THE WRITING CENTER -­‐ UC SAN DIEGO Issue 6 1 The
Writing
Center
UC San Diego
March 2015
STAFF WRITERS: ANNA ALVARADO, CHIRAG KRISHNA, ANTHONY LEHR, ANUSHA PASUMARTHI IN THIS ISSUE UCSD Hosts SoCal Writing
Centers
Drop-In Zone: page 3
On Feb. 28, the UCSD Writing Center hosted almost 300 writing center tutors and administrators from 43 institutions across California, Utah, and Nevada, who gathered for the annual conference of the Southern California Writing Centers Association – the organization’s largest conference ever. The conference theme, “Crossing Borders, Breaking Boundaries: The Writing Center as Passport,” stressed the ways in which writing centers can help all students along the journey to their final writing destinations. Writing center administrators held a large-­‐group meeting as well as special-­‐
interest breakout sessions focusing on such subjects as tutor training, research projects, and writing center assessment. Conference attendees in the Great Hall listen to a panel of former writing tutors discuss the impact that tutoring had on their subsequent career paths. Mentor Spotlights: page 2 At the same time, 40 concurrent panels led by tutors for tutors presented problems, possibilities, tips, and techniques relevant to the challenges that student writers may encounter. Chirag Krishna and Liberty Sacker, two of UCSD’s peer writing mentors, led a well-­‐received session on helping students write successful synthesis papers. They offered suggestions for prompting writers to develop their essays beyond summary into deeper analysis and synthesis, and invited audience members to share their own approaches. A wide range of tutor panels discussed a host of other issues: working with scientific writing assignments, serving an increasingly diverse student body, assisting English language learners, connecting reading comprehension to the writing process, developing strong tutorial relationships through empathy, and many other topics pertinent to writing center work. Peer writing mentor Niki Moshiri, who attended sessions and also assisted with conference logistics, comments, “It was a great experience exchanging ideas with writing center staff from across the region. Listening to other people’s experiences gives new insight into our own work.” The Southern California Writing Centers Association funded the conference through registration fees. Additional support for the event was provided by UCSD’s Council of Provosts. Scientific Writing: page 3 Research Interns
This spring, two undergraduate research interns are undertaking projects in the Writing Center that combine theoretical understanding with practical applications. Senior Literature/Writing major Liberty Sacker is exploring potential disconnections between students’ approaches to writing and the expectations of their readers. What instructors expect in a paper may be at odds with the rhetorical strategies students learned in their prior educations, leading to evaluations that the students may not understand. Senior Anthropology major Sarah Kowalski is studying how the language used by writing mentors in sessions may affect the language that students use to talk about their writing – and, ultimately, how they think about themselves as writers. “Positive and encouraging language is crucial to helping students overcome doubts about their ability to write well in English,” she says. Both researchers hope that their projects will have a direct impact on Writing C enter pedagogical practices, leading to better tutorial methods to help struggling writers. THE WRITING CENTER -­‐ UC SAN DIEGO | Issue 6 2 Mentor Spotlights
The 36 peer mentors who currently work at the Writing Center represent a wide range of backgrounds, interests, and experiences. Get to know some of our talented staff! Nichole Nomura Dyllan Thweatt Year: Senior College: Roosevelt Majors: Lit/Writing and Literatures in English Favorite Hobbies: Water-­‐ skiing, woodworking, reading I began working at the W riting Center as a sophomore, eager to begin editing student papers. I quickly discovered that “editing” is not what we do, and that students learn better when they are guided through the writing process instead of corrected. I’ve found this to be especially important for instilling confidence in non-­‐native speakers of English. Many students we see at the Writing Center are embarrassed by their non-­‐standard English grammar. Taking the focus off correcting what’s “wrong” and instead emphasizing strategies for improving clarity can lead students to have a greater level of comfort with their writing. I recently had the opportunity to share my Writing Center experiences at UCSD’s Teaching Diversity Conference. I discussed the need to address the multiple identities of student writers, and the ways in which my authority as a native English speaker can be simultaneously problematic and useful in a tutorial session. I’ve really appreciated the way that conferences allow me to participate in the wider academic community and encourage me to improve my own practices. Year: Junior College: Sixth Major: Religious Studies Minor: Lit/Writing Favorite Hobbies: Filmmaking, gaming Ann Phan Year: Senior College: Muir Major: Human Biology Minor: Psychology Favorite Hobbies: Photography, piano, adventuring Working in the Writing Center has been an amazing experience. I applied because I sincerely wanted to help students improve their writing ability, and I’ve certainly been able to do that here. I’ve also found that our staff is fantastic. Each mentor at the center has a different background in writing and a d ifferent relationship to writing. We have people who want to be teachers, doctors, filmmakers, and everything in between. Although I myself am in the humanities, I think it’s great to have such a diverse group of people working here instead of only the majors people might expect. Just because you’re in the sciences doesn’t mean you can’t be good at writing, and I think that’s something people often forget. In appointments, students often say, “I’m not a good writer.” Many students think that writing is only for non-­‐STEM people, and they may doubt their own ability to write well. But frequently when I read through their work, it’s significantly b etter than they think it is. My coworkers and I genuinely care about the students we work with, and we want to help them gain confidence in their abilities.
