LAYOUT
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SOURCES
MLA 8 standard citation style
Use “Block Quote” tool
WORKS CITED: Heading 1: All-Caps: Grey: Justify Left
Hyperlink title of article
PRACTICE SESSION
To illustrate how this works in practice I’m going to transform the content from one of our existing modules on Tutoring: Brainstorming, Outlining & Discussion
BRAINSTORMING, OUTLINING & DISCUSSION
Understanding your Students
When a tutor enters a classroom or workshop with students, they should be equipped to help students with their Composition course’s assignments according to each student’s individual needs as well as the expectations of the instructor. A session could include anything from conversation on the assignment and brainstorming ideas for papers, topic sentences, claims, to exercises on structure and grammar.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
In order to meet a student where they are in the writing process, a tutor must first acknowledge the student’s understanding of writing. To do this, tutor’s can refer to Bloom’s Taxonomy.
LOOK at this model which demonstrates how to assess a students’ standing in higher order learning:
WATCH this short video to understand how Bloom’s Taxonomy contributes to effective critical thinking skills:
A student who has the ability to remember and understand certain writing techniques or rules of grammar, must then work on the ability to apply them to their writing.
Other students who can apply the rules of grammar or stylized writing, should then move to work on deeper analysis of rhetorical situations.
With this understanding, a tutor can focus on the students needs in each session. Whether it is adapting an understanding of grammar or analyzing a text.
To learn more about Bloom’s Taxonomy, read the following article:
Retrieval Practice and Bloom’s Taxonomy: Do Students Need Fact Knowledge Before Higher Order Learning
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Moving a Session Forward
Once tutors get a grasp on where students stand on the pyramid, they can move forward in a session and focus on accomplishing tasks.
Brainstorming & Discussion
Brainstorming and discussion make up a large part of tutor and student interaction. Tutor’s can aid students in the brainstorming process by encouraging free-writing exercises, asking specific probing questions related to a work or topic, or guiding them through discussion.
Not only should tutor’s engage in discussion to build rapport and trust, but they should also encourage discussion of the student’s ideas on assignments. Tutor’s should facilitate discussion about aspects of the writing process, i.e; crafting thesis statements, writing topic sentences, making claims, and structuring their ideas in their papers.
Example Questions: What do you want your thesis statement to be? What is your big claim about this work? What is the author trying to accomplish?
Outlining
Outlining often helps students to organize their ideas when they are struggling to round out an argument. If a student is able to easily discuss the topic of a class essay verbally, they may benefit from jotting down their thoughts. If a student expresses a thought clearly in discussion, encourage them to write it down.
Example Questions: How can you layout your ideas in a way that best supports your argument? How can we group together examples of this idea? How does this relate back to your thesis statement?
Writing
When a student begins the writing process, the tutor is not responsible for editing every error, but rather guiding the student to a deeper understanding of the writing process. Tutor’s should work with students on sentence structure, organization, and exercises in refining grammar skills. Tutor’s should not edit a student’s paper or tell them what to write.
WORKS CITED
Agarwal, Pooja K. “Retrieval Practice & Bloom’s Taxonomy: Do Students Need Fact Knowledge Before Higher Order Learning?” Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 111, no. 2, American Psychological Association, 2019, pp. 189–209, doi:10.1037/edu0000282.
