Reading Strategies for the College Student: Questions for Tutors

Questions for Tutors

1.     Have you used either of the methods described above yourself?  If so, do you prefer one over the other? If you've heard of them but not used them, why?  Do you use a different reading method or a modified version of one of these methods?

2.    Which strategy do you think would be best for a student reading a science text? A history text? A psychology text? Why do you think this particular method is most useful?

3.    Do you think that it might be possible to combine different aspects of each strategy based on what the text is?

4.    How can you help encourage students to use these methods and learn to choose the correct one for the text that they are reading?

Reading Strategies for the College Student: SQ3R

            In our last post on reading strategies, we talked about the annotation technique.  The next technique that we're going to look at is known as SQ3R and was outlined by Lei et al. in “Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension Among College Students.”  For this post, we’ll summarize the technique that they described. 

SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review)

            The SQ3R method was first developed in the mid-1940's as a way for college students and professionals to become more proficient readers.  Under this method, students are taught to follow a series of five steps in order to better process and understand the information that they are taking in. 

• Survey

            In this step, students skim the overall structure of the chapter that they are reading so that they can start to get a general idea of the chapter's structure.  Particularly, students should look at the headings for different sections so that they can begin to gain an understanding of what will be covered in the chapter as well as how the author is going to present this information.

            For example, in a textbook chapter titled "How Does the Nervous System Develop and Adapt?", a student skimming the text might notice sections titled "Three Perspectives on Brain Development", "Neurobiology of Development", "Correlating Behavior with Nervous-System Development", and "Brain Development and Research".   

            These main headings give the student an idea of how this chapter is set up to increase their understanding.  It starts by talking about broad perspectives, moves on to a neurobiological perspective, takes information from that section and correlates it with behavior, and finally relates all of this information on brain development to research.

            The survey step is also a good opportunity to start noting new or unfamiliar vocabulary that will be included in the chapter.  Often this terminology is already in bold, making it simple for students to pick out terms that they may need to learn or reacquaint themselves with.

• Question

            Here, students take what they gained from the survey step and form questions around it.  They will later use these questions to check that they comprehend what they are reading.  

Using the previous example, a student might take the section titles and form questions around them such as:

            What are the three perspectives on brain development? How do these three perspectives relate to one another?  What happens at the neural level in brain development? How do the different structures of the brain work together?  What behaviors are related to what areas in the brain? How do motor behaviors develop? How does language develop? What research has been done on how hormones, injury, drugs, and developmental disabilities affect the brain? 

            At this step students are not yet answering their questions, only forming them.  This not only allows the student to have a tool for checking their comprehension later, but also gives them insight into what they should be looking for when they actually begin reading the text.

 In addition, students should also use this step as an opportunity to start making judgments or predictions about what the author is trying to say as well as begin to understand how this section relates to what they are learning in the course overall.

• Read

            In this step, students finally do their actual reading.  However, it is important that students not continue from one section to the next until they are sure that they have grasped an understanding of what they have read.¹ Students should also use the questions that they created in the previous step to check their comprehension.  In addition, students should take the time to record notes or make annotations to their text, which will allow them to review better later.

• Recite

            With the recite phase, "...students should reflect on what they have read, including reciting the answers to questions they asked during the survey portion." (Lei et al. citing Artis, 37)  While recite implies that this is a verbal step, it doesn’t necessarily have to be.  Students can use the recitation phase to silently quiz themselves on the questions that they formed earlier, or they might find it helpful to ask themselves these questions aloud.  This phase basically pulls together all of the different approaches that the student has been using thus far and uses them to check comprehension.  While it may be tempting for a student to finish the actual reading and call it quits, it is crucial that they complete this step as it helps to ensure that comprehension has truly been achieved.  Being able to answer the questions created earlier will improve retrieval of that information later. 

