The Department of English, MKBU, organized a Five days long National Workshop from 27th January to 31st January- 2026 on Academic Writing. The workshop was conceptualized to address the critical intersection of natural intelligence and artificial intelligence in the realm of research and pedagogy. The event aimed to equip students, scholars, and faculty members with the skills to preserve innate writing abilities while ethically leveraging AI tools. So, this blog is part of our learning outcome reflection. Assigned by our Head of the Department Prof. Dilip Barad.
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Dr. Nigam Dave
Dr. Dave focused on the human-cyber-physical interface (HCPS) and the concept of AI hallucination. He shared that AI is built on probabilistic models and is not trained to say it does not know an answer, often leading it to fabricate data that looks statistically correct. He learned through his own errors that while AI resources are ready-to-use, they contain "traps" like fabricated citations from non-existent journals. He taught that AI should be used ethically as a tool for peripheral academic tasks, such as changing citation formats or micro-reading for punctuation errors, but warned that humans must remain "in the loop" to maintain relevance.
Link of Session:https://youtu.be/RJPlO9i96AM?list=TLGGj5ibmz-X1jAxOTAyMjAyNg
Dr. Kalyan Chattopadhyay
Dr. Chattopadhyay detailed the five principles of academic writing: formality, objectivity, clarity, precision, and the use of evidence. He taught the PIE structure (Point, Information/Evidence, Explanation/Interpretation) for logical paragraph construction. His sessions addressed the "uncomfortableness" Asian writers feel regarding authorial identity, advocating for the international standard of using the authorial "I" in abstracts and theses. He also taught the use of hedging strategies (using words like "appears" or "suggests") to express caution when findings are not absolute.
Link of Session:
https://youtu.be/NJ6cCYj709Q?list=TLGG4VQ2m76Pr1cxOTAyMjAyNg
https://youtu.be/cuOouQx_adM?list=TLGG3lD5wegRpJ8xOTAyMjAyNg
Professor Paresh Joshi
Professor Joshi distinguished between the "literature of knowledge" (academic writing) and the "literature of power" (imaginative writing like poetry), teaching that academic writing must be detached, objective, and scientific. He introduced prompt engineering, showing how to draft specific, context-rich inputs for AI to get desired outcomes. He highlighted strategies like chain of thought prompting and role-based prompting. He cautioned that AI lacks "vivek buddhi" (discerning wisdom) and that every AI-generated response must be fact-checked because the quality of output is entirely dependent on the quality of the input.
Link of Session: https://youtu.be/C7VXzNSys38?list=TLGGNIx5VS_zb_QxOTAyMjAyNg
Dr. Clement Ndoricimpa
Dr. Ndoricimpa’s primary focus was on the mechanics of publishing in Scopus and Web of Science indexed journals to increase research visibility and career advancement. He taught the IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) and specifically the "three moves" of a high-quality introduction: establishing a territory, identifying a niche (gap), and occupying that niche. A key lesson he imparted was the critical necessity of recent references; he noted that many student submissions lacked proper citations or used outdated ones, which often leads to journal rejection. He also demonstrated how to use Mendeley for accurate referencing.
Link of Session:
https://youtu.be/j7ii6l_MBZs?list=TLGGDuTY_cFwnHsxOTAyMjAyNg
https://youtu.be/H4IHwdT2kdk?list=TLGGx7Xcrq1R7bYxOTAyMjAyNg
Dr. Kalyani Vallath
Dr. Vallath presented academic writing as a practicable skill rather than an innate talent. She discussed the Zone of Proximal Development, where learning occurs in the intersection of what one can do alone and what one can do with help. Her sessions taught strategies like reverse planning—starting from the desired end structure of a thesis and filling in details—and free writing to discover concepts before formalizing them with theory. She also provided deep insights into UGC NET preparation, teaching that the exam has shifted from memory-based to analytical and inference-based questions, requiring "presence of mind" and strategy rather than just scholarly mugging up.
