Very recently, I came across an issue that Ortoleva brought up, referring to trying to help someone with a biology paper. Ouch! I don't have a problem with words I don't understand because typically, grammar rules are universal. However, the way the paper was set up was so unorthodox to me that it threw me off a little. I asked a bunch of questions, making sure that he knew for sure that that was the way it should look and he seemed confident that it was. Really, the point of the visit was because of a requirement from his teacher, and he admitted that he just slapped something down on paper for me to read. I politely perused it and sent him on his way to, of course, revise. The question this brings up to me is, "Why do we need familiarity in a text in order to tutor well?" All of the things we do in the writing center don't have anything to do with the subject matter of the writing. This is evident from the articles we have read written about sexist or otherwise offensive topics.
Also, Ortoleva talks about a doctoral and grad students coming into the writing center quite a bit. I'm not sure how many doctoral students we have on campus and I know there aren't many grad students, but I found it odd that a doctoral student would come to the writing center. The only reason I say that is because all of the tutors we have are undergrads and for that reason only, I wouldn't feel like we are qualified to help someone at that education level. Maybe I'm wrong, but I know that I would feel apprehensive and a little intimidated about helping a doctoral student with his writing. Am I alone here?
I like that Ortoleva writes about when to be text-centered and when to be writer-centered instead of preaching for one correct way to do a tutoring session. After reading about how he treated all of the students as individuals, and how the upper level students had very focused goals about what they wanted accomplished, it made a little more sense to me why they would like to utilize the writing center. However, if I were a grad student, I don't know if I would want help from someone the likes of me, with less education. I guess I can't assume that just because someone graduated from college that they are good writers. I think that's sort of the point of this article; to take every situation and treat it individually only with the goal to make the writer feel like something good was accomplished because of the experience.
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I think I would feel nervous about helping a doctoral student as well. And I agree that we have to treat our clients individually; applying blanket theory will not work in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI went to the writing center as a PhD student and specifically asked for a tutor who was NOT a graduate student (we had a policy of grad students tutoring other grad students at SIUC, when I was there, at least). I wanted someone who wasn't already steeped in my field's theory or particularly familiar with the format of a dissertation, because in explaining all of that to a tutor, I was able to better understand it myself. AND, I had my dissertation committee to help me with the discipline- and topic-specific aspect of the dissertation; the tutor was there to help me as a writer, when I was struggling with writer's block, panic attacks of self-doubt, and problems organizing my ideas in a way that made sense even within the form of the dissertation.
ReplyDeleteMy point is not to sell yourselves short as undergraduate tutors. (We have only one doctoral program at USI, in nursing, but we have several master's programs, by the way.) If you encounter a graduate student in the writing center, obviously allow her or him to be the expert on the topic and the format of the paper; remember, the grad student has a committee of professors helping her or him with those aspects of the thesis. But you are the expert on writers. Find out what sort of help the client needs, and offer it, like you would for any client. Obviously, the grad student thinks you can help, or she wouldn't be there! (I even thanked my tutor in the acknowledgements page of my dissertation!)
I cringed at the biology students bringing in their papers. I cannot remember for anything how to properly setup a scientific essay. The student I was working with said this was not her concern, but when the bio-majoring writing tutor looked at it, she found several issues in format. I did read over her essay and looked for all the writing issues I could find, but her main problems existed in her understanding of a scientific essay. After I worked with her, I told every other bio student I worked with to go to Academic Skills and see a biolgoy tutor if they were interested in getting a professional view of their essasy in a scientific perspective.
ReplyDeleteI'm nervous helping anyone who is in a remotely higher level class because i'm afraid that they'll think i have no idea what i'm talking about because i'm only a sophomore. so you are definitely not alone.
ReplyDeleteIf a biology student came in for help i would politely tell them that i will likely be no help. I would like to feel more confident in helping them.