Writing centers are an incredibly rich source of instruction and support for students. But like many on-campus resources, they are often underutilized.
Writing centers are an academic support department designed to help students succeed academically. Faculty are often known to say “students can’t write.” Whether that’s true or not, writing centers can address this concern. Students visiting the center may receive help organizing their papers and receive feedback on their drafts. The hope is that over time, the students will become stronger writers through guided practice.
Centers are typically staffed by highly trained students or staff members, or a combination of both. Centers may offer appointments for students or operate on a drop in basis only. Writing centers can help students at every stage of the writing process. The trick is to move the students toward better writing without doing the writing for them. This is tougher than you may think. I changed my first year seminar course into a writing instruction course a couple of years ago, and learned several new approaches to teaching writing. These new techniques took a lot out of me at the beginning. But writing center staff members perform them all the time. They are the champions!
When students visit their college’s writing center, they may show their tutor the writing prompt from their professor and ask for help outlining their paper. Others may drop off their drafts with a few notes on what they’re struggling with, then return later to review their draft with a tutor. Still others bring what they believe is a polished draft, looking for tweaks to make it shine. In every one of these cases, however, the writing center staff gives the students to the tools to make the improvements themselves, which expands the student’s academic toolkit. Encourage your student to not only visit the center, but to go there ready to work to strengthen their writing. That’s what academic success is built on.
Writing centers are truly for every student: the one who is struggling with the transition from high school to college writing, and the successful student working on their senior capstone project. Each of these students may hit a roadblock and need help getting around it, or help making the perfect finishing touches on a research paper.
Since writing centers see a wide range of students, they take special pains to ensure they are welcoming and non-judgmental. One of the biggest fears students have in visiting the center is “they’ll think I’m stupid,” but that isn’t the case. If your student says they were judged by a writing center employee, that is cause for alarm!
There are at least two reasons students don’t visit the writing center. The first is that new college students often think they have something to prove. They believe—mistakenly—that proving they belong in college means taking on all the challenges of college without any help. Seeking help—whether through a counselor or at the writing center—is seen as a sign of weakness. Until they break through that mental barrier, they won’t seek the help they need.
A second reason students don’t use their writing center is embarrassment. That’s why center staff work so hard to be welcoming to students. Their mantra is often, “you’re here to crush your writing assignment,” not “you’re here because you can’t write, and we’re going to fix you.” Nobody, after all, wants to be “fixed:” ask your dog.
Encourage your student to visit their writing center not just when they’re in trouble, but on a regular basis. But keep something else in mind: if they visit their writing center often, they may face an odd paradox: they may feel their writing is getting worse, not better. This is because they’ve learned how to detect errors in their writing more easily. So, while they believe their writing is getting worse, in fact, they’re getting better! If they bemoan the fact that their writing appears to be worse after visiting the writing center, clue them in on this fact: they’re becoming more critically aware and strong as writers!
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