week 14 chris
How important do you think it is for writing center staff to pursue writing center research? Why?
Given the right circumstances, which topics, issues, or questions would you like to research? How would you go about it?
I think if I were given the circumstances to research a writing center topic I would dig into the relationship between expectations and outcomes.
First: what kind of expectations do tutors bring to their work, and what kind of expectations do students bring to their tutors? Do folks expect writing center sessions to "fix" writing mistakes, or to prepare students for higher level classes, or to empower students to get higher grades, or to give students confidence in their own writing abilities/instincts, or to help students find their voice, etc.? I'd suspect that, if given a survey of possible answers (or even an open-ended short response style survey), many respondents might give answers that incorporate several of the above options at once.
Second: what kind of outcomes do writing centers boast? What do various institutions measure? By what criteria are they assessing whether their work is "productive" or not? What kind of exit polls do they use with their clients? What "success" rates do they claim?
I'd love to dig into both of the above questions--regarding expectations and outcomes--to try to find a story that could be told from the results. I'd be curious to see what connections, correlations, contrasts, etc., could be illuminated.
I think writing center research/scholarship can be productive and insightful, but I don't think it's particularly necessary for all writing center staff to participate in. Doing is more important than meta-doing, and the best way for writing center staff to improve their craft (of teaching and tutoring) is to practice it. Theory is helpful, to be sure--I won't discount its merits entirely--but I think actual experience with students is what makes the real difference.
I think if I were given the circumstances to research a writing center topic I would dig into the relationship between expectations and outcomes.
First: what kind of expectations do tutors bring to their work, and what kind of expectations do students bring to their tutors? Do folks expect writing center sessions to "fix" writing mistakes, or to prepare students for higher level classes, or to empower students to get higher grades, or to give students confidence in their own writing abilities/instincts, or to help students find their voice, etc.? I'd suspect that, if given a survey of possible answers (or even an open-ended short response style survey), many respondents might give answers that incorporate several of the above options at once.
Second: what kind of outcomes do writing centers boast? What do various institutions measure? By what criteria are they assessing whether their work is "productive" or not? What kind of exit polls do they use with their clients? What "success" rates do they claim?
I'd love to dig into both of the above questions--regarding expectations and outcomes--to try to find a story that could be told from the results. I'd be curious to see what connections, correlations, contrasts, etc., could be illuminated.
I like your view of research as meta-doing. I wouldn't say theory and research are synonymous though they are related since most research is theory driven. I'm much more research inclined-- toward the empirical--than I am a theory builder or theory espouser. For me writing center research is matter of formally testing our assumptions. The problem is Writing Centers don't have enough of a research foundation yet to build on by replicating others' studies or by contributing to the body of work on a particular topic such as different tutoring moves or second language writing. Many writing center folks are too busy with tutoring and/or admin to engage in the lengthy research process described in the Bedford chapter.
ReplyDeleteHi Chris, these are interesting research questions regarding expectations and outcomes in a writing center. I wonder how many students end up receiving the kind of attention they originally hoped for, since once the semester picks up often students have to change their expectations about what they have time to focus on. For example, one of my tutees is a Journalism major, she wants to be an editor, and so her original reason for signing up for the Enrollment course was to hone in on the nitty-gritty details of writing. But she is also a go-getter and is currently enrolled in 19 s.h. As the semester has gone on and her work load has increased, we have spent much less time discussing the nuances of grammar and language, and simply creating outlines, polishing thesis statements, etc.
ReplyDeleteTo add on to Chris's comment, I'd think that a lot of that also depends on cultivating a relationship with a student. The longer a student works with a tutor, the more their relationship can progress from quick fixes to assessing underlying trouble spots and building on a progressive foundation of good practices. I'd also be interested to see the difference between the 'success' of an enrollment v/s an appointment student.
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