{"id":491,"date":"2022-03-24T12:03:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T17:03:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/cital-blog\/?p=491"},"modified":"2022-03-24T12:03:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T17:03:52","slug":"helping-your-students-write-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intra.valpo.edu\/cital\/helping-your-students-write-better\/","title":{"rendered":"Helping Your Students Write Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

We all know that\u00a0 VU\u2019s Writing Center exists to help students become better writers. But faculty often do not make full use of this splendid resource. In the following article, student writing consultant Maddie Henry gives us some tips about how we and the Writing Center can better help students improve their writing. Next, Writing Center Coordinator Colleen Morrissey describes the exciting new Faculty Writing Fellows Program. Finally, Carter Hanson (English) tells what he has learned in his time as a Writing Fellow.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maddie Henry: A Student\u2019s Eye View of Writing\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n

Maddie Henry is a political science and English double major who has been a Writing Center consultant for two years.\u00a0 Maddie works 6-8 hours a week (meeting with 6-12 students) and especially enjoys repeat visits by students who want to keep improving their writing. Here are four things that Maddie wants faculty to know about student writing:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Tell them how<\/em> to write<\/b>: In your writing prompt, don\u2019t just tell your student what<\/em> to write on but also how<\/em> to write it, especially for freshmen. What should their thesis look like?\u00a0 What steps do they need to take to answer the question or prove this thesis? What is the structure of the essay? Describe the basic parts (even paragraph by paragraph).<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Focus on skills: <\/b>Be sure to tell your students what skills you want them to exhibit in this essay. For example writing an arguable thesis or using quotations to support an argument. If students are not aware of which skills they need to exhibit, they instead tend to focus more on word counts or merely completing the required number of pages.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Process rather than Product:<\/b>\u00a0 Break large essays into smaller assignments along the way. For example, early on in the process a writing center consultant could run a workshop for your students on how to construct an effective thesis. Later on, you could hold peer review in the Writing Center.\u00a0 Near the end, a consultant could hold another session on using quotations from the text to support your argument.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Meaningful Assignments:<\/b> Maddie works with some students who are merely writing to get the assignment done because the topic has no personal meaning to them. By contrast, Senior Research Professor Mark Schwehn has adapted his essay prompts to ask students to \u201cconsider how texts might be deployed in the lives of the students themselves to comprehend or to remedy broken situations.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Overall, Maddie believes that the Writing Center works best when consultants and writers collaborate on making a paper better, much like peer review.\u00a0 Through repeat appointments, the consultant can really help your student grow as a writer and learn to self-correct. So Maddie urges you to encourage your students to come to the Writing Center not just at the start or end of the writing process, but especially in the middle. Come early, come often!<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Colleen Morrissey: Faculty Writing Fellows Program<\/b><\/h4>\n

    Would you like to improve how you teach writing? Then consider applying for the Faculty Writing Fellows Program at the Writing Center. The Fellows work as writing consultants and are therefore treated by students as peers, not professors. So you will get a close up look at students\u2019 struggles with writing.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Writing Center Coordinator Colleen Morrissey filled me in on how the program works.\u00a0 Each Fellow receives a stipend to work as a Writing Center consultant for one hour per week. After some initial training, you meet 2-3 more times during the semester with other Fellows to reflect on the program.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Feel free to ask the current Writing Fellows about their experience. This semester\u2019s fellows are:<\/span><\/p>\n