SIGHT UNSEEN:WORKING WITH WRITING

CENTER CLIENTS THROUGH ASYNCHRONOUS E-MAIL

CONSULTATIONS

PRESENTED BY

MICHAEL FRIZELL, DIRECTOR

STUDENT LEARNING SERVICES

WHY ONLINE WRITING CENTERS?

Advances in technologyElectronic communication

Used widely for personal, professional, even academic reasons

Does not confine a writing center to its physical boundariesProvide assistance to more studentsDistance education, online students, satellite campuses, dual credit students

No hassle of scheduling appointments

HOW DO THEY WORK?

SynchronousHappens face to faceImmediate interaction between client and consultantChat

HOW DO THEY WORK? (CONT.)

AsynchronousTime displacedReaction between client and consultantEmail, digital drop boxes

HOW DOES OURS WORK?Asynchronous, email Only for certain students:

high school dual-credit students

online studentsstudents at satellite campuses of MSU

Student submits paper using valid university email.

Paper in WORD or other text file.

Answers specific questions:

1. Your first and last name.

2. Your native language (if not English).

3. Your Missouri State University affiliation (Name of HS, for example).

4. Your academic status (e.g., dual credit high school student, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, graduate student, staff, faculty).

6. Specific concerns and/or questions you have about your text. The assignment parameters help, too!

7. If your text is a paper for a course, please give the course number and section.

HOW DOES OURS WORK? (CONT.)

ALL CLEAR SO FAR?

HOW DOES OURS WORK? (CONT.)

Once a paper is submitted, consultants have two business days to respond

Make suggestions through Track Changes and Comments features in Microsoft Word

Personal email responsePost response emails

HOW ARE ONLINE WRITING CONSULTATIONS DIFFERENT?

Breuch and Racine noted that “the training used in face-to-face centers does not translate easily to online writing centers…e-mail interactions require new strategies” (p. 246).

HOW ARE ONLINE WRITING CONSULTATIONS DIFFERENT? (CONT.)

Face-to-face sessions rely on conversation, interaction, feedback

This doesn’t happen online

Communication breaks down

STRATEGIESThese Still Apply:Be friendlyBe professionalExplain reasoning for suggestionsHOCS before LOCSAvoid editing

STRATEGIES (CONT.)Develop a strong awareness of your own tone

Avoid sarcasmAvoid ironySay things in a positive way

Example

“If you can avoid the use of you and use a noun like people or researchers instead, you will come across as more professional”

as opposed to

“Don’t use you or your in an academic paper”

STRATEGIES (CONT.)Develop an awareness of your own writing

Being clear is essential!“I’m not sure the verb view is conveying the meaning you are intending. Do you mean that Americans think about the extreme effects that science could have. If so, maybe a phrase like think about, worry about, or worry might be more appropriate.”

as opposed to “awk,” “frag,”

or “what?”

STRATEGIES (CONT.)Make the client aware of your tutoring process

“One = one person, singularAn individual= one person, singularHe or she= one person, singularHis or her= something that belongs tone person, singular Individuals= many individuals, pluralThey= many people, pluralTheir= something that belongs to many people, plural

Always use pronouns that match in number to what they refer back to. You can either change the pronoun (he/she/his/her/they/their) or change the noun it refers back to make it match, but whatever you decide to change they must match in number. I will highlight further instances of this so that you can see them and correct them on your own.”

BUT THIS TAKES LONGER!KEEP A FILE OF PRE-FORMED COMMENTS.

Consultants may find that they repeat themselves often when responding to writers’ writing, especially when explaining grammar issues.

to save time, keep an electronic file with explanations for grammatical concepts so that you can copy and paste them as necessary.

Of course, check to make sure each explanation truly fits the situation in the writer’s writing; if it does not fit exactly, customize the response for that particular writer’s situation.

As long as the comment is helpful to the writer and is relevant to his or her writing, there is no reason why a consultant cannot use a file of pre-formed responses.

Helpful strategy for online tutoring: Talk to each other!

Whether you aren’t sure if you understand something in a paper or if you are explaining your ideas well enough, sometimes a second opinion can be helpful.

Many of us ask other writing consultants questions during face-to-face sessions. Don’t feel as though you cannot do this when tutoring online.

TALK TO OTHER WRITING CONSULTANTS.

Example

PERSONAL EMAIL RESPONSES TO CLIENTS

TRACK CHANGES DOCUMENT

SOME OBSERVATIONS…

FOR THE CONSULTANTS…

Forced the consultant to consider answers carefully.

Works best with experienced consultants.

FOR THE STUDENTS…

More student driven.

Students practiced writing and vocabulary by exchanging emails.

Encouraged early drafts.

Breakthroughs happened IN WRITING!

FOR THE SCHOOL…

Marketing!

QUESTIONS?

CONTACT INFORMATIONCONTACT INFORMATION

Michael Frizell, Director, Student Learning Services Co-Director, Bear CLAW (Center for Learning and

Writing)michaelfrizell@missouristate.eduPhone: 417-836-5006Office: Meyer Library 112 Writing CenterFirst floor Meyer Library – The Bear ClawPhone: 417-836-6398http://writingcenter.missouristate.edu Supplemental Instructionhttp://si.missouristate.edu