Assessing Student Comfort in Seeking Writing Assistance

(A Students Outlook on the Social Anxieties that Accompany Collaborative Learning)

Collaborative Learning and The Writing Center

The Limitations and Effectiveness of Collaborative Learning

The Study

Collaborative learning is when two or more individuals attempt to learn

something together. It is a form of learning that has become increasingly
popular in the past few decades especially within the fields of writing
and composition. Many of us have encountered collaborative learning
either in our instruction or our studies through group projects and peer
review sessions. Educators have been drawn towards collaborative
learning because it gives students the chance to play off of each others
strengths and learn from each other; however, as the popularity of this
teaching method has grown so has its critics.

While collaborative learning is an extremely useful tool, there are many

social factors that come into play when learning is being done in a group
setting. For example, the reluctance of an individual to share their
knowledge can result in an ineffective collaborative learning session. One
specific factor that may affect the efficiency of collaborative learning that I
became particularly interested in was students comfort in sharing their
ideas and writing with different people. As we all know writing can be an
extremely personal act, and while many students feel confident in sharing
their writing there are many others that are not, or may only feel
comfortable sharing their writing with certain people.

With this study I aimed to assess the comfort levels of students when
sharing their writing for writing assistance, and how the writing center
may affect and address student social anxieties. My research focused
around answering these main questions:

Writing Centers across the world operate on the principles of peer

tutoring and collaborative learning. In his famous essay Collaborative
Learning and The Conversation of Mankind Kenneth Bruffee argues
that knowledge is exchanged and learned in the form of conversation,
and that writing (while often view as a solidary task) is in fact a form of
conversation. The Writing Center functions with these ideas of
conversation and the exchange of knowledge. All tutoring sessions
operate under the pretext that the writer and the tutor will engage in
collaborative learning by pooling their knowledge and expertise through
the methods of conversation to improve the works of the writer.

How comfortable are student when sharing their writing with those is
different social roles (i.e. friend, classmate, professor, writing center
tutor, etc.)?
Is there a difference in comfort levels between those that do use the
writing center and those that do not but would most likely benefit
from doing so?
Can comfort levels and perceptions change due to past experiences,
specifically in reference to the confidence a student has in their writing
after utilizing the writing center?

In my own experience I have dreaded some of times that my instructors

wanted my essay to be peer reviewed by my classmates, most of which I
barely knew. Even though I believed in collaborative learning as a valuable
tool, in many cases I was prevented from using it to my full advantage due
to the uncomfortable social situations it put me in. These experiences led
me to wonder if other students are comfortable with the idea of sharing
their writing, specifically for the purpose of review and writing assistance,
and with whom. Additionally, are student fears about sharing their writing
altering their perceptions of the writing center and the tutoring process?

Comfort Levels in English 110 Students

To address these questions I decided to survey two populations of

students. Students in a section of an English 110 class (the introductory
composition class at the University of Delaware) since they are deemed
those most in need of writing assistance, as well as past writing center
users since that have experience with the writing center and have shown
initiative by seeking writing assistance.

Comfort Levels in Writing Center Users

Professor

Professor

Writing Center Tutor @ The Writing Center

Writing Center Tutor @ the Writing Center

Completely comfortable

Writing Fellow (class specific peer tutor)

Completely comfortable

Writing Fellow (class specific peer tutor)

Moderately comfortable

Classmate (voluntary)

Moderately comfortable
Classmate (voluntary)

Somewhat comfortable

Somewhat comfortable

I would not feel comfortable sharing my writing

with this person

Classmate (mandatory)

Classmate (mandatory)

Family Member

Family Member

Friend

Friend
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Q2: Are you familiar with the services the Writing

Center offers?

ENGLISH 110
STUDENTS

Q3:If you answered yes can you provide a brief

explanation of those services?
A1: Its a wat to get a fresh view on your paper and allows
you to have all the help you could want
A2: They were able to help me with any questions I had
about my paper. Except, its hard to get help with your
paper when they dont understand your topic such as a
genre analysis or think aloud
A3: helping my revise my paper
A4: assist you in editing your paper or any questions you
have about your paper

No

Q2: Do you think some students may be too

intimidated to come to the writing center?

How comfortable are student when sharing their

writing with those is different social roles (i.e. friend,
classmate, professor, writing center tutor, etc.)?
Similar trends presented themselves between both
of the populations
Most report being comfortable in some degree
when sharing their writing with a writing center
tutor
Many also report feeling comfortable when
sharing their writing with a professor
o Do students feel more comfortable sharing
with those that they believe know more
about writing? Are they seeking writing
expertise?
The less comfort was reported when sharing
writing with classmates specifically when the
sharing was mandatory
o Is forcing the sharing of writing and
collaborative learning hindering its
effectiveness?

10

20

30

40

50

Q4: Have you ever used the Writing Center?

Yes

WRITING
CENTER USERS

I would not feel comfortable sharing my writing

with this person

60

70

Q5:If you have ever used the Writing center did you
feel more comfortable using the Writing Center after
you already had a tutoring session?

Yes
Yes, I felt more comfortable using the
WC

Yes, my professor requested me

to do so
No, I have never used the Writing
Center

My comfort level did not change

No, I felt less comfortable

Q4: Did your experiences using the Writing Center

make you more confident in sharing your writing for
writing assistance?

Q3: Did you find the writing center to

be welcoming

Yes
No

Yes

I don't know

No

Yes, I felt more confident sharing my writing

after using the writing center
My feelings toward sharing my writing for
writing assitance have not changed
No, I feel less confident sharing my writing
for writing assistance

Is there a difference in comfort levels between

those that do use the writing center and those that
do not but would most likely benefit from doing so?
There is a clear difference in the overall comfort
level of the two populations
English 110 Students: answered moderately
comfortable and somewhat comfortable more
frequently than completely comfortable
o Overall comfort level when sharing their
writing is moderate
Writing Center Users: overwhelmingly reported
being completely comfortable in sharing with
any of the presented personnel with the
exception of being forced to share with a
classmate
o Overall comfort level when sharing their
writing is high

Can comfort levels and perceptions change due to past

experiences, specifically in reference to the confidence a
student has in their writing after utilizing the writing
center?
English 110 Students:
A surprising amount were not familiar with the Writing
Center
o Those that did viewed the Writing Center as a
place to get help editing a paper which is slightly
off the Writing Centers goals of helping writers
improve themselves as writers overall
Of those that did use the Writing center a small
percentage of them reported a confidence boost in
regards to their writing
Writing Center Users:
The majority of respondents thought some students
may be intimidated to come into the writing center
o As a follow up study I would ask them why they
think this way
A good portion of users reported being more
confident about sharing their writing due to
their experiences at the writing center

Final Conclusions
Comfort levels when sharing writing
for assistance and peer review differ
greatly from population to
population and depends on who the
writing is being shared with
Overall comfort levels were high
among those that went to the
writing center
Going to the Writing Center can
boost overall confidence in sharing
writing

Special Thanks to Melissa Ianetta for guiding me through this research, all participants in the study and the cooperation of the Writing Center and English 110 professors
Sources: Bruffee, Kenneth A.. Collaborative Learning and the "conversation of Mankind". College English 46.7 (1984): 635652. Web...
*Research conducted and completed by Courtney Gray*