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best practices when writing centers offer peer-review workshops

best practices when writing centers offer peer-review workshops

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.

discussing the best time of day for live, online workshops

[Submitted by the CCCC Committee on Best Practices for Online Writing Instruction] Online writing labs would be most interested in OWI Principle 14

"Promotional and educational video about the Georgia Southern University Writing Center, written and produced by Xavier Best and Efadul Huq for Dr. Michael Pemberton's "Tutoring Writing" class, Spring 2010. Part I."

Michigan State U. Writing Center's "Quick Guide" podcasts on preparing for your appt.; how to have the best writing center appt.; how to write a paper; what you can do in 30 minutes

discussing how to best meet the needs of international students

a discussion on the best way for tutors to use paid hours during which they are not tutoring

discussing the best way to make handouts visible and available

a discussion of how to best approach training veteran tutors when one is a new director (changing policies, new training, etc.)

a discussion of how to best assist a NNES graduate student who comes to the center asking for help with assessing and commenting on student papers

"This statement responds to the growing educational concerns about plagiarism in four ways: by defining plagiarism; by suggesting some of the causes of plagiarism; by proposing a set of responsibilities (for students, teachers, and administrators) to address the problem of plagiarism; and by recommending a set of practices for teaching and learning that can significantly reduce the likelihood of plagiarism. The statement is intended to provide helpful suggestions and clarifications so that instructors, administrators, and students can work together more effectively in support of excellence in teaching and learning."

"The Citation Project is a multi-institution research project responding to educators' concerns about plagiarism and the teaching of writing. Although much has been written on this topic and many have expressed concerns, little empirical data is available to describe what students are actually doing with their sources. At present, therefore, educators must make policy decisions and pedagogy based on anecdote, personal observation, media reports, and the claims of corporations that sell "solutions." The Citation Project begins the process of providing descriptive data. Our research team systematically studies randomly selected, source-based student papers from a range of different institutions. Our purpose is to describe how student writers use the sources they cite in their papers. With this information, educators will be able to make informed decisions about best practices for formulating plagiarism policies and for teaching rhetorically effective and ethically responsible methods of writing from sources. Preventing plagiarism is a desired outcome of our research, as the subtitle above indicates, but the Citation Project research suggests that students' knowing how to understand and synthesize complex, lengthy sources is essential to effective plagiarism prevention. If instructors know how shallowly students are engaging with their research source-and that is what the Citation Project research reveals-then they know what responsible pedagogy needs to address."

Tutor training video that demonstrates best practices. Includes a mock tutorial session.

Excerpts from the book "The Online Writing Conference," with examples and action steps.

From Praxis: "The notion that writing is a constantly negotiated activity with no clear-cut right or wrong answers may be a cliché among writing center professionals, but among undergraduate tutors, especially newly hired ones, it can be an earthshaking realization."

discussing proofreading in the WC

Posts on practice, research, and theory. Geared toward Writing Center staff. Topics like asynchronous v. synchronous writing instruction, best practices, diverse learners, writing center spaces.

Discussing tutoring conducted from home/off-campus

An annotated bibliography covering relatively recent books and journal articles; topics include philosophy, theory/practice, pedagogy, evaluation, assessment, and graduate writing support