Online Tutoring: A Symbiotic Relationship with Writing Across the Curriculum Initiatives (2009)

Keywords

Writing Across the Curriculum, Tutoring, Web Based Instruction, Writing Instruction, Laboratories, Literature Reviews, Technology Uses in Education, Student Surveys, Undergraduate Students, Supplementary Education, Educational Benefits, Intellectual Disciplines, Content Area Writing, Program Descriptions, Blended Learning, Student Satisfaction, Program Effectiveness

Abstract

This article emphasizes the need for writing centers to give continued attention to online tutoring to achieve writing across curriculum (WAC) goals. The article offers a literature review covering the history and state of online tutoring and its relation to the WAC movement and writing fellows programs. We at Saint Joseph College have found that by expanding our online tutorial services, we have significantly increased our abilities to support the teaching of writing across the disciplines. The Saint Joseph College writing associates program, our writing fellows program, is described in the article, with an emphasis on the inclusion of online tutoring. Overall, we believe the technology holds great promise for bolstering WAC initiatives and helping writing centers achieve increased prominence on their campuses. Data from surveys administered to students who used online tutoring, writing associates, and faculty who collaborated with the associates support this belief. Providing online tutoring to supplement our in-person tutorials, especially within the writing associates program, has myriad benefits, including extending the writing center’s reach in the campus community, contributing to students’ understanding of discipline-specific writing conventions, and promoting the belief that writing is essential to academic success.

Citation Information

Type of Publication: Journal Article

Authors: Judy Arzt, Kristine E. Barnett, Jessyka Scoppetta

Year of Publication: 2009

Title:Online Tutoring: A Symbiotic Relationship with Writing Across the Curriculum Initiatives

Publication: Across the Disciplines: A Journal of Language, Learning, and Academic Writing, Volume 6

Page Range: 1-16