• Review

            As a student moves into the review stage of SQ3R, they should not only reflect on what they have read but also on their comprehension and retention.  If the student notices that there were certain sections that he had more trouble understanding, the review step is a good time to go back and repeat the read and recite steps.  This step also allows students to return to the reading assignment at a later time and pick up where they left off more easily. Students should also use the review step to reflect on their answers to the questions that they created early and ask themselves why they had those answers, how they could make them stronger, and whether they truly reflect the ideas that the author was trying to convey.  If not, it may again be time for the student to repeat the read and recite steps. 

            Overall, the SQ3R method is a great technique for breaking down the reading of long chapters.  In addition to being a great technique to use when doing readings, it also lends itself well to studying for exams because of the review step.  While it may seem like there are many steps to the technique, students should remember that they don’t have to be done all at once.  Often, it can make readings simpler if they are broken up into something like surveying and questioning one day and then performing the three R’s on another day.  Another thing that students should remember is that they don’t necessarily have to rigidly follow each step.  Practice over time might teach a student that they benefit more from the questioning step than they do from the surveying step.  In that case, it would make sense for the student to adjust their study habits to maximize what is most beneficial.  In fact, students should look at all of these methods and choose what works for them.  What works for one student might not be as helpful to another.  However, it never hurts to try something new.

Notes

¹ While it’s important to make sure that you’re understanding what you’re reading, there may be times when moving on is a necessary decision.  Oftentimes the context of the remainder of the reading may help to clarify things that weren’t fully understood earlier in the reading. 

Lei, Simon A., Patricia J. Rhinehart, Holly A. Howard, Jonathan K. Cho. "Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension Among College Students." Reading Improvement 47.1 (2010): 30-42. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Helping Students Develop Better Arguments

            Walk into the ASC on any given night during the school year and chances are you’ll find a student pulling an all-nighter as they try desperately to finish an essay that’s due the next day.  While it is obvious that the student has procrastinated on the assignment, the next question that we might ask is why?  As a tutor I have seen many intelligent, capable students who wait until the last minute to begin writing a paper simply because they don’t know how to approach the topic.  They lack the ability to develop a strong argument, which throws them off from the very beginning and often leaves them frustrated and unsure of how to approach the subject at all. 

            One of the main problems that many students find with writing essays is the sheer intimidation that they might feel towards writing something that is strong enough to demonstrate their stance.  A key element in being able to do this involves understanding and becoming adept at using argumentation, an issue that Ursula Wingate attempts to tackle in, “Argument!” Helping Students Understand What Essay Writing Is About.  According to Wingate, there are three elements necessary to achieve successful learning of the concept of argument.  The first of these involves the development of the writer’s ability to analyze and evaluate different sources for content that may be useful in not only supporting the writer’s position, but also in helping him come to that position in the first place.  Secondly, the writer must develop a clear position in the argument. Oftentimes students may become so overwhelmed by all of the information being received that they simply restate what they have read without actually providing any analysis or even choosing a positioning the matter.  Finally and perhaps most importantly, the writer must learn to present their position to the audience in such a way that their argument is logical and makes sense.

            How then do we as tutors help to achieve these three different elements?  In my own experience, I have noticed these three different elements but have often felt unsure of how to go about helping the student to fix them, as they are rather large concerns to address.  It is helpful then that these different components seem to build upon one another; therefore it may be useful to use them as a sort of guideline in deciding at what level to begin helping the student.  For instance, one should note that the student cannot take a position on a subject if he has not yet developed the ability to look at different resources and evaluate their positions.  In this case, the tutor may start with the first component and help the student understand not only how to analyze resources, but also how to critically think about how the positions of these resources will affect their own opinion.  Once the ability to analyze resources has been achieved, the tutor may then move on to helping the student develop their own opinion.  For many students, this may be a great time to introduce a concept map as a way of helping the student understand how the resources they have analyzed are affecting their argument.  This concept map could show the position that they are taking and then have a number of different resources that the student has analyzed that may be used to help support their position.  It could look something like this:

 

