Writing centers have long been a hallmark in supporting the development of student writers at North American academic institutions. Writing centers are often connected to a writing program or learning center open to all students for one-on-one tutorials regarding a writing project. Tutors function as coaches or collaborators, rather than as…

Learning centers and tutoring programs serve a unique function as they are situated between academic and student affairs. Despite their importance, little research has focused on the key knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies required for success as learning center directors. This qualitative study addressed this gap by exploring critical…

Mathematics support, the provision of additional learning opportunities to, primarily, non-mathematics specialist undergraduates has grown significantly since the early 1990s, particularly in the UK, Ireland and Australia. Alongside the growth in volume of provision, there has been a marked increase in the amount of research and scholarship…

This article presents an interview with Rick A. Sheets, who has been working in learning assistance, faculty training, and technology support for over 30 years. He collaborated with Frank Christ as the co-founder and webmaster of the Learning Support Centers in Higher Education (LSCHE) website, a resource established in 1996 for learning center…

The research into personal tutoring in higher education from a tutor's perspective suggests that tutors lack training in tutoring and may lack clarity as to the purpose and boundaries of the role. This article explores personal tutors' perceptions of their confidence and competence in relation to personal tutoring and identifies strategies that…

In e-learning systems, tutors have a significant impact on learners' life to increase their knowledge level and to make the learning process more effective. They are characterized by different features. Therefore, identifying tutoring styles is a critical step in understanding the preference of tutors on how to organize and help the learners. In…

This study presents a case study of asynchronous online discussions' (AOD) growth patterns in an undergraduate blended course to address the gap in our current understanding of how threads are developed in peer-moderated AODs. Building on a taxonomy of thread pattern proposed by Chan, Hew and Cheung (2009), growth patterns of thirty-six forums…

Many postsecondary institutions utilize tutoring services to address the needs of underprepared students. Even with the widespread use of tutoring services, the literature documenting postsecondary tutoring, and specifically tutor training, is limited. The few studies that have investigated tutor training have identified its importance and a need…

This study was conducted in an authentic university setting with fourth-year Educational Sciences' students operating as online peer tutors to facilitate freshman tutees' online collaboration and knowledge construction in a blended "Instructional Sciences" course. Taking into account prior research uncovering weaknesses in online peer tutor…

Transformation policies in South Africa have seen higher education come under increasing pressure to broaden participation from historically under-represented groups. This article focuses on the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, as a newly merged institution that is in the process of transforming from a formerly segregated academic…

Argues that one productive approach to writing tutorials is to conceive them as performances and to encourage tutors to analyze them in this way. Analyzes tape-recorded narratives from tutors about conference experiences, which raise questions about the very nature of peer tutoring and help tutors clarify their roles. (SR)

Modifies Ned Flanders'"Flanders' Interaction Analysis Categories" (FIAC) so that it becomes an effective, evaluative tool to guide tutors and administrators as they define tutors' roles. (RS)

Writing center theory in general seems to favor a collaborative model of the tutorial where the tutor and tutee work together to create shared knowledge and a shared text and an expressionist model of the tutorial which requires that the tutor do less talking and more listening. Writing center empirical research, however, suggests that the key…

This paper considers the best way to design a training program for prospective and current writing center tutors. The paper uses the writing center at Texas Woman's University as an example, for even after training, weekly meetings, and focused readings, peer tutors were at a loss for what to do--most of the peer tutors just were not able to get…

A paper describes a project in which a writing center created a Web site using digital video (DV) along with essay texts, scenario notes, and a Web-based response exercise, in order to better prepare writing tutor apprentices for a range of ethical and pedagogical dilemmas which might occur. The paper begins by discussing reasons for the project…