When we were at the College of Composition and Communications Conference (4Cs) in Louisville, KY, last week, Harvey Kail (author of this article) was part of a panel presentation on this project. The presenters talked about a research kit online that schools can adapt for their own use.
After going to that session and reading the article, I realized that, although we solicit feedback from our student writers every semester, it never occurred to me to ask tutors to fill out evaluations. And we could certainly use your input. I hope we're providing the training (sometimes on-the-run), support, and flexibility you need, but is the Writing Center making a difference on a larger scale?
Kail reported very positive results from his surveys, but it did raise a question for me. Do students most interested in writing center work start out with a willingness to work collaboratively, read critically, become a better listener, and join the larger academic community? Those skills may well have been honed to some degree, but do Writing Center tutors already come to the job with those aptitudes?
Whether you're a peer or ESL tutor, what influence does working here have on you academically, professionally, and interpersonally? Has your experience here affected your choice of career? What impact has it had on your sense of yourself as a writer?
After I attended the session I mentioned, I thought about setting up a Facebook page so past and former tutors could keep track of each other as often or as rarely as they want. What do you think?
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
"From the (writing) center to the edge: Moving writers along the Internet"
I know, I know: When considering computer technology, this article, by Muriel Harris, is ancient. But as we get more papers online, we're pushed to expand the ways and the media through which we tutor. I'd especially like to respond to three points that Harris makes:
1. She cites Coogan's reference to "epistolary education," in which students have to write via e-mail to get help with their writing. In our last post, Sarah Kosel made an excellent point about drawing student writers into conversation about their topic. She said (and I paraphrase) that once they become fired up about their ideas, they begin to focus on the message, not the possibility of a misplaced semi-colon. We can also do this online and, as Coogan writes, "infuse the act of writing with the sound of talking..." Ideally, our online students could get so caught up in the conversation that they'd forget they were writing.
2. I didn't check to see whether the Online Writery Harris alludes to still exists. I love its apparent philosophy of inclusion and egalitarianism, a sense that everybody has something worthwhile and important to say/write. There's a great generosity of spirit in that approach.
I was also struck by the point attributed to Crump: "Conversation itself is the thing, not a means to an end." It's like focusing on the journey more than the destination.
3. Although the "global information infrastructure" has been around for what seems like ages now (especially to you younger tutors), we still work with student writers who struggle to find legitimate sources through the Madonna databases. Anyone can Google for a quick fact check, but those who know where to look for scholarly, accurate, and reputable information sources are going to fare better than those who don't. We could use the gardening analogy (in honor of Marian, our Super-Duper-Master-Gardener) that healthy plants (brains) require healthy soil (high-quality information).
So what do you all think? Specifically, how could we use the Internet to expand our services and/or educational opportunities? What do you think about Crump's observation that "conversation is the thing"? How can we help our students find and identify more reliable online information?
1. She cites Coogan's reference to "epistolary education," in which students have to write via e-mail to get help with their writing. In our last post, Sarah Kosel made an excellent point about drawing student writers into conversation about their topic. She said (and I paraphrase) that once they become fired up about their ideas, they begin to focus on the message, not the possibility of a misplaced semi-colon. We can also do this online and, as Coogan writes, "infuse the act of writing with the sound of talking..." Ideally, our online students could get so caught up in the conversation that they'd forget they were writing.
2. I didn't check to see whether the Online Writery Harris alludes to still exists. I love its apparent philosophy of inclusion and egalitarianism, a sense that everybody has something worthwhile and important to say/write. There's a great generosity of spirit in that approach.
I was also struck by the point attributed to Crump: "Conversation itself is the thing, not a means to an end." It's like focusing on the journey more than the destination.
3. Although the "global information infrastructure" has been around for what seems like ages now (especially to you younger tutors), we still work with student writers who struggle to find legitimate sources through the Madonna databases. Anyone can Google for a quick fact check, but those who know where to look for scholarly, accurate, and reputable information sources are going to fare better than those who don't. We could use the gardening analogy (in honor of Marian, our Super-Duper-Master-Gardener) that healthy plants (brains) require healthy soil (high-quality information).
So what do you all think? Specifically, how could we use the Internet to expand our services and/or educational opportunities? What do you think about Crump's observation that "conversation is the thing"? How can we help our students find and identify more reliable online information?
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