Group items tagged

Present Tense: A Journal of Rhetoric in Society is a peer-reviewed, blind-refereed, online journal dedicated to exploring contemporary social, cultural, political and economic issues through a rhetorical lens. In addition to examining these subjects as found in written, oral and visual texts, we wish to provide a forum for calls to action in academia, education and national policy. Seeking to address current or presently unfolding issues, we publish short articles ranging from 2,000 to 2,500 words, the length of a conference paper. For sample topics please see our submission guidelines. Conference presentations on topics related to the journal's focus lend themselves particularly well to this publishing format. Authors who address the most current issues may find a lengthy submission and application process disadvantageous. We seek to overcome this issue through our shortened response time and by publishing individual articles as they are accepted. We also encourage conference-length multimedia submissions such as short documentaries, flash videos, slidecasts and podcasts. In order to foster dialogue, our journal features a Reader Response section in which both contributors and readers are welcome to discuss the publications' content in a public, digital space.

discussing what we say we do (better writers) and what we might end up doing (better papers)

The Journal of Response to Writing is an international, peer-reviewed journal for writing theorists, researchers, and practitioners of Second and Foreign Language Instruction, Applied Linguistics, and Composition to make quality contributions to the study of response to writing.  While we value traditional forms of response, including marginal notes, face-to-face interactions, electronic feedback, self-reflection, and peer review, we also value and encourage the research of alternative response methods, purposes, and practices. The journal is open-access This journal responds to a growing need and interest for additional scholarly venues to publish articles about writing theory and response practices that allow for a cross-disciplinary discussion of response to writing. The focus on response is intentional since nearly all forms of writing benefit from response, and responding to writing is perhaps the most time-consuming responsibility of a writing teacher. Therefore, understanding the theory and best pedagogical practices for response can benefit the writer while maximizing a responder's effectiveness and efficiency. This journal is meant to fill these needs by crossing disciplinary divides and providing an additional publication venue for writing theory and response practice.

a discussion of how we distinguish between teaching and tutoring (and whether we should); see also: http://lyris.ttu.edu/read/messages?id=559076 for continuation of discussion

Praxis Editorial BoardThe University of Texas at Austin Part of who we are as writing center practitioners is defined for us by the job titles that we're given. While the most common titles-coach, consultant, and tutor-carry their own advantages, none of them is entirely free of negative connotations.

Chris LeCluyse - University of Texas at Austin "How can we balance training in writing center theory and practice without leaving our values at the door? Empowerment. Collaboration. Equality. More than many academic departments and services, writing centers are driven by their values. As writing center practitioners, we judge ourselves according to how we apply those values in working with writers."

From Praxis: "Susan Mueller - A corporate assessment model offers a fresh approach to evaluating consultant training programs and consultations themselves. How many times have you watched struggling students leave your writing center and wondered how much they got out of the conference you just had with them? It is hard to know."

From Praxis: "Welcome to Praxis: A Writing Center Journal. We are a new publication devoted to the interests of writing consultants: labor issues, writing center news, training, consultant initiatives, and scholarship. Because this is a publication whose first issue's theme is "Who We Are," introductions are in order."

"Evaluation/Accountability for the Writing Lab" (on assessment, usage data, student grades, faculty response); "Do We Need Materials for ESL and Engineering Students?" (self-instruction materials); "A Note on Lab Layout" (space design); mailing list

"We are the Undergraduate Writing Center at Texas A&M University-Kingsville! We assist undergraduate writers at all stages of the writing process, from getting started to editing and proofreading. Our Culture of Writing blog is a space for Writing Consultants, the UWC Director, and occasional guest authors to blog about writing and the writing center life at TAMUK."

Texas A&M--Kingsville Writing Center's blog, "Culture of Writing" 

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.  This is a very widely used site for open access materials on writing. Includes materials on research and citation, teacher and tutor resources, subject-specific writing, job search writing, ESL, MLA and APA guides, etc. 

This is a site for tutors to publish in modes and genres of their choosing. We are interested in multiliteracies and multimodal texts, but we are also interested in short-stories, poems, and essays. This link is to the new Tutors page.

Launched in March 2013, the National Census of Writing seeks to provide a data-based landscape of writing instruction at two- and four-year public and not-for-profit institutions of higher education in the United States. Despite numerous calls for empirical data to ground the design and administration of writing programs and writing centers, this is the first comprehensive study of its kind and covers the following sections:  * Sites of writing * First-year writing/English composition * Identifying and supporting diversely-prepared students * Writing across the curriculum (WAC) and writing beyond the first year * The undergraduate and graduate writing major and minor * Writing centers * Administrative structures * Demographics of respondents

"Launched in March 2013, the National Census of Writing seeks to provide a data-based landscape of writing instruction at two- and four-year public and not-for-profit institutions of higher education in the United States. Despite numerous calls for empirical data to ground the design and administration of writing programs and writing centers, this is the first comprehensive study of its kind and covers the following sections: Sites of writing First-year writing/English composition Identifying and supporting diversely-prepared students Writing across the curriculum (WAC) and writing beyond the first year The undergraduate and graduate writing major and minor Writing centers Administrative structures Demographics of respondents With data from 900 institutions, the National Census of Writing will help educators and administrators across the country to better understand the variety of ways in which writing instruction is delivered in the twenty-first century. The research team has made the processed data available through this open-access database, which allows individuals to gather national data on pressing local questions. The database is searchable by type of institution, institutional size, geographical location, and, when we have consent, by the name of the institution."

The Praxis Editorial BoardThe University of Texas at Austin Training, the theme of this issue of Praxis, is a tricky thing to pin down, and that's the way we like it.

■ "We Also Ofer Online Services at Interpellation.edu": Althusserian Hails and Online Writing Centers Alan Benson ■ Situated Design for Multiliteracy Centers: A Rhetorical Approach to Visual Design Sohui Lee ■ Back to the Center: University of North Carolina Greensboro's Digital ACT Studio Lindsay Sabatino ■ Yes...And With Me: Mutuality and Improvisation as Methods for Consultant Development Kerri Bright Flinchbaugh ■ Training Speech Center Consultants: Moving Forward with a Backward Glance Linda Hobgood ■ Promoting Independence: Conducting Efcient Sessions with Learning-Disabled Students Ory Alexander Owen

a discussion of the difficulty of assessing the effect of writing center intervention when considered among other variables (instructor, class dynamics, student health, etc.)

"College readiness has several dimensions, but of particular import is readiness to produce scholarly work that meets the expectations of college instructors. Differences from high school and college are well documented in the literature, and this study adds to that body of work by delineating the characteristics of first-year college assignments through a qualitative analysis of college faculty assignment instructions. Three themes emerge from the analysis: information literacy, especially initiating inquiry; academic writing, especially citing evidence in support of a thesis; learner dispositions, especially curiosity, open-mindedness, self-reliance, and perseverance. Findings have implications for high school library programs and high school teachers as well as librarians working with first-year college students."

Shelley Powers from the University of Texas at Austin talks about how consulting on technical writing projects can make liberal arts-trained writing consultants nervous. However, technical writing is more familiar territory than we might think.