Robert Taylor - Blog Post 9

I see great value in writing center staff conducting research. Something that has become abundantly clear to me recently is that we should always seek to examine and challenge our assumptions, and this is where the work of research comes in. Furthermore, growth is foundational for writers and tutors, and research gives the perfect opportunity for everyone to learn and grow.

This semester, I have been working with students through the appointment scheduling side of the writing center, and it has been a unique experience to see the students who sign up for these appointments. Many of the students who sign up for appointments are struggling writers, but a few of them are writers simply looking for a second set of eyes or a sounding board for their ideas. They are not struggling writers, quite the opposite, yet they see the value in collaboration in their writing process. While I appreciate the chance to work with struggling writers on improving the quality of their work, it has been this other sort of writer that has caught my attention the most. 

When I was an undergraduate, I thought the writing center was only for students who were not good writers, and I never saw value in visiting the writing center. However, the writers I have met with this semester have shown me the value of tutors serving as collaborators in the writing process for all sorts of writers. This is what I would be most interested in looking at for a research project: How do we encourage more writers of all skill levels to utilize the services of the Writing Center? The collaboration I have done with writers this semester has been illuminating, and it has helped me learn more about subjects I didn’t know anything about and writing techniques that I have never considered before. It has helped me grow, and I know it has helped those students as well because they are usually my return visitors.


Comments

  1. Lucie BerjoanNovember 1, 2020 at 12:08 PM

    I think this is such a valid and important question. I think about how in creative writing workshops and programs talking about writing is such an integral part of the process. How could that be transferred to academic writing and what is difficult about that? I think oftentimes the focus on content takes over the focus on writing and so papers become a means to an end rather than the focal point. Would love to see what you come up with if you pursue this!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carol SeverinoNovember 4, 2020 at 1:18 PM

    Robert, I'm glad your (very popular and common) assumptions about who comes to the Writing Center have been overturned!

    ReplyDelete

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