TEACHING SUPPORT
The Writing & Learning Centre can provide faculty with:
- Consultation services on a range of pedagogical issues
- Customized workshops in the classroom
- ESL strategies: how to support students
- Use of sources: how to help students integrate research into their work
- Links on how to foster better student writing
- Support for your students on elements and processes of writing, research, and learning
- Books on writing and learning
For information on the centre, or to arrange for a customized workshop or consultation, contact Manager, Susan Ferguson at 416-977-6000, Ext. 375.
Consultation Services
The Writing & Learning Centre is also available as a resource for faculty interested in discussing issues related to teaching writing and academic skills, as well as other teaching and learning concerns. These include:
- Integration of writing work with your course content
- Design of writing assignments
- Low-stakes writing approaches to help combat writer's block
- Assessment of writing
- Responding to written work from a diverse student body
Customized Workshops
Subject to availability, one of our staff members can visit your classroom to give a five-minute presentation on the centre and its services.
We can also prepare a 45 to 90 minute customized workshop for your class that directly addresses an assignment or a particular area of interest. At least two weeks' notice is required. Possible workshop topics include:
- Writing and research process
- Critical reading
- Critical thinking for art and design
- Thesis writing
- Structuring a piece of writing
- Writing an artist's statement or design brief
- Combating writer's block
- Unconventional writing approaches
ESL Strategies
At the Writing & Learning Centre, we offer one-on-one tutoring services and other resources for ESL students. See Support for Your Students at the WLC.
There is also a great deal you can do as an instructor to make learning in your classes more accessible to ESL students and to help them succeed in written and other work. For recommended strategies for faculty, see our online publication Inclusive Teaching: Supporting ESL Students at OCAD U (hard copies available on request). You can also view a video of a panel discussion by OCAD U faculty on Strategies for the Multilingual Classroom.
Use of Sources
Most cases of plagiarism are inadvertent. The majority of students need instruction and guidance on the use of sources in academic discourse. We recommend the following resources for advice and research on how to support students in learning to use sources in their academic writing:
- Deterring plagiarism: The University of Toronto has an excellent handout that discusses how to design assignments that encourage sound use of sources.
- Readings on use of sources: The Writing & Learning Centre has put together a selection of readings for faculty entitled "Critical Reflections for Educators on Intellectual Property, Originality, and Use of Sources." It is available from the Writing & Learning Centre and the Dorothy H. Hoover library.
- A rheme of one's own: Andrew Johnson and Rosemary Clerehan ask: "How 'original' do we expect students to be?"
- Student handouts from the WLC: Our website has links to relevant student handouts under "Writing Process" and "Dialogue with Other Writers." We also recommend that students consult the handouts on reading critically and taking notes from research readings. You'll find them under "Developing Academic Skills," "Reading and Research," and "Lectures."
For advice on helping foreign students adapt to North American conventions on use of sources, contact Susan Ferguson, Manager.
Fostering Better Writing
- U of T faculty resources: Useful handouts on designing writing assignments, responding to student work, and deterring plagiarism.
- Dartmouth College faculty resources: Thoughts about teaching critical thinking and other practical classroom ideas drawn from the experience of Dartmouth College faculty.
- Harvard guides: Responding to student writing and designing assignments. Also a good guide for students on the elements of essays.
- University of North Carolina on teaching writing: Tips from their writing centre, including a superb handout on “situating student writers” that describes the range of perspectives your students bring to their writing.
- Colorado State on teaching: A comprehensive site with details on designing writing assignments, fostering writing skills, and integrating writing instruction with course content.
- Waterloo on low-stakes writing: Purpose, procedure and examples for in-class writing exercises that can help build skill and confidence in students.
Support for Your Students at the WLC
All students can benefit from discussing their writing one-on-one with a writing tutor, whether they are already confident writers or whether they require special help and encouragement. Our tutors are experienced in working with a broad range of writers, including both native and non-native English speakers.
Students who are referred to the centre can expect informed tutors, generous and thoughtful support, excellent writing and learning counseling — but no miracles, not a perfect grade, and not an editing/proofreading service. Writing and learning skills development takes time, planning, and commitment on the part of both the students and the tutor.
ESL students who want to work on a specific assignment or on general writing and academic skills can book a tutoring appointment with a specialized ESL tutor. ESL tutors can also help students develop long-term strategies for improving their English language skills. Students who want to work on grammar or vocabulary in a more structured or intensive manner can book a Tutoring Mini-series, during which they will work for three consecutive sessions with the same tutor to develop their skills in these areas. For details, visit our ESL Resources page.
Thesis and graduate students are paired whenever possible with special tutors who have graduate degrees, arts backgrounds and university teaching experience. Students in need of this kind of advanced support should request a thesis or grad tutor when contacting us for an appointment.
Please note: During tutoring appointments for both native and non-native speakers, our priority is to help students develop and clarify their ideas in writing, tutors can help with grammar and punctuation, but only after discussing the content of the student's essay. For immediate advice on writing basics, students can consult our online handouts.
Read what the writing centre at the Emily Carr Institute has to say about the roles and expertise of writing tutors versus editors (ECIAD).
Books on Writing and Learning
Students and faculty alike can benefit from the Writing & Learning Centre's book collection. Faculty members are invited to come by and browse our bookshelves or investigate Dorothy H. Hoover Library's collection of books on writing and pedagogy.
Last Modified:1/24/2012 12:57:30 PM
