Course code:
The roles and responsibilities of a writing tutor are evershifting. As writing studies scholar Toni-Lee Capossela tells us, a tutor will at various times be “a reader, a respondent, a questioner, a critic, a listener, a friend, a colleague, a collaborator, or a guide.” By presenting a range of writing center theories and research, this course will give students theoretical knowledge and practical tutoring strategies that will enable them to make informed choices when working with developing writers across different disciplines and conventions. Topics include negotiating the priorities of a tutoring session, differentiating between and responding to the needs of global and small-scale revision, motivational scaffolding, and understanding the often recursive nature of the writing process. Additionally, students will be exposed to active learning strategies and concepts such as cognitive load theory, the zone of proximal development, embodied cognition, and the affective domain. In the first part of the term, students will put their practical and theoretical knowledge into use by conducting one-on-one tutoring sessions with their classmates. During the second half of the term, students will collaborate with experienced tutors, and by week 8 they will begin to tutor on their own. Students will write two major essays–the first a literacy narrative, the second an expository essay on a writing center topic of their choosing.
Prerequisites:
Students need to have a commitment to writing and a demonstrated ability to write successfully for college classes. They don’t need to have previously taken a writing program-approved writing course, though.
Always visit the Registrar's Office for the official course catalog and schedules.