            After this level of understanding has been achieved, the tutor may then move on to helping the student achieve the third component of effective argumentation, which is pulling their argument together in a cohesive, logical manner.  In this case, the tutor may find that the use of an outline will be of great benefit.  While many students skip the outlining step, I personally find it to be one of the most beneficial things that one can do in creating a strong and coherent argument.  At the same time, this is also a good point in time for the tutor to help the student in developing a strong thesis statement to anchor their argument. A rather simplified sample outline may look something like this:  

            As Wingate moves on to talking about how argumentation is learned, she notes a few things that one must consider when thinking about how to address the components necessary for teaching argumentation.  She cites work by Andrews showing that many students have difficulty identifying conflicting viewpoints in the first place.  In addition, she also talks about three different patterns of difficulty as described by Groom.  The first of these voices is known as solipsistic voice and is characterized by the student’s tendency to use their own experiences and opinions as part of their argument without actually supporting these with elements from the literature.  The second voice described by Groom is known as the unaverred voice and describes a student whose writing becomes, “a patchwork of summaries of other authors views.” (Groom, pg. 67, cited in Wingate)  With the third voice, known as the unattributed voice, the student takes propositions from what they have read and make them sound as if they are there own without citations.

            Knowing the difficulties that many students face in developing their argument, the tutor is better equipped to look for these different voices and to try to ensure that the three elements necessary for argumentation are being addressed.  For instance, before a student can take a position on a subject, they must be able to look to a variety of different resources and pull information that will allow them to understand each side and decide which one they find more favorable. 

            In addition, it is also crucial that they student have the ability to analyze these resources and understand how they can use them to support their position rather than simply regurgitate them.  In addition, learning the characteristics of these three voices will allow the tutor to spot the voice earlier and then to guide the student towards how they can create a stronger argument.  With the solipsistic voice, it may very well be that the student’s opinions and experiences on the subject that they are working with are valid.  It then becomes the tutor’s role to help the student understand why they cannot just use their opinions and how they can use evidence from the literature to support their opinions as a way of making their argument stronger.  When addressing a student who is using the unaverred voice, the tutor might attempt to help the student better analyze the resources that they have found rather than just summarize them.  Here is a great opportunity to use the concepts of Bloom’s taxonomy to help the student achieve a higher level of thinking.  Finally, the student using an unattributed voice is also likely to need help understanding how to analyze different positions as a way of coming to their own opinion.  Again, the use of Bloom’s taxonomy to help the student analyze strong and weak points of different arguments can help the student come to their own opinion, after which the different pieces that have been analyzed may be used to support their position.

            In tutoring, we talk a lot about global and local concerns.  The lack of a strong argument is a very important global concern that should always be addressed in students’ papers.  While helping a student develop a strong argument may seem like a daunting task, it is definitely achievable when we have the right tools in our tutoring arsenal.

Works Cited

Wingate, Ursula. “‘Argument!’ Helping Students Understand What Essay Writing Is About.” Journal of English for Academic Purposes 11.2 (2012): 145-154. Academic Search Complete. Print.

Working With Students Experiencing Mental Health Concerns

            College is one of the toughest transitions in a young adult's life.  Not only are students leaving behind the comforts of family and home to come to an entirely new place, but they are also expected to hold to a higher set of standards.  Aside from the stress of a higher workload, students are also expected to be much more independent in general.  All of the sudden, students are on their own.  Add to that the burden of a mental health issue and things can become that much more difficult.  

            As these students attend class, study, and socialize, it's not unlikely that they might at some point reach out for help to a tutor.  What, then, are tutors to do in these situations?  How can they be best prepared to provide the best services for these students?

            Mark Daddona seeks to answer these very questions in "Peer Educators Responding To Students With Mental Health Issues.” Before making his recommendations, Daddona seeks to help the reader understand why it is so imperative that peer educators be equipped with the tools that they need to respond to these students.  He cites a number of different surveys given to counseling center directors across the country with the following results:

• 70.6% of centers noted an increase in crisis counseling
• 55.7% reported an increase in self-injury issues
• 26.5% reported an increase in eating disorder issues
• 24.7% reported an increase in sexual assault concerns

            In addition to these results, Daddona also notes that "Over a thirteen-year time span, the number of depression cases doubled, the number of suicidal students tripled, and sexual assault cases quadrupled." (30)  With these kinds of rates, it seems almost inevitable that a peer educator will interact with one of these students at some point in the year.  How, then can we prepare them?

