Reflection

What were your initial thoughts or expectations about using ChatGPT and inquiry-based learning in this course?

My initial thought about ChatGPT was that it might be somewhat difficult to form a professional research paper, but at the same time, I also considered it as a new experience since we were asked to write essays by ourselves in Composition Class 1 and 2. As for inquiry-based learning, I initially thought it would be hard to deeply discuss a topic like a thesis, and I had never explored this area before.

How has your perception of inquiry-based learning and ChatGPT changed throughout the course?

My perception of inquiry-based learning quickly changed when our professor asked us to find a topic for our essay because I found it interesting while brainstorming. And I also found out that ChatGPT was a useful tool, especially on generating ideas, it provided some popular trends for me which made the process of coming up with a topic much smoother.

Reflect on a specific instance where inquiry-based learning or ChatGPT helped improve your writing performance. How did this experience impact your learning?

We did peer review when we finished a section of the essay, I thought ChatGPT helped a lot on revising. After peer review, there were always some aspects that could be improved. If I gave it the suggestions or prompts, it would immediately form a revised version and also marked places that be corrected. And most importantly, ChatGPT could help me do data analysis since there were so many responses, it was hard for me to analyze one by one. By using ChatGPT, it could summarize the data and thus fasten the process.

What challenges did you face when engaging in inquiry-based learning or using ChatGPT? How did you overcome these challenges?

While reviewing the papers generated by ChatGPT, there would be a few mistakes sometimes or the content didn’t match my expectations. I thought it was very important to review the whole content again and again. This action was not only to make sure of the accuracy of the essay but also to become more familiar with the content. I also felt confused at the beginning because it was the first time for me to conduct a project-based inquiry. But after the professor’s explanation, I had a better understanding of it, and thus I could develop a better research.

Overall, how do you think the integration of inquiry-based learning and ChatGPT has influenced your writing skills and overall learning experience?

I learned a lot when reading the papers generated by ChatGPT. Seeing the same content could be presented in different ways made me know more about composition. And inquiry-based learning helps me with critical thinking. I wasn’t good at critical thinking before, but after this semester, I considered more aspects of the topic and also have more ideas toward it. As I mentioned before, I like the process of brainstorming, it made me feel satisfied when there were lots of ideas coming out and gradually formed a complete essay.