Below is an abstract for our forthcoming brownbag talk "Writing Centers and Online Tutoring," scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 6th, from 12.00p-1.00p in Lincoln Hall 1066.
Dr. Carolyn Wisniewski, María Paz Carvajal Regidor, Evin Groundwater, and Allison Kranek
Abstract:
In the Spring of 2017, the Writers Workshop implemented synchronous online writing consultations with a robust, mixed-methods, naturalistic assessment designed to compare those sessions with our face-to-face appointments. This study contributes to the limited empirical research comparing the pedagogical qualities of face-to-face and media-rich online writing tutorials, and it also contributed to a culture of collaborative research at the Writers Workshop. This brownbag will summarize our findings, but it will also discuss the collaborative research process: beginning a collaborative study as a new writing center director, maintaining a research journal and working with team members across disciplines, managing non-dissertation-related research, and representing and building upon this research in new sites. Our manuscript, “Questioning Assumptions about Online Tutoring: A Mixed-Method Study of Face-to-Face and Synchronous Online Writing Center Tutorials” (also co-authored with Lisa Chason, Logan Middleton, and Dorothy Mayne) is currently under review with The Writing Center Journal.
Bios:
Dr. Carolyn Wisniewski, Director of the Writers Workshop, teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in writing center theory, research, and administration, and her research investigates how novice teachers and tutors develop pedagogical habits of mind and expertise in teaching writing.
María Paz Carvajal Regidor, PhD candidate in Writing Studies and Assistant Director of the Writers Workshop, researches the literate practices of Latinx students and how those influence their experiences at PWIs and is co-conducting a writing center research project with Allison Kranek looking at the roles ‘present others’ play in grad writers’ writing center sessions.
Evin Groundwater, PhD, teaches a variety of writing and rhetoric courses; his research focuses primarily on the rhetorical transmission of memory across publics, with side projects focusing on writing center research.
Allison Kranek, a PhD Candidate in Writing Studies, is in the early stages of her dissertation research, which focuses on writing center and writing program partnerships with residence halls via a multifaceted, mixed-methods study.
