A writing center derives its definition from the services it renders. (HOD)

Notes the benefits of effective tutoring programs. Discusses the role of the tutor as coach, as commentator, and as counselor. (RL)

The tutor training sessions at the University of Minnesota Technical College are outlined and an evaluation of the program is included. A bibliography of 38 print and 3 videotape resources for tutor training is also included. Appendixes contain the tutor and tutee handbooks and a study skills kit specifically designed for tutor training.…

Describes the Writing Tutorial Service at Carleton University, Ottawa, which provides individual tutoring for students who want help with their writing. Outlines some of the teaching techniques used, showing how they vary according to the stage of the composing process at which tutors are required to intervene. (GT)

One college's examination of its tutoring program led to conclusions that can be applied to many tutoring programs. The most important conclusion was that faculty should be involved in as many stages of the tutorial process as possible. Specifically, five conditions should be met to create a productive teacher tutor relationship: (1) the teacher…

While this book is focused primarily on the tutorials held in the British universities, it offers many insights that can improve the teaching in the discussion sections so common in our large universities. Introductions to analyses of group processes of technical language, and of questions are given. Lesson plans for skill building sessions are…

This tip sheet offers guidelines for instructors who are working with a tutor for a student who is deaf or hard of hearing. It is assumed that the tutor is not fluent in sign language, the student's primary mode of communication is signed communication, tutoring interactions do not take place in the classroom, and the tutor is either a teaching…

This paper contains the scripts of five skits illustrating conspicuous errors on the part of writing tutors trying to assist undergraduate writers. Although the dialogue is fictitious and the situations slightly exaggerated, the skits delineate real problems that have been observed by the directors in actual tutoring sessions. The skits are…

Describes the function, management and facilities of the Physics Tutorial Center (PTC) at North Carolina State University. A primary function of the PTC is to provide immediate and individualized response to learning problems identified by the students. The operational philosophy is to guide the student to the solution by asking questions and not…

Assesses the quality of tutorial sessions in the problem-based learning curriculum that was adopted at the University of Tampere in Finland. (Author/CCM)

The development of a full-credit peer tutor training course for college freshmen is based on the assumption that respect for the writing student and respect for writing as a process are essential attitudes for peer tutors to acquire. Training begins with assigning tutors writing activities to make them more aware of themselves as writers and…

Describes generic problem-solving model constructed by D. Koberg and J. Bagnall that can be used by writing center tutors and that progresses as follows: (1) accept situation, (2) analyze, (3) define, (4) ideate, (5) select, (6) implement, (7) evaluate. Provides tutors with coherent framework and with way of breaking larger framework down into…

Designed to reinforce initial training and to provide a collection of useful ideas for students who serve as peer tutors, this guidebook provides tips for tutors to improve the reading abilities. Following an introduction which asserts the benefits of peer tutoring programs, the guidebook is divided into two major sections: "Tutoring…

Awareness of audience is of major importance in rhetoric, but most students who come to a writing center need help in recognizing and accommodating an audience for their work. Standard warnings from rhetoric texts and writing instructors not to write for the instructor not withstanding, it is the job of the writing center staff to help the student…

A review of more than 100 student journals that are kept as part of the requirements of an education course that gives juniors and seniors academic credit for tutoring freshmen and sophomores in writing reveals that the tutors contribute to the development of writing abilities by providing the opportunity to use oral language in discursive…