HEA Annual conference
Harrogate 2nd July 2008
Collaborative learning through PAAW
(peer-assisted academic writing)
Since September 2004 the peer-assisted academic writing project (PAAW) has provided 1to-1 tutorials for a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate students, including
those embarking on research degrees. PAAW tutors do not advise students directly on
the content of their essays, dissertations or research papers; nor do they provide extra
language support for those who need it. Instead help and advice are given in the
following areas:






Planning and structuring of written assignments
Developing and sustaining coherent argumentation in writing
Effective referencing
Developing critical reading and thinking skills
Improving research skills
Improving organizational skills such as time management & record-keeping
Tutors are all full-time PhD students in the Arts & Humanities or Social Sciences. While
some of them also teach occasional courses in their departments, they represent a muchunderused but extremely valuable resource. The preliminary training programme for
PAAW tutors and the tutorials themselves provide these research students with the
opportunity to develop skills which will be of great benefit to them in their future careers,
whether academic or non-academic. Tutors also work as part of a close-knit team, using
their experience to help and support colleagues, especially those who are undertaking
this type of advisory work for the first time.
Feedback from students clearly indicates that PAAW tutorials help significantly in making
the learning experience less anonymous, and one which is supported in areas where
students’ needs are greatest. The idea of peers working together in such a systematic
way may appear counter-intuitive to many students, especially those from educational
cultures where peer support and collaborative learning are not actively promoted. Even
more counter-intuitive to some is the idea that they can receive useful advice from a tutor
who is usually not a specialist in their chosen field. The realization that their academic
writing problems may lie in areas which are common to all students across disciplines can
be a real revelation to these individuals, helping them to become aware for the first time
of the importance of a range of key generic skills such as those listed above.
Collaboration of this type also involves a change in perception of the roles of “teacher”
and “learner”. Tutors have to learn not to “act like teachers”, insofar as the support that
they provide is not driven by the demands of a curriculum, but rather by students’ actual
needs. Students for their part need to assume responsibility for their own learning,
regarding the tutor as a sympathetic listener and occasional adviser rather than a
prescriptive guide. In many institutions where learner-centredness is forced to take a
back seat to accommodate the demands of an intensive curriculum or ever-increasing
student numbers such an approach can provide a powerful back-up system available to
all students when they most need it and at every stage of the Academic Year.
Heidi Ward and Dr Desmond Thomas, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)