scholarly journals Agency in the Writing Center: Examining the Importance of Student Autonomy in Higher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Rodriguez
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
Writing Center ◽  
Writing Centers ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
College Level ◽  
Student Autonomy ◽  
Rutgers University ◽  
Embedded Model

In college-level English courses, students often struggle to achieve satisfactory results in their writing. To remedy this, they seek help at campus writing centers, where a tutor helps them improve their writing skills and their academic performance. Yet, students experience tension between the classroom and the writing center that universities should seek to minimize. In my research, I discovered how different learning methods may either foster or suppress student autonomy. Further, I found that current methods—such as the course-embedded model for mitigating the tension between the writing center and the classroom—fail to empower the student. Using Rutgers University and its style of minimalist tutoring as a benchmark, I discuss the topics of autonomy and agency, student-led negotiation with authority, lack of academic motivation, and how we can bridge the pedagogical gap between the writing center and the classroom.

Reading and Writing Strategies

2016 ◽  
pp. 1162-1175
Author(s):  
Tanya Sturtz ◽  
Darrell Hucks
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
College Level ◽  
College Courses ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Student Transition ◽  
Program Of Study ◽  
Incoming Freshmen ◽  
To Come

In the field of education, students are not only expected to come to college with the reading and writing skills needed to successfully complete their program of study but also to enter the profession upon graduation with the ability to teach the next generation these skills. At the authors' institution of higher education, as with other higher education institutions, the reading and writing skills of incoming freshmen is a concern across the campus. To address this concern, two education faculty members created a reading and writing program. The program would prepare incoming freshmen with skills and strategies they could use to be successful in their college courses, as well as support student transition and retention. The pilot study created will address a concern raised in the literature regarding the under-explored reading research at the college level. To this end, this chapter shares the process involved in teaching the program and the experiences of the first cohort of students enrolled in the program.

scholarly journals Mining writing center data for information literacy practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie J. Graves ◽  
Kathy Christie Anders ◽  
Valerie M. Balester
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Writing Center ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Writing Centers ◽  
Literacy Intervention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Institutional Boundaries

Purpose The study aims to explore collaborations between writing centers and libraries which create opportunities for providing information literacy intervention for students doing researched writing. This case study gathered data from writing center logs to uncover if and how information literacy activity was occurring during consultations. Design/methodology/approach A representative sample of writing center logs recorded between September of 2013 and May 2014 was mined for frequencies of library and information literacy terms. Transaction logs were coded and analyzed according to the frames in the Association of College and Research Libraries Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Findings Information literacy is discussed in only 13 per cent of consultations. Referrals to librarians accounted for less than 1 per cent of all transactions. Students most commonly asked for assistance in formatting citations, but deeper information literacy conversations did occur that provide opportunities for engagement with the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. Research limitations/implications Transactions were examined from one university. Although findings cannot be generalized, the results were applicable to local services, and this study provides a model useful for libraries and writing centers. Practical implications This study provides ample direction for future collaborations that will take advantage of the intersections of information literacy and writing instruction to improve student research skills. Originality/value Although much has been written about partnerships between libraries and writing centers, this study uniquely demonstrates a model for data sharing across institutional boundaries and how one library mined existing data from a writing center.

scholarly journals Writing Center Visitors: Influence of L1 Writing Skills on Students’ Exophonic Writings

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824402110622
Author(s):  
Yvette Denise Murdoch ◽  
Hyejung Lim ◽  
Jiyoung Cho
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Extrinsic Motivation ◽  
Writing Center ◽  
Writing Centers ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
L2 Writing ◽  
Impact Factors ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Writing Ability ◽  
English Writing

This study investigated the influence of acquired L1 writing skills on exophonic writings of students ( N = 147) from diverse majors, who visited an English writing center for assistance. Affective differences revealed students with L1 writing tutelage (WL1) had lower avoidance behavior and higher extrinsic motivation and writing self-efficacy. Self-perceived L2 writing ability was found to be a principal factor for WL1. Writing self-efficacy appeared essential for students without L1 writing tutelage (WOL1). Regression analysis found learner self-beliefs and somatic anxiety (negative) influenced self-perceived L2 writing ability for WL1, and holistic self-beliefs on English writing (HSE) and cognitive ability (negative) for WOL1. Acquired L1 writing skills did not tangibly influence L2 performance. No large impact factors were found for WL1, but HSE and attitudes & reaction (negative) impacted WOL1 performance. Implications such as performance may not be a main concern among exophonic writers, and the need for English writing centers in non-L1 (English) countries are discussed.

