Professor Metin Coşgel is piloting a new AI-integrated writing curriculum in economics, one of UConn’s largest majors, with the potential to shape how writing is taught across disciplines.

As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes classrooms and careers alike, UConn professor of economics Metin Coşgel is asking a deceptively simple question: Can generative AI help students become better writers?

The answer, Coşgel says, lies not just in what we ask students to produce, but in how we guide them through the writing process itself.

“AI can help with writing, but students need to be able to own their work and defend it along the way, not just generate a final paper at the end because the system allows it,” he says.

This fall, Coşgel will launch a redesigned version of ECON 2500W, a core writing-intensive course for UConn economics majors. Supported by a Teaching Enhancement Grant from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), the new curriculum integrates AI tools with traditional instruction to help students improve their writing, understand their learning process, and graduate with the skills needed for today’s workforce.