Group items tagged

This study examined the perspectives of both tutors at university writing centers and the Non-Native English Speaking (NNES) students who use the centers. Using qualitative methods, this study looked at perceptions of the academic writing needs of the NNES students, along with characteristics of tutoring sessions which made the sessions successful in the eyes of tutors and students. The study used interviews, observations, a survey, and artifacts to look at these topics and then compared the perceptions of tutors and students. Additionally, the study compared writing centers at two universities, one of which employs an ESL specialist, in order to learn if employing this specialist affects success for the tutors and NNES students. Results indicate that student and tutor perceptions of student needs were similar in that they expressed consistent need for grammar assistance and help with low-order concerns (LOCs). Sessions at both universities were successful, according to tutors and students, if sessions focused on these grammar and LOC needs. Employing an ESL specialist did not affect the perceptions of students or tutors nor did it seem to effect the success of sessions for either students or tutors.

"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."

On the International Writing Centers Association website, a SLATE statment, "The Concept of a Writing Center," by Muriel Harris, 1988.

Via CompPile: "This review-essay of Lee-Ann Kastman Breuch's Virtual Peer Review: Teaching and Learning about Writing in Online Environments focuses on virtual peer review (VPR) and its place in composition pedagogy. Breuch's two main points of interest are what is gained by immersing students in online learning, and what could the composition community lose during the transition. In six chapters, Breuch discusses these ideas respectively: 1) how to distinguish the differences between VPR and face-to-face peer review through the use of remediation, specifically with reference to three characteristics of Computer Mediated Communication (CMC): time, space and interaction; 2) how these dimensions play out in virtual communication and instruction; 3) a more focused analysis of the 'tension' that arises when peer review is placed in the virtual world; 4) the challenges of the ownership of ideas in VPR; 5) other concerns raised about VPR; and 6) how VP can be used in the classroom and other writing contexts, the university Writing Center being one example. [Jennifer Maness] "