ChatGPT in the Teaching of Academic Writing in Higher Education: Teachers' Perspectives on Its Uses, Challenges, and Future in Personalized Learning

Abstract

Given the growing use of artificial intelligence in academic writing, it is essential to systematize empirical evidence on its integration into pedagogical practices associated with teaching writing. However, there is still little research addressing how teachers perceive and use tools such as ChatGPT for these educational purposes. Therefore, this study explores the uses and beliefs about ChatGPT for teaching writing from the perspective of teachers at a private university in Lima, Peru. This qualitative study used a semi-structured interview with ten writing teachers who had already used this tool. Among the results, it was found that ChatGPT is mainly used in the final stage of text revision and correction, with little use in the planning stage; in general, it is used in a rather unreflective manner. Likewise, ChatGPT is considered advantageous as an assistant for personalizing learning; however, ethical risks and threats to critical thinking persist, all of which are integrated into four pedagogical scenarios (ideal zone, tense equilibrium zone, opportunity zone, and critical zone). Future scenarios were envisioned, such as the inclusion of specialized teaching in prompts and the establishment of a regulatory framework for ethics in AI.