An investigation of the quantity and quality of collaboration in writing center tutorials

Jessica Clark, Purdue University

Abstract

This dissertation studies the nature of collaboration in writing center tutorials. A case study examined fifteen tutorials between graduate tutors and undergraduate students to try to determine how much collaboration occurs in tutorials. Information about their perspectives of and satisfaction with these tutorials was gathered from the participating tutors and students and compared to the data gathered from the tutorials. The data from the tutorials showed that the tutors were not as highly collaborative as they believed themselves to be. Focus groups and interviews revealed these beliefs and perceptions and also showed that these tutors, all of whom received almost identical training, each held different definitions of collaboration and how it should be practiced in writing center tutorials. Surveys of the students who participated in the tutorials showed that they perceived their tutorials as being collaborative. These surveys also showed that the students were satisfied with the help they received.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Bergmann, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Rhetoric|Composition|Curricula|Teaching

COinS