A Peer-Educator’s Role in Shaping Writing Center Practice

Gathering Data

Course Evaluations

I studied student's anonymous evaluations of the tutor training course. Based on their responses, they found the course constructive, challenging, and valuable. Responses were overall positive with a few exceptions.

While the course was stressful, students appreciated the skills they learned along the way.

They were able to challenge their own conceptions of education with the direction and support of the collective efforts of the instructor and peer-educator.

This student made sure

to note that the combination of instructor and peer-educator was beneficial

A lower stress

environment for a higher stress course allowed students collaborative space to learn and grow together

Emotional involvement in the classroom helped students view the experience as meaningful.

Students appreciated a friendly face - a peer to rely on that had experienced course.

Areas to improve

Despite our best efforts, some students still struggled with the stresses of the course. Others felt the responsibilities of the instructor and peer-educator were disconnected.

This student [bottom] wanted the instructor and peer-educator to share more of the same strategies when it came to feedback. The tutor training course at the University of Maine is designed for evaluation of student work to be qualitative, not quantitative with consistent grading. This student's dissatisfaction could be attributed to little experience with this kind of assessment.

In addition to evaluations, I designed an anonymous survey to gather more specific data to answer my research questions.

Student Survey

Overall, students felt comfortable with feedback from the instructor on the online classroom.

With a 50% response rate, it is encouraging to see that students were satisfied with the instruction and support that already exists in the tutor training course.

Students found having a peer-educator was beneficial to their ability to revise and repurpose their writing as the semester progressed.

The addition of a peer-educator in conjunction with the instructor made students more comfortable with their authorship and its development.

Did having a PEER-EDUCATOR in the ENG 395 classroom make you feel more comfortable with the overall expectations of the course? Please rate each of the following:

Students are expected

to consistently and effectively interact with course texts, class discussions, and other student's work.

The coursework and pace

of the course can be intimidating. Students often struggle acclimating at the beginning of the semester.

My upmost concerns with this project were improving comfort with the transition from theory to practice and boosting student confidence in their own abilities. Based on this data, the presence of a peer-educator had the desired impact on students.

"Self-respect. Knowing when to say no to people, admitting to yourself and others when people are asking too much of you, in tutorials and in life in general."

"She helped ground us with her advice and feedback."

"There was someone at a similar level to me to relate to throughout the course"

"Having a peer-educator made it easier to ask questions, ask for help, and to vent our frustration or joy."

The presence of a peer-educator boosted students' confidence in their existing abilities, allowing them to deeply engage with their peers and the course material.

At the beginning of the semester, most students were concerned with how to handle uncomfortable situations in the Writing Center because course materials didn't cover the topic.

After sharing my personal experiences, having students shadow my tutorials, and fielding questions, every student who answered this question was confident in their ability to take control of a situation.

Writing Samples

To evaluate what kind of emotionally involved feedback is helpful for students, I coded my responses to online writing submissions.

Peer-educator feedback is essential during the repurposing process. I found it most effective to note specific composition decisions and treat comments like active listening. I also used a strategy I learned from another peer-tutor: summarizing my take from the piece helped students decide if what they were saying on the page was what they were really trying to say. This also gave them places to turn to in their writing to take pride in and repurpose.

Feedback to student writing followed a formula:

Identify the controlling purpose (driving idea) using direct quotes
Point to specific places where the author develops or returns to the controlling purpose using direct quotes
Encourage places where students develop their ideas well
Encourage places where students can further expand their ideas
Challenge ideas and give students perspective on their controlling purpose
End with a holistic comment that is more student-specific

Treating comments like active listening allows students to

(1) judge if their intended controlling purpose matches an outside reader's conception of the piece, and

(2) feel heard and understood.

Identifying the controlling purpose

Pointing to places where author develops CP

Encouraging productive development

Encouraging expansion

Challenging ideas

*LOI=Line of Inquiry (asking questions to explore controlling purpose)

Holistic end comment

*PAR=framework for assuming a reflective awareness of purposeful moves in academic writing

"I also put in my own voice and inserted my situation as a writing tutor in training, assuming the authority to speak to such issues."

This student reflected on my feedback in a future revision of the piece.

Revised versions of online submissions had stronger controlling purposes and more confident claims.

My commenting formula parallels research* on effective commenting strategies. Holistic end comments on student work allow both peer-educators and students to focus on higher-level concerns in terms of overall content. However, these comments alone can influence instructors

and peer-educators to overlook anything other than overarching and general comments. It is important to draw students' attention to particular places in the piece for later revision. Noting specific moves indicates interest on a student-by-student basis.

*Cox, Stephanie, Jennifer Black, Jill Heney, and Melissa Keith. 2015. "Promoting Teacher Presence: Strategies for Effective and Efficient Feedback to Student Writing Online." Teaching English in the Two Year College 42 (4) (05): 376-391.

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