Major
Microbiology, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
Anticipated Graduation Year
2021
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
Writing centers are a vital resource that offer support for various writing skills. Despite their importance, research on the benefits of writing tutoring has largely relied on anecdotal evidence. Further, attempts at quantified research have faced two barriers. First, student use of writing support depends on incentivization or voluntary involvement, which correlates with highly-grade motivated students. Second, evidence of improvement has relied on subjective measures such as professor assigned grades and student satisfaction surveys. Our study bypasses these limitations through mandatory participation across first-year writing seminars and the application of an objective rubric to quantify the benefits of writing tutoring.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Prof. Amy Kessel, English Department; Dr. Brandiann Molby, English Department
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
A Quantitative Evaluation of the Benefits of Writing Tutoring in First-Year Writing Seminars
Writing centers are a vital resource that offer support for various writing skills. Despite their importance, research on the benefits of writing tutoring has largely relied on anecdotal evidence. Further, attempts at quantified research have faced two barriers. First, student use of writing support depends on incentivization or voluntary involvement, which correlates with highly-grade motivated students. Second, evidence of improvement has relied on subjective measures such as professor assigned grades and student satisfaction surveys. Our study bypasses these limitations through mandatory participation across first-year writing seminars and the application of an objective rubric to quantify the benefits of writing tutoring.