Link of Session:
https://youtu.be/E79dIfx0IgI?list=TLGGL0ZPIHIG4gYxOTAyMjAyNg
https://youtu.be/WCVs8nN3qBQ?list=TLGGl-bM1p8SwasxOTAyMjAyNg
https://youtu.be/PNAAMzD3OwQ?list=TLGGrBpWFdOU6VoxOTAyMjAyNg
https://youtu.be/3HUyFI4Eh7Y?list=TLGGhOKy1n4C8JExOTAyMjAyNg
Through the various sessions of the National Workshop on Academic Writing, students and research scholars acquired a broad range of theoretical, practical, and technical skills essential for high-standard scholarly work.
Understanding the Human-AI Collaboration
• AI Hallucination and Ethics: Students learned that AI operates on probabilistic models and is not trained to admit ignorance, leading to confident but fabricated data or "hallucinations". They were taught to be vigilant against "red herrings" such as fabricated citations from non-existent journals.
• Human in the Loop (HCPS): The concept of the Human-Cyber-Physical Interface (HCPS) was introduced, emphasizing that humans must remain "in the loop" to maintain academic credibility and relevance.
• Prompt Engineering: Professor Paresh Joshi taught that the quality of AI output is entirely dependent on the input. Students learned specific strategies like zero-shot, one-shot, and few-shot prompting, as well as chain-of-thought prompting to force the AI to show its reasoning steps.
• Peripheral Academic Use: Participants learned to use AI ethically for "redundant" or peripheral tasks, such as changing citation formats (e.g., MLA to APA), micro-reading for punctuation errors, and checking the novelty of research ideas.
Mastering Academic Writing Mechanics
• The Five Principles: Students were grounded in the core features of academic writing: formality, objectivity, clarity, precision, and evidence. They learned to replace colloquial language and contractions (like "don't" or "nasty") with formal alternatives ("do not" or "unappetising").
• Structural Frameworks: The IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) was detailed as the global standard for research papers. Specifically, they learned the "three moves" of a high-quality introduction: establishing a research territory, identifying a niche/gap, and occupying that niche.
• Authorial Identity: A significant lesson was the shift toward the international standard of using the authorial "I" in abstracts and theses to show visibility and commitment to ideas, moving away from the more traditional and impersonal Indian academic style.
• Logical Argumentation: Dr. Chattopadhyay introduced the PIE structure (Point, Information/Evidence, Explanation/Interpretation) for constructing logical paragraphs. Students also learned to use hedging (words like "appears" or "suggests") to express caution when findings are not absolute.
Research Strategy and Publication Standards
• High-Impact Publishing: Dr. Ndoricimpa emphasized the importance of publishing in Scopus and Web of Science indexed journals to ensure research visibility, professional recognition, and career advancement.
• Citation Management: Students learned the critical importance of using recent references (ideally within the last 5–10 years) to avoid rejection by top-tier journals. Practical training was provided on using Mendeley for accurate referencing.
• The Research Gap: Scholars learned that a literature review should not just be a summary but a synthesised argument that identifies what is unknown (the research gap) to justify their own contribution to knowledge.
Career and Exam Preparation (UGC NET)
• Strategic NET Preparation: Dr. Kalyani Vallath taught that the UGC NET has shifted from memory-based to analytical and inference-based questions. Students learned to be "calm and clever" in the exam hall, using presence of mind to find clues within questions rather than relying solely on scholarly "mugging up".
• Professional Skills: Beyond writing, students were encouraged to develop a "growth mindset," build a rich portfolio of evidence, and seek internships and mentorships to survive in a competitive, skill-based world.
• Effective Goal Setting: The SMART goal framework (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) was introduced to help students manage their research timelines effectively.
Individual Research Learning
• Specific scholars applied these lessons to their own work: We learned to navigate digital cartography software like Google Maps and QGIS; also gained clarity on maintaining a formal tone; and others learned to apply complex theories like surveillance capitalism and post-humanism to analyze modern texts and films.
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