Don't Be Paper Centered
CWS tutors are always eager to help students do their best work. Too often, however, tutees come to us right before an assignment is due, which limits what can be accomplished in a given tutoring session. Such appointments usually turn out to be paper-centered rather than writer-centered: while they may help the student revise and polish a given assignment, they contribute little to her development as a writer (or speaker). So how can you get the most out of your tutoring session?
The key is to start the writing process early (and if you have not yet come to see us this semester, it is time you booked that appointment!). You can also schedule a series of appointments to keep you on track throughout the semester while helping you develop good writing and speaking habits. This strategy can benefit writers of all majors and ability levels.
To illustrate this point, here is what, according to one study, happens with students’ writing concerns over the course of three writing center visits. Higher order (or global) concerns—the aspects of writing that connect to invention and critical thinking—tend to decrease sharply with consecutive visits. Lower order concerns, by contrast tend to increase:
WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN??