Computers and Composition Sep 2026 Open Access

Threshold concepts for writing with AI: Experimentation, expertise, agency

Abram D. Anders Iowa State University ; Emily Dux Speltz Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University

Abstract

How does writing with generative AI transform our experiences as thinkers, learners, and communicators? This study investigates the question through threshold concepts, transformative ideas that prove troublesome yet shape disciplinary participation, previously identified in writing studies through retrospective analysis. We propose that technological disruption creates conditions for observing new concepts as they emerge within communities of practice. To test this approach, we designed an experimental “AI and Writing” course. Across two iterations (Fall 2023 and Fall 2024), 38 undergraduate students from 22 majors engaged in scaffolded challenges and self-directed projects, developing strategic approaches to AI-assisted composing. Analysis of students’ final reflections, using Meyer and Land’s characteristics as sensitizing criteria, revealed three concepts essential for productive AI engagement: writing with AI is an experimental process; writing with AI requires expertise and dialogue; and writing with AI should augment rhetorical agency. These transformations prove troublesome because they contradict expectations shaped by prior experience: better tools should require less effort, linguistic fluency signals substantive knowledge, and assistance either wholly helps or harms learning and development. The findings show how AI transforms perennial questions in writing studies and composition, and they offer insights for navigating the threshold between productive collaboration and problematic dependency.

Journal
Computers and Composition
Published
2026-09-01
DOI
10.1016/j.compcom.2026.103008
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Hybrid
Topics
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Greer (2026)
    Prompt engineering as pre-writing: Not writing with GenAI, writing before GenAI
    Computers and Composition

References (28) · 9 in this index

  1. Adler-Kassner (2012)
    The value of troublesome knowledge: Transfer and threshold concepts in writing and history
    Composition Forum
  2. Adler-Kassner (2015)
    Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies
  3. Adler-Kassner (2020)
    Editors’ Introduction: Threshold concepts, naming what we know, and reconsidering our sha…
    (Re)Considering what we know: Learning thresholds in writing, composition, rhetoric, and literacy
  4. Anders, A.D., & Dux Speltz, E. (2023, October 13). Ethical Academic Use of AI [Substack newsletter]. Communic…
  5. Anders (2024)
    A Human-in-the-loop Approach: Designing an AI-assisted workflow. Teaching Repository of AI-Infused Learning, 8
Show all 28 →
  1. Anders (2025)
    Developing generative AI literacies through self-regulated learning: A human-centered approach
    Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence
  2. Bazerman (2015)
    Concept 2: Writing speaks to situations through recognizable forms
    Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies
  3. Bearman (2023)
    Learning to work with the black box: Pedagogy for a world with artificial intelligence
    British Journal of Educational Technology  ↗
  4. Dryer (2015)
    Concept 5: Writing is (Also Always) a cognitive activity
    Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies
  5. Dux Speltz (2024)
    Applying Advanced Generative AI Prompting Techniques. TextGenEd: Continuing Experiments
  6. Gries (2019)
    Writing to Assemble Publics: Making Writing Activate, Making Writing Matter
    College Composition and Communication
  7. Jiang (2024)
    When generative artificial intelligence meets multimodal composition: Rethinkin…
    Computers and Composition
  8. Knowles (2024)
    Machine-in-the-loop writing: Optimizing the rhetorical load
    Computers and Composition
  9. Lim et al. (2025)
    Editorial for special issue: Digital multimodal composing in the era of artific…
    Computers and Composition
  10. Mahowald (2024)
    Dissociating language and thought in large language models
    Trends in Cognitive Sciences  ↗
  11. Meyer (2005)
    Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a co…
    Higher Education  ↗
  12. Mollick
  13. Overstreet (2022)
    Writing as extended mind: Recentering cognition, rethinking tool use
    Computers and Composition
  14. Pandey et al. (2025)
    Large language models and digital multimodal composition in the first-year comp…
    Computers and Composition
  15. Ranade et al. (2024)
    Introduction: Composing with generative AI
    Computers and Composition
  16. Roozen (2015)
    Concept 1: Writing is a social and rhetorical activity
    Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies
  17. Rose (2015)
    Concept 4: All writers have more to learn
    Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies
  18. Scott (2015)
    Concept 3: Writing enacts and creates identities and ideologies
    Naming what we know: Threshold concepts of writing studies
  19. Tate (2023)
    Educational research and AI-generated writing: Confronting the coming tsunami
    EdArXiv
  20. Vetter et al. (2024)
    Towards a framework for local interrogation of AI ethics: A case study on text …
    Computers and Composition
  21. Wang et al. (2025)
    A posthumanist approach to AI literacy
    Computers and Composition
  22. Wardle (2020)
    (Re)Considering what we know learning thresholds in writing, composition, rhetoric, and literacy
  23. Wenger (1998)
    Communities of practice: Learning, meanings and identity
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related articles

  1. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  2. College Composition and Communication Sep 2025
    From Cheating to Cheat Codes: Integrating Generative AI Ethics into Collaborative Learning ↗
    Kristi Girdharry
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism writing pedagogy argument collaborative writing writing centers artificial intelligence literacy studies
  3. Pedagogy Jan 2024
    The Radical Role of Student Writing in Composition ↗
    Jessica Masterson
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing professional writing grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing
  4. Composition Forum 2023
    Student to Scholar: Mentorship, Recontextualization, and the Threshold of Scholarly Publication in Rhetoric and Composition ↗
    Lindsey Ives and Linnea Spitzer
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory first-year composition graduate education teacher development threshold concepts editorial matter
  5. Pedagogy Jan 2022
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory discourse analysis african american rhetorics decolonial rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing writing across the curriculum graduate education teacher development argument collaborative writing transfer assessment portfolios writing program administration writing centers peer tutoring technical communication professional writing archival research digital rhetoric social media grammar and mechanics literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies public rhetoric community literacy literary studies editorial matter