final paper 2

Methods:
Context: This research took place at the Kean University CAS tutoring center. While the tutoring center does not currently have a Writing Center, students of a peer tutoring class helped fellow students in writing various assignments.
Procedure: This study was conducted on human subjects for a university class; therefore, all tutors had to pass a certification demonstrating safety knowledge, and had their students sign waiver forms before each session. After one month of tutoring, the peer tutoring class was able to compile information for their personal research and compare notes with other tutors.
Over the course of one month, students of a peer tutoring class researched fellow students at the Kean University tutoring center. Students were assigned to the tutors; tutors had no prior knowledge of their students or what subject matter they will discuss in a session. My topic of study was why do students come to the WC, and if their grade level gives an insight of what help they need. I was able to ask all my students their grade and background without seeming too nosey, and I developed an easy working relationship with all my students very quickly.
When a new student came to be tutored, I always introduced myself, and asked how their day was. I asked them what year they were in, what their major was, and why they chose it. By this time both student and tutor are familiar with each other and prepared with materials on the desk. Depending on how nervous the student is, I might ask a couple more questions or go into a quick conversation so that the student will be more comfortable. This way, even though it seemed like small talk, I gathered my information.
All three freshmen were insecure and shy when they came in. They all had questions about their assignment which was for the basic English composition course, and had nothing written besides class notes. Luckily, I was able to look over the assignment sheet with all three students, however, they were not helpful in anything that was not written on the sheet. One student did not know what format to write a formal paper in. After a couple minutes with one freshman, whose second language was English, I realized that he did not even read the story he was supposed to analyze. After that, I asked all my students if they understood the assignment and did the required reading before we started working on the paper. All of the freshmen could not relate to the tutor what their writing problems were; the tutor had to ask many detailed questions in order to set an agenda for the session. Freshman needed more prompting and time to get thoughts down on paper, and a lot more clarification from the tutor.
Upperclassmen were more confident coming to the Writing Center, and their reasons for coming were personal, rather than forced to by the professor. They clearly demonstrated what their problems were, and were eager to start the session. One student, however, surprised the tutor by showing up late, with a poorly written paper, and no assignment sheet. I made a mistake by asking if she was a freshman, and if English was her second language, which was offensive to her since she only knows English. Upperclassmen concentrated on grammatical errors, and especially punctuation and diction. All of them had the paper to work on already written, but needed to concentrate to the details as well as more sophisticated criteria such as headers, work citied pages, and quotations.
I always took notes at the end of the session, or as the student was brainstorming, or, in some occasions, when the student said or did something that I thought was unusual and I felt was important. Most importantly, if I did not have an assignment sheet to work from, I asked the student to read the paper out loud while I jotted notes on what to help the student with or any other problems I found. My research was uncomplicated because I was able to ask my students what they needed help on, what grade they were in etc, my project revolved around asking, not observing.