Color-Coding Strategy to Improve Student Written Argumentation
| Category | Writing assignments Artfully steering around the use of generative AI |
| Instructors | Amie Patchen, Lecturer |
| Kim Scholl, Writing and Academic Support Specialist | |
| Department | Public and Ecosystem Health |
| College | College of Veterinary Medicine |
| Course | VTPEH 6107 – One Health/Planetary Health |
| Discipline | Public Health |
| Course-level | First Year Master’s Students |
| Course size | 50 students |
| Implemented | Fall 2023 |
Learning Outcomes Targeted
Constructing Evidence-based Arguments
Academic and Persuasive Writing Skills
Systems-thinking
Deductive Reasoning
Brief Summary
A simple but powerful intervention asks students to color-code their written text to indicate how claims are supported with evidence. Each claim is assigned a color and students use the same color to mark the corresponding evidence; for example, a student could highlight a claim about increasing mosquito populations in a blue color, and then also mark the supporting evidence about mosquitos in blue. This strategy limits the potential use of generative AI in student writing while reinforcing learning objectives. It also provides a new way for students to visualize and map out the argumentation and organization of a piece of academic writing. Surprisingly, it led to a range of unanticipated benefits for students and faculty alike, such as helping students to see the gaps in their argumentation, as well as making it easier for instructors to give feedback.
Using this color-coding strategy on its own may not be fully accessible to learners who have a form of color blindness or low vision. Instructors could use other ways of coding the claims instead of or in addition to this strategy; for example, using the same number/symbol for the claim and evidence.
Context
Master of Public Health students must develop skills to construct and communicate evidence-based written arguments using a “claim-evidence-reasoning” framework. Additionally, they need to communicate how different parts of a system interact and present evidence for interventions that can change public health outcomes. Students who use generative AI during this learning process bypass critical learning experiences and risk spreading bias and false information. Given the importance of learning evidence-based argumentation and generative AI’s ability to circumvent a student’s own thinking and writing in this area, this strategy explicitly sought to minimize its use. At the same time, even if the student incorporated AI-generated text, the assignment design necessitated their critical and thoughtful engagement with that text regardless. In this way, core learning objectives were still met, and students practiced developing deductive reasoning and constructing written argumentation.
Implementation
“We give students paper copies and colored markers or crayons and ask them to work with a partner to identify the separate pieces of the claim and list the necessary evidence. I have found that doing it together on paper is more effective than on the computer, because they point to the words and pick up different color markers, and I can see what they’re doing when I walk around.” Amie Patchen, instructor
Color-coding was used in three assignments, and also during instruction and in-class activities throughout the semester. Implementation follows an “I do, we do, you do” method, where instructors demonstrate the concept before the class works together as a group. Finally, students work on color-coding their own work. Instructors ask students to color-code their written essays first by hand, in ways that visually align arguments with their supporting evidence. Workshopping in small groups encourages students to both provide and receive feedback from one another.
Challenges
Color-coding does not completely prevent students from using generative AI, nor does it teach them how to use AI in their work.
“We are still working on how to teach students to make use of generative AI tools while also learning how to analyze interactions across systems and support their ideas with evidence, which will be key skills in their future careers in public health.” Amie Patchen, instructor
Reflection and Future Directions
For students, color-coding their essays to match arguments with evidence and clear reasoning allowed them to quickly visualize and analyze their work. Did they support their claims with evidence? Is their essay organized clearly? This analytical activity provided an easy way for students to evaluate their work and identify and repair any gaps before submitting it.
“It has substantially improved students’ written work and helped develop their ability to fully support their claims with evidence.” Amie Patchen, instructor
“…the color-coding reduced grading time and provided instructors an opportunity to focus on more formative and substantive feedback…”
Amie Patchen
This extra step reinforced foundational learning and critical competencies while reducing – though not erasing altogether – opportunities to use or rely on generative AI. For faculty, the color-coding reduced grading time and provided instructors an opportunity to focus on more formative and substantive feedback, while allowing them to easily identify students who were struggling with foundational learning.
Future work may focus on how learners can incorporate generative AI while also developing these critical and necessary foundational skills. For example, generative AI may help students reframe their work for other audiences or help with the refinement of language. Color-coding could also be used to evaluate text produced by generative AI.
How to Implement This in Your Class
Classes that incorporate academic writing and evidence-supported argumentation across the disciplines can incorporate color-coding strategies into their teaching practice. Likewise, readings and peer review activities could adopt a similar kind of “claim-evidence-reasoning” thinking and identification technique, breaking down written work into a sum of its parts. These exercises can help students along their path toward becoming critically-minded writers and thinkers and help teach the construction techniques for clear written communication.
Some options include bringing colored highlighters or pencils to class and asking students to color-code a published text as a way to analyze the argumentation. You could also ask them to bring a draft of their assignment to class and color-code it themselves or as part of peer feedback. A next step could be to ask them to color-code an assignment submitted online by highlighting and changing the color of the text.