            Daddona suggests that peer educators can best be prepared by being taught how to effectively use verbal and nonverbal communication skills as well as become educated about the role of their campus counselor and the specifics of how these services are provided.

            As far as teaching communication skills, Dadonna goes on to note a number of important practices that tutors should attempt to put into effect.  First, he talks about the importance of active listening.  Tutors should attempt to ensure that the student that they are working with knows that they are listening closely and with understanding.  He suggests that the tutor make efforts to paraphrase what the student has said as a way of ensuring that the student knows that he is being, "...focused on, accepted, and valued...".(32)  In addition, the tutor should also make efforts to empathize with how the student is feeling and understands what he is thinking and feeling.  Dadonna also suggests the use of open-ended questions as a way of allowing the student to elaborate on how they are feeling, thinking, or acting at their own pace.

            Another thing emphasized by Dadonna is the importance of nonverbal communication skills.  He notes that, "leaning in with open arms shows interest and concern," while "leaning back with crossed arms can suggest a lack of interest and the impression that the peer educator does not want to get too close to the student or possibly the topic under discussion." (32) Another important aspect of effective communication that Dadonna notes is that the peer educator should learn to become comfortable with silence, which he says allows, "...an opportunity for both parties to reflect briefly on a previously sent or received message and also allows 'think time' prior to responding." (32)

            Aside from effective communication skills, peer educators should also develop an understanding of what kinds of counseling services their university offers to students as well as how those services may be obtained.  For instance, at Texas Lutheran the counselor is Terry Weers and her office is located in the Meadows Center of the ASC.  This may range from being able to direct a student where to go from counseling to having the knowledge of what will happen when a student goes for counseling as a way of lessening the fear and stigma that are often attached to counseling.  In addition, the peer educator must also know how to effectively make a referral, including speaking with honesty and straightforwardness to the student while at the same time remaining respectful to the student and providing the most accurate information available.  

Works Cited

Daddona, Mark F. "Peer Educators Responding To Students With Mental Health Issues." New Directions For Student Services 133 (2011): 29-39. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Questions for Tutors

1. Why do peer educators need to understand how to work with students that are experiencing mental health concerns?
2. How can peer educators use effective communication skills when interacting with students experiencing mental health concerns?
3. What constitutes effective referral practices?

Working with Global and Local Concerns

Working with Global and Local Concerns

            One big hurdle that tutors must often overcome is helping students understand the purpose of the tutor.  Rather than simply being an proofreader, it is the role of the tutor to help guide the student towards creating a strong paper that contains clear ideas, demonstrates the student's knowledge, meets the requirements of the assignment overall.

            Brad Hughes of the University of Wisconsin Writing Center notes that teachers and in this case peer tutors must be able to communicate with the student about different levels of revision.  Part of this means understanding the difference between global writing concerns and local writing concerns.

            Global writing concerns involve "whole-text issues such as ideas or content, focus, genre, argument, thesis, development, organization, clarity of purpose, and awareness of audience." (Hughes) When looking for global concerns, once should ask whether:

o   The draft effectively meets the assignment's requirements

o   The writer is demonstrating a good understanding of the information covered

o   The writer is making a strong argument about something important

o   The writer has clearly defined her points

o   These points are logically organized

o   These points are being sufficiently developed and explained

o   There is enough evidence to support the author's argument

o   The paragraphs themselves are well-developed and unified.

            Once global writing concerns have been met, it's time to look at local concerns.  This involves working on the improvement of sentence structure, word choice, and punctuation.  At this point questions may be asked concerning effective use of transitions, improvement of style, how word choice and sentence structure are affecting understanding for the audience, and whether there are grammatical, punctuation, or proofreading errors.

