Keywords
Training, Student-tutor relationship, Tutor self reflection, Tutor survey
Abstract
In preparing peer tutors for responding to student writers in an asynchronous Online Writing Lab (OWL), writing center administrators must engage tutors in activities that focus on writing about students’ writing rather than talking face-to-face with writers. OWL training proves difficult because, as Roberta Buck and David Shumway have emphasized, critiquing student papers asynchronously contradicts a basic tenet of writing center theory: we work with writers, not texts. Another key struggle in OWL training is ascertaining the strengths and weaknesses of the activities designed to prepare tutors for asynchronous online tutoring. In a recent restructuring of the OWL training program at our writing center, I attempted to bring the values and collaborative atmosphere of our center to the forefront by engaging tutors in reflective self- and peer-assessment activities to facilitate their transition into asynchronous online tutoring. To evaluate the effectiveness of the new program, I surveyed twelve tutors about their experiences with the assessment activities and found that not only did they appreciate and learn from the experience, but they also had productive suggestions for developing the program to be even more inclusive of our writing center culture and values.
Citation Information
Type of Source: Newsletter Article
Author: Diana Awad Scrocco
Year of Publication: 2012
Title: “How Do You Think You Did? Involving Tutors in Self-Assessment and Peer-Assessment During OWL Training” (available online)
Publication: Writing Lab Newsletter, Volume 36, Issue 7-8
Page Range: 9-13