Ai Augmented Tools and Their Influence On Academic Writing Skills In Higher Education

Abstract

ABSTRACT newlineThis study investigates the effectiveness of AI-augmented writing tools in strengthening academic writing proficiency among second-year undergraduate students from STEM and Agriculture disciplines across Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The research draws on the Cognitive Process Models, Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Natural Intelligence (NI) paradigm to address persistent challenges in task interpretation, grammatical accuracy, coherence, lexical sophistication and metacognitive regulation that often limit students academic communication. A quasi- experimental mixed-methods design was adopted, involving a sample of 400 participants from six higher education institutions who completed pre- and post-test writing tasks assessed across six parameters: Task Achievement, Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource, Grammatical Range and Accuracy, Planning and Drafting, and Self-Regulation. Over a six-week intervention period, students participated in scaffolded writing workshops that incorporated multiple AI platforms such as Grammarly, ChatGPT, ProWritingAid, Wordvice AI, Hemingway Editor, Turnitin, QuillBot and Thesaurus within iterative drafting activities, peer exchanges and guided reflection. The reliability of the research instruments was confirmed through strong internal consistency (Cronbach s and#945; gt 0.80). newlineQualitative analyses of essays, reflection logs, interviews and student perceptions revealed clear improvement in task focus, vocabulary range, logical flow, engagement with feedback, metacognitive awareness and ethical understanding of AI use. Students noted that real-time diagnostics encouraged deeper revision while teachers observed greater autonomy and reflective engagement in writing. Quantitative findings supported these observations, as paired- sample t-tests demonstrated statistically significant improvement across all six writing parameters. Agriculture students recorded marginally higher gains in coherence and self- regulation