            While a good writer will understand the importance of working with global concerns before addressing local concerns, it can be difficult to convince a student that this is the right path to take.  Beth Barry, a composition professor at Texas Lutheran University, likes to use the analogy of renovating versus redecorating to help students understand why it is more important to address larger issues within a paper before moving onto smaller ones.

            We can think of the changes meant to address global concerns as renovations to the paper.  When renovating a house, this might involve things like tearing down a wall or repairing a cracked foundation.  These are large tasks that require a lot of work and sometimes even appear to be doing more harm than good.  However, for a safe and comfortable house to be built they must be done.  In the revising process, we might see renovations as things like completely changing a thesis statement or having to cut several paragraphs that do not adequately contribute to a paper’s meaning.  While it can be hard to make these big changes, making them will create a better paper in the long run. 

            Redecorating a house, on the other hand, might involve things like putting up new wallpaper or replacing a sofa’s pillows.  For a paper, this means looking at local concerns, such as making more considerations about word choice or taking a closer look at grammar and punctuation. 

            Taking these two processes together, it is clear that for a house we want to complete the renovations before thinking about redecorating.  It doesn’t make any sense to start painting the walls of your house if they aren’t even all up yet.  In the same way, it isn’t useful to start looking at smaller local concerns when there is still an abundance of global concerns that need to be addressed.  Once students can begin to understand this, it becomes easier to get them to focus on the larger issues within their papers instead of being preoccupied with surface issues.

Works Cited

Hughes, Brad. "Emphasizing The Right Thing At The Right Time: Differentiating Between Global and Local Concerns in Student Writing." Integrating Writing into Your Course. University of Wisconsin-Madison/Writing Across the Curriculum. Web. 

Questions for Tutors

1. What questions can a tutor ask a student to help them understand the global concerns that they should be looking for? For local concerns?
2. Why might it be important for a tutor to communicate the difference between global and local concerns to a student?
3. What can a tutor do to help a student focus more on global concerns when they seem to be more worried about local concerns?  How can a tutor help a student understand why global concerns need to be addressed first?

Sorry, I'm Kind of New at This: A Resource for Training Tutors in Unfamiliar Scenarios

Training for Tough Tutorials is a resource created by the University of Richmond's Writing Center.  It consists of a series of videos that depict different outcomes for a number of tutorial situations that peer educators may run into.  Each scenario includes a video of the scenario and its different possible outcomes, scenario notes,  the paper that's being worked on in the scenario, and a downloadable question form that the peer educator can use to help gauge their understanding of the best response.

Scenarios covered include:

• The Nontraditional Student
• A Grammar Tutorial
• The Angry Writer
• The Fix-It Shop
• ESL Help
• The Reluctant Revisor
• A Strong Paper
• The "Bloody" Paper
• The Student-Athlete
• The Friend
• The Demoralized Writer
• The Offensive Paper
• "I Don't Get It!"

Overall, I believe that this is a great resource for peer tutors to work through as it not only shows them what different scenarios might look like but also shows stronger and weaker approaches to dealing with each situation.  The inclusion of a question form and the paper itself makes this a very comprehensive tutorial that may be great for helping tutors feel more comfortable in their ability to give advice in a variety of different scenarios.

Reading Strategies for the College Student: Annotation

One of the most important skills that college writers can have is the ability to read well and to comprehend what they are reading.  Without this key ability, students are often left feeling as though they don't understand what they have read or as though the things that they have read aren't making sense.  Overall, good reading skills are a key element in the development of good writing skills.

Herman and Wardrip cite the strategies of expert readers delineated by Pressley, noting that proficient readers, "Know their purpose for reading, continually monitor their understanding, and adjust their reading effort to the complexity of the text."(48)  They go on to assert that developing a variety of reading strategies can help to facilitate the development of these expert reader skills. 

How then may peer educators assist their clients in the development of these skills?  The answer is by introducing them to and encouraging them to use a variety of different reading methods.  In the next few posts, I'll review reading methods from a couple of different sources.  Think of these strategies as tools that you can supply to your student's writing toolkit.  For this first post, let's look at the annotation technique described by Herman and Wardrip in "Reading to Learn".