Reading and Writing Strategies

2014 ◽  
pp. 220-232
Author(s):  
Tanya Sturtz ◽  
Darrell Hucks
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Writing Skills ◽  
College Level ◽  
College Courses ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Reading And Writing ◽  
Student Transition ◽  
Program Of Study ◽  
Incoming Freshmen ◽  
To Come

In the field of education, students are not only expected to come to college with the reading and writing skills needed to successfully complete their program of study but also to enter the profession upon graduation with the ability to teach the next generation these skills. At the authors’ institution of higher education, as with other higher education institutions, the reading and writing skills of incoming freshmen is a concern across the campus. To address this concern, two education faculty members created a reading and writing program. The program would prepare incoming freshmen with skills and strategies they could use to be successful in their college courses, as well as support student transition and retention. The pilot study created will address a concern raised in the literature regarding the under-explored reading research at the college level. To this end, this chapter shares the process involved in teaching the program and the experiences of the first cohort of students enrolled in the program.

scholarly journals Access [dis]Abled: Interrogating Standard Design Practices of Higher Education Writing Center Websites

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Quinn ◽  
Anna Belmonte ◽  
Emily Davis ◽  
Andrew Gardewine ◽  
Gabrielle Madewell
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Writing Center ◽  
Mission Statement ◽  
Writing Centers ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Standard Design ◽  
Disability Support ◽  
Student Researchers

In the 11 years since the 2006 publication of the International Writing Center Association's (IWCA) Position Statements on Disability and Diversity, writing center scholars have continued to explore how disability issues intersect with writing center work including the development of accessible web content and interfaces (Hawkes, 2010). Recent studies have found that university websites were ineffectively designed, difficult to navigate, and omitting any representation or acknowledgment of students with disabilities (Gabel et al., 2016; Gabel & Miskovic, 2014; Meyer, 2008; Miskovic & Gabel, 2012). In this study, the primary author and four undergraduate student-researchers study where and how disability support is explicitly articulated on writing center websites from regional Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) and how digital resources have been designed for students with disabilities. Results show that two out of the 35 writing center offices that exist at the 55 universities analyzed have a mission statement that explicitly articulates a support for students with disabilities. Writing center websites also ineffectively incorporate pictures, simple text, simple navigation, and other accessible features (71% of the 35 writing centers analyzed had websites where 21 – 70% of the content is inaccessible). Recommendations to address these problems are provided.

Writing Centers

2022 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-30
Author(s):  
Lauren Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Career Paths ◽  
Writing Center ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Writing Centers ◽  
English Studies ◽  
Questions And Answers ◽  
Writing Center Studies ◽  
Resources Planning

Abstract Undergraduate-staffed writing centers, tutor-preparation courses, and writing center studies have been and continue to be ideally suited for undergraduate research in English studies. Though requiring resources, planning, and a reconsideration of humanities scholarship, the benefits of writing center undergraduate research are many, including enabling students to develop unique and authentic questions and answers while enhancing their research and tutoring skills, reframing students’ roles within higher education, and preparing humanities majors for a range of career paths.

The Relationship of University Students' Sleep Habits and Academic Motivation

NASPA Journal ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kellah M. Edens
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
College Health ◽  
Sleep Habits ◽  
Lack Of Sleep ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

College students are sleeping less during the week than reported a few years ago. Lack of sleep among college students has been identified as one of the top three healthrelated impediments to academic performance by the American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment survey; and it is associated with lower grades, incompletion of courses, as well as negative moods. This research examines the underlying dynamics of lack of sleep on academic motivation, a key predictor of academic performance. Specifically, the relationship of sleep habits with self-efficacy, performance versus mastery goal orientation, persistence, and tendency to procrastinate were investigated. Findings indicate that 42% of the participants (159 students out of a total of 377) experience excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS); and those identified with EDS tend: (1) to be motivated by performance goals rather than mastery goals; (2) to engage in procrastination (a self-handicapping strategy) to a greater extent than students who are rested; and (3) to have decreased self-efficacy, as compared to students not reporting EDS. Several recommendations for campus health professionals to consider for a Healthy Campus Initiative are made based on the findings.