Despite my STEM/pre-­‐medical tendency, I‘ve always considered myself to be more humanities-­‐minded. Working at the Writing Center lets me embrace this side, and provides an intersection between my passions for writing and for helping others. My personal development as a writer has been key to my approach for each of my Writing Center sessions. I enjoy thinking about thinking, and I’m hyper-­‐aware of my own writing process. This helps me to quickly see the logic of other students’ papers, and to identify the unique thought processes underlying each student’s writing. I’ve learned to communicate more effectively and to develop what I call “writing empathy.” I see a parallel between working in the Writing Center and my aspiration to become a physician. More than simply employing your own experience with academic writing to guide a student to improve a paper, or using your medical knowledge to diagnose an illness, there’s a synergy where one person can learn from the other. Mentoring fellow students as they work on their writing is an engaging, organic process that can have great implications if you’re willing to view it as a learning opportunity. The Writing Center by the Numbers
The Writing Center has served over 1,800 students so far in the current academic year. Our clientele is diverse, bringing a wide range of interests and experiences to their work as writers. Approximately 33% of our users are international students, and 55% indicate a home language other than English. 37% are freshmen and 24% are transfer students. Although the largest proportion of the students who visit us (21%) are majoring in the Biological Sciences, many come from other majors across the disciplines, including significant numbers from Communication, Computer Science, Economics, Electrical Engineering, Management Science, Mathematics, Political Science, Psychology, and Visual Arts. They have sought assistance with papers for more than 200 different courses, as well as with personal writing projects such as cover letters and application essays. 33% international students 24% transfer students 1,806 students this yearso THE WRITING CENTER -­‐ UC SAN DIEGO | Issue 6 3 Drop-In Zone: Space and Support
Students
Speak Out
“The Writing Center is a great source of guidance on how to clarify and simplify college writing. The mentors are so helpful and always encourage m e to come back!” Naomy Ibarra, Roosevelt College “The Writing Center has helped me so much m y course assignments and also on m y on grad school application essays. The mentors have given me so many suggestions beyond grammar advice – I’ve been really inspired by their support!” Yulin Liu, Marshall College “As an international student, I’ve received a lot of help from the W riting Center, reducing the problems that I’ve faced on each of my college writing assignments.” Students work on their writing projects in the Writing Center’s new Drop-­‐In Zone. The Drop-­‐In Zone is a new addition to Writing Center services launched at the beginning of Winter Quarter. From 3:00 pm t o 5:00 pm Monday through Thursday, students can visit 125 Mandeville for a quiet space to work on their writing. As questions and concerns arise d uring the writing process, students may ask on-­‐duty peer writing mentors for assistance. This is a service that has been offered on an informal basis since the Writing Center opened. Students would often work in the center’s waiting area and flag down passing mentors for quick questions. The waiting area is a small space, however, and frequently became cramped. And most mentors on site were only able to help in the short minutes between scheduled s essions. To address these issues, an under-­‐utilized m eeting room was reconfigured to provide a larger, more comfortable workspace, and two writing mentors were designated to aid students during the real-­‐time paper-­‐writing process. “It’s really great,” says one senior who has been a regular visitor to the Zone. “Now I can start making changes to my paper right after a one-­‐on-­‐
one session and still have a mentor around t o help me out if I get stuck or confused.” Peer writing mentor Marianne Zape, who works in the Drop-­‐In Zone one afternoon per week, reflects, “There’s only so much you can do in a 30-­‐minute appointment. The Drop-­‐In Zone allows us to extend support beyond that time so that we’re truly able to help students during every step of the writing process.” Sung Beck, Revelle College “Whenever I have a writing assignment, I never hesitate to visit the Writing C enter. I’ve always had a wonderful experience with the helpful and encouraging staff. I recommend center to anyone who wants to get the another perspective on their paper!” Sabrina Burri, Marshall College Find out more about the Writing Center
at UC San Diego:
writingcenter.ucsd.edu facebook.com/ucsdwritingcenter Developing Scientific Writing Skills
twitter.com/writeUCSD writingcenter@ucsd.edu Writing Center d irector Madeleine Picciotto delivers a presentation on how to write interview-­‐based scientific research profiles for students in Prof. Susan Golden’s BioClock Studio course. Since its inception, the Writing Center has supported students who are gaining experience with scientific writing. Center director Madeleine Picciotto has designed workshops for the staff of the Saltman Quarterly (an undergraduate biology journal), for students preparing scientific research papers in conjunction with the McNair and Faculty Mentor programs, for projects in specific courses such as the BioClock Studio, and for other scientific writing tasks. On an individual level, peer writing mentors work with students on assignments from a wide range of courses, including classes in the physical and biological sciences. Human Biology major Artisha Cheng, who has sought feedback on lab reports, says, “I need to target certain areas of the paper where I know I’m weaker. The W riting Center has helped me improve my explanations of the theoretical background of the experiment and the discussion of the results.” Faculty who frequently assign lab reports and other forms of scientific writing acknowledge that they can be challenging, and offer recommendations for writing successfully. Biology professor Aaron C oleman urges students to always keep their audience in mind: “not who will be grading it, but who is the information intended to reach.” According to Prof. Coleman, writing with audience awareness “has important implications for what type of information is included.” Biology professor Ella Tour is concerned about potential plagiarism in lab reports, especially in the Introduction section, where students may include passages from scientific articles without fully understanding the material. “If you can’t tell what that sentence means in your own words, don’t use it,” she advises. Prof. Tour also encounters problems with organization and clarity. She notes that “not describing and analyzing your results” is a common pitfall. Peer writing mentor Annika C aspers-­‐Brown, a Biochemistry/Chemistry major, agrees. “A lot of students will simply state a result or physical phenomenon without fleshing out the theoretical underpinnings,” she observes. “You need to explain why something happens and why it is significant. We can help you with that in the Writing Center!”