Annotation

Annotation is a method described by Herman and Wardrip in which students are encouraged to not only analyze the content of what they are reading but also to create a mental representation of what they are reading.  This is done by teaching the student to annotate a variety of key elements that are often incorporated into texts such as:

• "difficult or new [science] vocabulary words and in-text definitions;
• difficult nonscience vocabulary words;
• main ideas or arguments and related supporting ideas or evidence;
• headings, transitional words, and other signposts;
• inferences; and
• conclusions." (49)

This is a great tool for use with science textbooks because it highlights the importance of remaining aware of vocabulary and not simply pushing past words that are unknown.  In addition, it also encourages the student to not simply look for facts but to also understand the arguments and development of different ideas, processes, and theories.  This is particularly important in the field of science as this knowledge builds upon itself a great deal.  Because of this, it is important that students not simply memorize a series of steps or facts, but that they instead begin to develop a true understanding of what they are learning.

Works Cited

Herman, Phillip, and Peter Wardrip. "Reading To Learn." Science Teacher 79.1 (2012): 48-51. Academic Search Complete. Web.

Inside the Tutoring Kingdom

            Within biology, it is the task of the taxonomist to categorize different animals into their individual kingdom, phylum, class, genus, order, and species.  In doing so, it becomes simpler to tell both the big and small differences between two different animals.  In "Tutor Taxonomy", Scott L. Miller takes a similar approach in the writing center, grouping writing tutors into different "species" based on the characteristics and differences that they share in their tutoring philosophies.

            Miller describes two different varieties of tutors, which he calls P. taciturnus and P. rhetoricus.  According to Miller's observations, the P. taciturnus variety of tutor tends to ask questions more than offer direct advice. These tutors see their role as a supporter of their tutee with a job of gently questioning and probing the tutee towards understanding.  This tutor, "...embodies faith and trust, trust that the tutee is smart enough to work it out for himself ultimately, if not today" (102).

            P. rhetoricus tutors, on the other hand, are known for being more concerned about dispensing the knowledge that they have to the tutee.  These tutors tend to believe that there is a certain way that professors want things to be written and aren't afraid to share this information with their tutee.

            Miller supports these assertions by relating each of his species of tutors to different tutoring models.  P. taciturnus is shown in relation to the minimalist tutoring model while P. rhetoricus is linked to a social-constructionist model of writing. (103) The minimalist model is set up in such a way that the tutor's position is to help the tutee express the ideas that they already possess through a series of questions.  This type of tutor believes that the tutee already knows what they want to say, they simply need help expressing those thoughts in a manner that is both meaningful and convincing.  Miller also suggests that this model of tutoring may be adopted by tutors when they are unfamiliar with the rhetoric being used in the tutee's assignment.

            P. rhetoricus, Miller suggests, is based on a social-constructionist writing philosophy.  Miller notes that this type of tutor abides by the idea that a tutee may not know what they need to say because they may not yet be familiar enough with their field to understand how or why things are done a certain way.  This type of tutor, Miller says, would argue that we all have different voices that we develop and that, "...the voices we exercise come to us along with the various subjectivities we are required to or choose to adopt in life” (104). From this assertion, this type of writing tutor would argue that tutees must be taught what they should sound like.

            With such different philosophies, one may then question which method is "right".  Should a tutor attempt to ask more questions and guide his tutee in the way of P. taciturnus or is it in the best interest of the tutee to use an approach more resembling that of P. rhetoricus in which the role of the tutor is to directly instruct the tutee in how he should write?  Miller believes that neither of these methods is necessarily better than the other nor that one should abandon one vision for the other.  Instead, he goes so far as to say that the writing center needs both varieties of tutors.

Works Cited

Miller, Scott L. "Tutor Taxonomy." Pedagogy 5.1 (2005): 102-115. Academic Search Complete.

