Eastern Oregon University
School of Arts and Sciences

Course Syllabus: WR 220 Methods of Tutoring

Credit Hours: 3
Course Time and Place: MW 3-4:20

Instructor: Susan Whitelock
Office: LH 234C
Phone: 962-3853
Email: swhitelo@eou.edu
Office Hours: MW 2-3 and by appointment

Course Description:

Students prepare to become effective writing tutors and also improve their own writing skills by studying writing center theory, writing process theory, and learning theories. Students will then apply these theories to practice, learning tutoring strategies and tools for responding to others' writing, while also gaining insight into their own writing.

Prerequisite: WR 121 and consent of the instructor

Required Texts:

Irene Clark, Writing in the Center, 3rd ed.
Christina Murpy and Steve Sherwood, The St. Martin's Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. 2nd or 3rd. ed.
Diane Hacker, A Writer’s Reference 6th ed. (an earlier ed. is acceptable but is lacking current information on using electronic sources)

Course Objectives and Requirements:

We will approach tutoring as an interesting job, and act as responsible paraprofessionals.

To prepare to work with students as writing tutors, we will explore our own writing histories and attitudes. We will then study Writing Center history and philosophy, as well as learning theory and writing process theory. After a learning style assessment, studying interpersonal communication skills, and practicing various invention and tutoring techniques, we will begin tutoring 1 hour a week (two 30-minute sessions) in the Writing Lab, working toward applying process and student-oriented teaching and tutoring methods that we have studied in the classroom.

We will prepare for tutoring through readings, Study Guides, observing tutoring sessions, writing, peer responding, workshops, and guest presentations. To prepare to be effective writing tutors, we will take a close look at the following areas: Invention techniques, Strategies for working from Global concerns (focus) to Local concerns (editing), Strategies for Revision, ESL, Multiculturalism, Research and Documentation, Writing Across the Disciplines, Learning Disabilities, WPE, and Online Responding.

Class will be held as a seminar/discussion workshop, but will also include small group and one-to-one conferencing and collaborative writing (if/as needed). Tutor Observations and Reflection of individual tutoring sessions will provide a record of personal growth and reflection.

Attendance Policy:

Because there is so much to learn in only 10 weeks of class sessions, and because you are fulfilling a role as a paraprofessional as well as a student, attendance in ALL classes and WRITING LAB TUTORIALS is crucial and expected. On the fourth (unexcused) absence—and Writing Lab appointments are counted like class sessions—students lose the chance for an "A." On the seventh absence they fail the class and are automatically withdrawn.

It is the tutor’s responsibility to check the Writing Lab Schedule Board EACH DAY after tutoring begins, and to appear for tutorials. Missing a tutorial in the Writing Lab is like missing a class. If you know you are going to miss a session in the Writing Lab, email or phone the student to reschedule or find another classmate to fill in for you. Call theWriting Lab (23663) if you cannot find a replacement so she can at least alert the student. Please read the Tutor Absence Policy for more detailed protocols to follow if you cannot make a session.

Meeting Deadlines:

Also, remembering that many of the class sessions will involve responding to each other’s writing, it is essential that all assignments be completed on time with the appropriate copies for distribution. If students are absent or the work is turned in late, it will be of no use to the class and of little use to the student; consequently, it will not be accepted. If you miss a class, see the instructor or another member of the class to see if anything has been added to the assignment.

Course Listserv:

There is a closed listserv for this class to which I will subscribe you. I will use this listserv regularly to communicate with you about the class and about the Writing Lab.

It is critical that you check you email each day for course and assignment updates and well as for important Writing Lab information. You can post messages to the listserv by sending emails to this email address: writing220@eou.edu.

Computer Literacy and Online Writing Lab (OWL):

Because you will sometimes help students revise on-screen, and because typed portfolios ensure your ideas and writing will not be under-rated due to penmanship, all papers (except some prewriting and in-class work) must be word-processed. Students also need to know how to do some basic research on the Internet.

In order to help students to use online resources, you must become familiar with Eastern Oregon University’s Online Writing Lab (http://www.eou.edu/writelab).

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the term, Writing Tutors should be able to help student-writers:

* Develop ways of coping with writing anxiety or writing blocks
*Learn how to manage their writing time more effectively
*Choose or clarify an assignment, and to understand the purpose, audience, and occasion of a piece of writing
*Brainstorm or plan a response to an assignment (introduce Invention Techniques)
*Understand the conventions and expectations of different academic disciplines
*Focus, develop, clarify, refine and organize ideas, helping them to pay attention to, analyze, and improve their writing process to create effective writing
*Discover spelling, punctuation, grammar, usage, and style error patterns, and learn how to correct their own errors
*Find and use available writing resources such as handbooks and online resources
*Develop the organizational and time-management skills needed to complete essays, or projects involving extensive research or other forms of investigation
*Discuss appropriate methods of summarizing, paraphrasing, and documenting outside reading and research

In addition to learning the above skills, tutors will learn how to
*Work with ESL writers and become aware of multicultural issues in writing
*Work with students with Learning Disabilities

This is a University Writing Requirement (UWR) writing-intensive course. Students must complete all UWR writing-intensive courses with a C- or better

Outcomes for lower-division UWR writing-intensive courses:

* Students will produce at least 3,000 words (including drafts, in-class writing, informal papers, and polished papers); 1,000 words of this total should be in polished papers which students have revised after receiving feedback and criticism.
* Students will be introduced to the discourse forms appropriate to the discipline the course represents.
* Students will write at least one paper integrating information from at least one source, employing the appropriate documentation style for the discipline represented by the course.
* Students will draft, revise, and edit their formal written work.
* Students will seek assistance from a Writing Tutor in the Writing Lab when needed and when referred by the instructor.

Means of Assessment:

Essays (3) 30% (Includes Final Reflective Essay)

Study Guides 20%

Tutor Observations & Reflections 20%

OWL Responses 10%

Classroom Participation/Attendance 10%

Being Tutored Reflection
& Peer Response Reflection 5%

VARK and Personality Assessment Reflection 5%

Statement on Academic Integrity:

Eastern Oregon University places a high value upon the integrity of its student scholars. Any student found guilty of an act of academic misconduct (including, but not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, or theft of an examination or supplies) may be subject to having his or her grade reduced in the course in question, being placed on probation or suspended from the University, or being expelled from the University –or a combination of these. (Please see Section II of the Student Handbook and Planning Calendar: Campus Citizenship (Academic), p. 32ff: Campus Citizenship (Behavior), p. 41ff.)

Learning Disabilities:

If you have a documented disability or suspect that you have a learning problem and need reasonable accommodations, please contact the Disability Services Program in Loso Hall 234. Telephone: 962-3081.

Note: Class Schedule and assignments may be altered during the course of the term as needed.