BRAINSTORMING AND RESEARCH WRITING
Brainstorming is a valuable skill for any writer, so you’re probably very familiar with it already.
But brainstorming can be especially valuable in a tutoring context. It allows the tutor to get a glimpse into the student’s thinking process and contribute by nudging the brainstorming session in the right direction, while still allowing the student be coming up with their own ideas and connections.
This can be especially useful in the context of research particularly when students are trying to generate ideas for a research topic or when they hit a road block in their research. For instance, at the beginning of a research assignment, you might encourage students to generate a list of facts they already know about a topic. Or, later in the process, you might encourage students to use brainstorming to generate a list of search terms.
WATCH the two short videos below to review brainstorming and brainstorming techniques:
(Link to “Six Creative Ways to Brainstorm” posted by user “Investis Digital, Formerly Vertical Measures”)
(Link to “#QuickTips: Brainstorming Techniques – Rick Enrico” posted by user “SlideGenius”)
READ this handout below about brainstorming
It can help you find some exercises to do with tutees and remind you about the purpose and goals of brainstorming. It also has links to other resources on brainstorming at the end:
“Getting the Most out of a Brainstorming Tutoring Session” created by Duke University’s Writing Studio/Thompson Writing Program
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Open in new tab Compilation of Brainstorming Techniques:
Free-write Prompts
- Write for five minutes without stopping about anything you’re thinking about!
- Write for five minutes about the topic of the essay or assignment
- Random word association. Write down whatever words pop to mind (especially when thinking about the topic you are interested in!
Listing Prompts
- List general ideas first, then use an idea from first list to make new list or make a list of opposite ideas
- List evidence that disproves your idea/claim so you can look at all sides of an issue
- List images that come to mind when you think of your topic
Mind-Map Variations
- Write a main idea in the center of the page, draw branches from the main idea, write connected ideas at the end of each branch, and continue to branch out
- Write ideas related to the main topic all over the page and then use lines to connect related topics
Brainstorming is only one part of the whole conversation of tutoring. One of a tutor’s greatest tools is conversation!
CONVERSATIONAL TUTORING AND RESEARCH WRITING
Conversations are the easiest way to collaborate while reading, writing, and learning. Tutors use conversations to develop rapport, to brainstorm, to ask guiding questions, to get a better idea of the students’ thoughts and understand their perspective, to help teach them new skills and learning strategies, to deal with resistance to advice, and to set boundaries. Communication and conversation is important for anyone, but it is the vehicle through which tutors operate.
Teachers may lecture, invite questions, or lead a discussion to help their students learn, but tutors start a conversation to help their students learn. Due to the academic context, the dynamic and parameters of conversations between tutors and tutees are unique and different than a student-only conversation or student-teacher conversation.
It is through conversation that tutors work with students to help them become better writers, not necessarily correcting them but talking them through how to fix their grammar issues so they can learn to be independent. It is through conversation that tutors tutor.
When it comes to helping students to conduct research, tutors can use conversational techniques to help students formulate a research question or develop search strategies. Throughout the writing process, judiciously asking questions about why a student has included a particular quote or paraphrase can help them to consider how effectively they are integrating information from outside sources into their writing. At every stage of the research process, a tutor’s thoughtful questioning can be helpful.
The Center for Student Success uses these guidelines for a tutoring session, often involving using the tool of conversation to address tutoring problems.
READ more about Guidelines for Tutoring Sessions below:
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Questions to Think About:
How do you normally brainstorm? Have other strategies worked for you in the past?
How might cultural differences effect brainstorming?
How might brainstorming help students to develop their research topics? How might it be used when they have reached a dead end in terms of their research?
