EDU 490 Writing Theory and Practice: An Internship in Peer Tutoring
About the internship:
Through the Department of Education, the Writing Center offers a four-credit internship to train and supervise students interested in academic writing. The course, EDU 490: Writing Theory and the Conference, is open to a limited number of sophomores, juniors, and seniors who qualify on the basis of a faculty recommendation, writing samples, and an interview.
The principal objectives of the internship are
- To introduce students to theoretical perspectives on the writing process
- To introduce students to methods of collaboration with other writers
- To offer students experience in tutorial practice
Over the course of the internship students learn strategies to help other writers, acquire rhetorical knowledge and vocabulary to communicate these strategies, and observe and practice the interpersonal skills necessary to the enterprise. The Internship consists of three phases conducted over fourteen weeks.
During phase one, interns explore writing as a process, ways of responding to students and their texts, and the challenges that arise in tutorial sessions. Interns learn techniques to generate ideas, to test organizational patterns and cohesion, and to teach peers to edit their own work for problems in diction, usage, and mechanics.
During phase two, interns observe conferences, record instructional patterns, and note their own reactions and questions. The interns and the writing instructors in the Writing Center meet in weekly debriefing seminars to discuss the interns' observations and to answer questions.
During phase three, interns conduct writing conferences, some of which are overseen by a tutorial instructor. They also continue to meet weekly with the instructors to discuss problems and to address special concerns.
The Internship is taught by Gerry Fisher and John Boyd. For more information, please contact us by phone at 410-810-7417 or by email at gfisher2 or jboyd2.
Some Responses to the Internship
"My own writing has become so much clearer after this class. We talked about teaching others, but I think we are really reinforcing our own knowledge and experience."
"I learned very practical, useful things, particularly how to talk effectively and tactfully with people about their writing and about anything really. I developed inter-personal skills that I will certainly put to good use for the next few years, if not for the rest of my life"
"We worked as a team ... so I got the impression we were all learning together. It was really a wonderful experience!"
"I loved the interactive style. We could ask questions and discuss everything we were wondering about."
"I got the best feedback on papers that I've ever gotten. I know that I have improved as a writer because of this class."
"Great class—it changed the way I write, it changed the way I read."