Questions for the Tutor

1. What type of tutor do you think you are?  Do you identify more closely with P. taciturnus or P. rhetoricus tutoring “species”? What ways do your tutoring techniques reflect this?
2. What are some strong points of each of these tutoring types?  What are some weak points?
3. How can developing characteristics of each of these types of tutors make you a more adept writing tutor?
4. In what context is the P. taciturnus  type of tutor appropriate?  The P. rhetoricus?  Do you think that the methods from each type can be blended together and in what ways?

But why is there all this RED on my paper?: Empowering Students to Become Their Own Editor

            As a writing tutor, it is not uncommon for a student comes into the writing center clutching his freshly graded first draft.  Students across a variety of disciplines have been there: a first draft or lab report is handed back and you immediately flip to the final page to see your grade, desperately ignoring all the red ink in between.  After all, the grade's the most important piece of information at this point, right?

            Not if you're looking to become a better writer.  As Texas Lutheran is a liberal arts university, we can see this even in our Institutional Goals for Graduates.  In the TLU Student Handbook, these goals are divided into aspects of “Knowing”, “Doing”, and “Becoming”.  One part of the “Doing” aspect of these goals is that “TLU graduates should be able to write clearly and coherently, read with comprehension, speak effectively, and listen with care and openness.” (Handbook, 3) Keeping this in mind, it becomes clear that instead of ignoring the commentary that a professor gives on a paper, it's better to treat that information as pure gold.  Despite a grade that may seem to indicate the contrary, your professors and your university as a whole want you to do well and believe that part of that entails becoming a better writer.  As writing tutors, part of our job is helping make this happen.

            In “Learning to Read with the Eyes of a Writer”, Kristin M. Gehsmann of St. Michael’s College provides some helpful approaches that can be used to help students learn how to approach their own papers with the eyes of a writer and to eventually become more adept and being their own editor.  Often students will come in with a first draft, a lower grade than expected, and a lot of red ink.  Now, how can you teach your student how to use this information? 

            Gehsmann’s method involves sharing strong and weak versions of a paper with students and then teaching them to look for what makes a paper strong and how to improve upon weaknesses.

            Starting with a strong paper, students are asked to read through and notice what the writer did to make the essay effective.  Is there a clear statement of purpose or thesis statement?  Can the organization and structure of the paper be easily followed?  Do the author's sentences and paragraphs work together to enhance the overall organization?

            After this, share a version of the same paper that is lacking in these characteristics.  Students are asked to look for things that the writer did well and things that could be improved upon.  Once this is done, it's time for the student to become the editor.  Ask the student to provide feedback for the essay's author, including both points of strength and weakness and any areas upon which they can improve.

            Now that the student has an idea of some of the differences between a strong and weak paper, the tutor can help the student apply the same techniques used on the sample paper to their own paper.  Have the student read their own paper just as they read through the others.  Afterwards, try having them create a list of five strengths or challenges that they can see in their paper.

            At this point the tutor can help the student take their list of strengths and weaknesses and use it to develop an action plan for making edits to their paper.  This is also a good time to look at the commentary of the professor.  What recommendations has he or she made and how can those be put into effect?  Remember to start with bigger concerns and work down to smaller ones and communicate why this is important to students.  Have the student look at the differences between the strong and weak papers and see how those differences align with their own paper.  If the student notices that their overall organizational structure more closely resembles that of the weaker paper, ask them what differences there are in the stronger paper.  Simple things like developing a stronger statement of purpose, thesis statement, and creating an outline can be a great place to start.

            You’re there in the writing center, student in front of you.  The stress of a lower-than-expected grade is looming above his or her head, keeping them from focusing on how they can improve their paper.  While it may be tempting to just give them a list of things that they need to change, it’s better to take this as an opportunity to help the student learn how to become a better writer.  Rather than just trying to tell them what changes they need to make, the method outlined above can help students learn how to find those changes themselves and make them a more empowered and capable writer. 

Works Cited

Gehrsmann, Kristin M. "Learning To Read With The Eyes Of A Writer." Teaching Professor 25.1 (2011): 1-3. Academic Search Complete. 

Texas Lutheran University Student Handbook: 2012-2013. Seguin, TX: Texas Lutheran University, 2012.