Promoting Student Success
Online Tutoring from SMARTHINKING
The Keiser University QEP
 A major component of Keiser’s accreditation, and a high
priority for the Office of the Chancellor
 Main feature: KeiserWrites!
– Direct, one-on-one tutoring in writing skills.
– The use of Smarthinking for composition students – those who
need the highest frequency and intensity of support.
– Writing Studios at each campus (and the OWL) will allow other
students to work with highly-qualified writing consultants.
 Composition instructors are asked to integrate Smarthinking
into their ENC 1101 English Composition I and ENC 2102
English Composition II courses.
Why Smarthinking?
 Aligned with the curricular philosophy that governs
KU CCDs, textbook choices, and pre/posttests.
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–
–
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Promotes process-oriented writing instruction
Emphasizes purpose, audience, and topic
Encourages meaningful revision
Situates writing instruction within a community of learners
These aspects of our philosophy of teaching writing make
Smarthinking’s feedback a natural fit for Keiser University.
What Can Instructors Do?
 Provide active, hands-on instruction in how to create an
account, upload a draft, and retrieve the feedback
 Include at least one lesson in your course that addresses how
writers negotiate feedback from other writers
 Author lesson plans that mention Smarthinking in timelines of
activities
 Establish publishing deadlines by which students would need
to upload a manuscript to Smarthinking in order to meet the
final deadline for an assignment
What Can Instructors Do?
(cont.)
 Discuss the differences between higher-order concerns
and lower-order concerns with students
 Provide frequent reminders to students about the
value of incorporating SmarThinking’s feedback into
their drafts as part of the process of preparing a paper
for submission to the instructor
 Strongly discourage the purchase of used textbooks
that deprive students of the full custom bundle of
curricular materials specified by the CCD
Ongoing Activities
 Full-time instructors, Writing Studio Consultants, and
academic leaders should keep the use of this product in mind
throughout the length of its implementation.
 Newly-hired instructors or anyone else teaching a
composition class for the first time must be oriented to the
instructor’s role in promoting the use of Smarthinking.
 Instructors should contact Keiser University’s Director of the
Writing Program in case of any problem with student or
instructor access to Smarthinking.
Assessment QEP Activities
 One semester each year, your campus contributes to the data collection that
enables the QEP study to move forward.
 This study measures the differences between students who used SmarThinking
and those who didn’t use SmarThinking. Specifically, we’re comparing growth
between entry and exit samples for users to growth between entry and exit
samples for non-users.
 Study Guidelines established by the Director of Quality Assurance and the
Director of the Writing Program
– Smarthinking use should be strongly encouraged, but not required
– Purchasing used texts should be discouraged, but not prohibited
– Instructors should assist students with their access of the service to maximize its
use
The role of the instructor in creating conditions that lead to a valid study is critical;
however, the value of this product is in its capacity to help improve students’ writing
skills. The main concern of all instructors should be helping students make as many
improvements in their writing abilities as possible—SmarThinking is a valuable tool to
help them achieve that aim.
Study guidelines established by the Director of
Quality Assurance and the Director of the
Writing Program, approved by the Vice
Chancellor:
– The use of Smarthinking should be strongly encouraged,
but not required
– Purchasing used texts should be discouraged, but cannot
be prohibited
– Instructors should assist students with their access of the
service to maximize its use
Accessing SmarThinking
Slides that follow illustrate what students see
from opening their new textbook bundle to
creating and using a SmarThinking account.
This part is really
important! Please
help by calling
students’ attention to
it!
This is a scan of
the instructions
that come
packaged in all
custom bundles
sold for ENC 1101
and ENC 2102 at
Keiser University.
 This is what SmarThinking’s main page looks like.
 The code bundled with the textbooks provides access to a
customized KU page on SmarThinking’s web site that guides
students through the process of creating an account.
 The account entitles them to upload five manuscripts during the
course.
This is the
registration screen
students have to
fill out.
…fairly
straightforward.
Upon creation of the
account, students are taken
to a screen that looks like
this. Here is where they
submit their writing.
This is top half of the screen
students use to submit a
manuscript. . .
. . .here’s the
rest of it.
 This part’s
kind of cool.
After submission, students
are taken back to their
home screen, shown here.
The file cabinet is where the
retrieve completed drafts in
24-48 hours.
Questions?