The Politics of Distance Edcucation

Public Voices ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
Mark Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Education ◽  
Interactive Television ◽  
Small Population ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Instructional Software ◽  
College Level ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Political Perceptions ◽  
Fiscal Efficiency

"Distance education" at the college level is well over a century old.  It has served the needs of a numerically large, but proportionately small population of learners who have eschewed the campus classroom.  These correspondence school enrollees, educational TV watchers, and audiocassette listeners have had only modest impact on the structure, mission, and strategy of the institutions serving them.  But that is now changing, and changing very dramatically.  The advent of the Internet, interactive television technology, and web-based instructional software, coupled with administrative and political perceptions of educational reformation and fiscal efficiency, may be causing nothing less than a revolution in higher education.  By applying a feminist model of assessment called "unthinking technology," that is to say, exploring the potential, but unthought of socio-political aspects of this technological revolution, this paper raises significant questions about the security of the traditional academic enterprise.  "The Politics of Distance Education" urges a pro-active embrace of these technologies by the academy in order to enable a legitimate "competency for grievance" so that the protection of the validity of higher education, and legitimacy of the academic profession can be ethically defended and publicly respected, rather than being viewed as mulish resistance to the inevitable.

scholarly journals Competencia socioemocional en el aula: Características del profesor que favorecen la motivación por el aprendizaje en alumnos de Enseñanza Secundaria Obligatoria

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 257
Author(s):  
Mª Cristina Núñez del Río ◽  
Mónica Fontana Abad
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Intelligence ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
School Failure ◽  
Emotional Competencies ◽  
Dysfunctional Family ◽  
Social And Emotional ◽  
Academic Motivation Scale ◽  
Motivation Scale ◽  
Recommended Guidelines

RESUMENNo se puede negar el incremento en los diez últimos años de investigaciones y publicaciones centradas en la Competencia Socioemocional. En concreto, este estudio aborda uno de los procesos que, según Goleman (1996), forma parte del constructo Inteligencia Emocional: la motivación. Numerosos estudios tratan su relación con el rendimiento y el fracaso escolar (González, Mendiri y Arias, 2002; Brier, 2006). El aumento de los índices de desmotivación en las aulas, unido a un rendimiento académico cada vez menor en algunos grupos de alumnos —a los que se unen aspectos y situaciones familiares disfuncionales—, justifica este estudio acerca de uno de los factores que más incidencia puede tener en los alumnos y sobre el que se puede intervenir: se trata de las características de los profesores que son percibidas como motivadoras por sus alumnos. En concreto, el estudio aborda el análisis de las diferencias en función de los diferentes cursos, el sexo y los factores de motivación según la Escala de Motivación Académica (EMA, Manassero y Vázquez, 1997, 1998). Para ello, se presentan los primeros hallazgos de un estudio, con una muestra incidental de 350 alumnos de ESO, pertenecientes a dos colegios concertados de diferentes áreas de Madrid. El trabajo concluye con algunas pautas de intervención para los profesores, que se consideran recomendables en la actuación en las aulas.ABSTRACTIt can’t be denied that, in the last ten years, research and publications focusing on Social and Emotional Competencies is increasing. This study addresses one of the processes, which according to Goleman (1996), is part of the Emotional Intelligence construct: motivation. Numerous studies deal with its relationship with performance and school failure (Gonzalez, Mendiri and Arias, 2002; Brier, 2006). The increased rates of demotivation in the classroom, coupled with an increasingly lower academic performance in some groups of pupils, together with dysfunctional family situations, justify this study about one of the factors with more impact on students: the characteristics of teachers who are perceived as motivating by the students. Specifically, in this paper, the differences taking into account the courses, the sex and the motivational factors according to the Academic Motivation Scale (EMA, Manassero and Vazquez, 1997, 1998) will be analyze. For this propose, the first findings of a study, with an incidental sample of 350 students from two schools in different areas of Madrid, will be presented. The paper concludes with some recommended guidelines for intervention for teachers in the classroom. 

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document