Learning Practices Between Peer Writing Center Consultants
Faculty Advisor Name
Dr. Laura Miller
Department
School of Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication
Description
In “Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind,’” Kenneth Bruffee (1984) outlines how the topic of collaborative learning has been around since the 1950s but is just beginning to be discussed in writing studies and how peer tutoring is just one of many forms of collaborative learning. Bruffee specifically argues that one of the goals of collaborative learning is to “to provide a context in which students can practice and master the normal discourse exercised in established knowledge communities in the academic world and in business, government, and the professions” (644). While Bruffee specifically applies collaborative learning to the relationship between consultants and their clients, I believe his argument can be extended to the relationship peer consultants have with each other, particularly when he states “that people have always learned from their peers and doggedly persist in doing so whether we professional teachers and educators take a hand in it or not” (647).
While writing center work is inherently collaborative, much of the research focusing on collaboration in the writing center focuses on the relationship and work done between clients and consultants. Ultimately, this has led to a gap in the literature regarding how consultants collaborate with one another. In order to further understand this under-appreciated phenomenon that is often witnessed in writing centers, this research explores questions surrounding how undergraduate consultants collaborate with one another, how they influence each other’s consulting, how they learn from each other, how they describe their interactions with each other, and whether or not they find the structured or unstructured interactions they have with each other more meaningful. This research explores this topic through a combination of methods including a survey, focus groups, and reflective writing on various collaborative learning methods that consultants may have participated in. While the data is still being analyzed, preliminary analysis is showing that undergraduate consultants feel they become more well-rounded and confident consultants as a result of the interactions they have with their peers. Additionally, preliminary analysis is showing that consultants feel they benefit the most from both the formal mentorship they participate in as part of consultant training and through both formal and informal observations of sessions that other consultants are having with clients. The goal of this research is to provide insight into the ways undergraduate consultants interact and its effects on their consulting, which will allow writing center administrators to create better programming for undergraduate consultants that encourages learning and collaboration from one another.
Learning Practices Between Peer Writing Center Consultants
In “Collaborative Learning and the ‘Conversation of Mankind,’” Kenneth Bruffee (1984) outlines how the topic of collaborative learning has been around since the 1950s but is just beginning to be discussed in writing studies and how peer tutoring is just one of many forms of collaborative learning. Bruffee specifically argues that one of the goals of collaborative learning is to “to provide a context in which students can practice and master the normal discourse exercised in established knowledge communities in the academic world and in business, government, and the professions” (644). While Bruffee specifically applies collaborative learning to the relationship between consultants and their clients, I believe his argument can be extended to the relationship peer consultants have with each other, particularly when he states “that people have always learned from their peers and doggedly persist in doing so whether we professional teachers and educators take a hand in it or not” (647).
While writing center work is inherently collaborative, much of the research focusing on collaboration in the writing center focuses on the relationship and work done between clients and consultants. Ultimately, this has led to a gap in the literature regarding how consultants collaborate with one another. In order to further understand this under-appreciated phenomenon that is often witnessed in writing centers, this research explores questions surrounding how undergraduate consultants collaborate with one another, how they influence each other’s consulting, how they learn from each other, how they describe their interactions with each other, and whether or not they find the structured or unstructured interactions they have with each other more meaningful. This research explores this topic through a combination of methods including a survey, focus groups, and reflective writing on various collaborative learning methods that consultants may have participated in. While the data is still being analyzed, preliminary analysis is showing that undergraduate consultants feel they become more well-rounded and confident consultants as a result of the interactions they have with their peers. Additionally, preliminary analysis is showing that consultants feel they benefit the most from both the formal mentorship they participate in as part of consultant training and through both formal and informal observations of sessions that other consultants are having with clients. The goal of this research is to provide insight into the ways undergraduate consultants interact and its effects on their consulting, which will allow writing center administrators to create better programming for undergraduate consultants that encourages learning and collaboration from one another.
