The DIY Writing Center Approach

Some students view the writing center as a “fix-it shop,”  where the students are the customers and the tutors are the mechanics who identify and fix the “problems” (while the students text on their phones or do homework for another class). Stephen North wrote about this notion in his 1984 article, “The Idea of a Writing Center.” He said a survey showed that both professors and students thought of the writing center as “some sort of skills center, a fix-it shop” (435).

I see that some people still have that perception thirty years later. Some students are surprised and angry when the tutors let them know that the writing center staff does not “correct” papers, but that the staff does foster learning by helping students successfully navigate the writing process. (So, it’s a little like the bicycle workshop where I had to put together a bicycle myself, but I could ask the person working there how to use the tools–more DIY than Do It For Me.) How can the writing center staff hold firm to the center’s policies while also engaging students in the tutoring process? Let’s look at a hypothetical situation.

Hypothetical Tutoring Situation

Tuyet comes into the writing center with her paper. Mateo, the tutor, turns to Tuyet to greet her and to ask how he can help her today. Tuyet says, “Um, I’m just here to get somebody to proofread my paper for commas and verbs and stuff. My professor told me I should come here to get my paper checked.” She sits down, hands her paper to Mateo, and pulls out math homework.

Mateo, knowing that writing center policy prohibits him from making changes on students’ papers, lets Tuyet know that. She looks up from her homework and says, “Why can’t you do that? That doesn’t make any sense. What do you guys do in here, anyway, if you don’t proofread?”

Mateo says, “If I proofread your paper and corrected all of the mistakes, that would be me doing your homework for you, which is not only unethical, but it’s also against the university’s academic integrity policies.” After a pause, he adds, “But I can help you learn how to identify the types of errors you have in your paper and I can also show you how you correct those types of errors. That way, you’ll be able to catch those little mistakes much faster in the future.”

Tuyet says, “I guess that’s okay.” Mateo asks her to read her essay aloud and to underline anything that doesn’t “sound right”; at the same time, Mateo makes notes about the patterns of error in her paper. Tuyet notices a few things and changes them as she reads. After Tuyet is done reading aloud, Mateo explains how to fix the types of errors she has in her paper, using example sentences that feature the same kind of errors that the paper has. Tuyet then makes some changes to her paper, applying the principles she just learned, and she and Mateo discuss those changes when she is done.

Mateo suggests that the next time, she should go over her paper for the types of errors they discussed before visiting the writing center, and over time, this will help her to be better at proofreading her writing.

What’s Good Here?

In this hypothetical situation, Mateo does several good things:

• He sticks to the writing center’s policy
• He behaves ethically
• He spins a negative (“we don’t do that”) into a positive (“but we do this”)
• He creates a “learning situation” for Tuyet
• He engages Tuyet in the tutoring process by asking her to read the paper and to make notes as she reads
• He makes the tutoring session student-centered, as he asks her to make changes to her paper after they discuss how to correct certain types of errors (asking Tuyet to apply general concepts to the specific cases in her paper)
• He explains how what they did will be useful in the future
• He encourages Tuyet to return to the writing center

Final Thoughts

I think that sometimes, when students go to a writing center looking for proofreading services, it reflects how busy they are. Some of them are juggling work, a full course load, service activities, campus life, and family duties. They want quick service in tutoring centers, just to knock one thing off their lists. The writing center can be a place where students can slow down and focus on this one activity for thirty minutes or so. This gives tutors the opportunity to provide their fellow students with support and strategies for future success.

Works Cited

North, Stephen. “The Idea of a Writing Center.” College English 46.5 (1984): 433-446. n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2016.