Estimated time: ∼20 minutes (requires pre-assigned text and summary)
Description: Compare student-authored critical summary of a key course text with GenAI-produced summary. Using first the same prompt and then a revision of GenAI prompt, compare outputs, organization, language, and areas of focus.
Structure:
The day prior, ask students to read Graff and Birkenstein's "The Art of Summarizing" (They Say/I Say) alongside a course reading and write a short summary.
Possible prompt: In a brief paragraph, restate in your own words the major claim of this article. Make sure to focus on how the argument is made rather than what is being argued. The language of your summary should be independent of the original and contain few, if any, quotations. The summary must be accurate and complete, communicating your understanding of the text as a whole, the central claim and the main points that support it, and its purpose.
In class, ask students to upload a course text (PDF) or cut-and-paste text into the prompt box along with the same prompt used for the assignment. Compare their summary with the generated text.
Revise prompt and regenerate. Possibly: In a brief single paragraph of no more than 500 words restate in your own words the argument made in the attached document. Make sure to identify the author and attribute claims to the author. Reference the source by name, if possible. Focus on the author's central claim and the main points that support it. The language of a summary should be independent of the original and contain few, if any, quotations. The summary must be accurate and complete, communicating your understanding of the text as a whole and its purpose. Make sure to focus on how the argument is made rather than what is being argued.
Compare output with prior output and summary written by the student. Possibly ask students to swap their own summaries. Ask: What are the major differences and similarities? What key verbs are found in the different summaries (esp. if using Graff and Birkenstein). Are there different ways of organizing the summary? Different areas of focus?
Achieved learning outcome: Understanding that summarization is not just compression of information; evaluate role of critical subjectivity in summarization; differentiate between human-authored texts and generated outputs.