Incorporating AI-Administered Personalized Feedback in an Inquiry-Based Learning EFL Writing Class

In an academic writing class using inquiry-based learning, ChatGPT-3.5 was used to provide personalized feedback to 95 female undergraduate native speakers of Arabic. Throughout the semester, students completed four essays by engaging in two weeks of student-led, in-class essay writing workshops, followed by entering their work into ChatGPT-3.5 with the prompt “correct my grammar.” Students were to complete reflections on the types of errors found and how to use this information to improve future writing. Students either submitted the required reflection or incorrectly provided an AI-generated response. Completing reflections were significantly related to higher essay-writing grades in the handwritten final exam. This relationship was also found with grammar sub-scores within the total essay grade. No relationships were found with class attendance alone. Results suggest that AI-generated feedback can assist EFL learners in improving their writing in an inquiry-based learning course, but only if they choose to engage in related critical-thinking exercises.