the slides and jot down notes of what they might say on each slide.

11. First-draft revision groups: Have students read their paper or presentation aloud to a small group of peers. Students will be able to hear their own errors that they wouldn’t normally catch.