Talking About Writing
I am currently working on my bibliographic essay research. So far it's going okay, except for a slight set back today when I thought I had a great source, but it turned out to be more about reader-response theory rather than what I want to write about.
But I would rather talk about non-traditional students. I was surprised to hear about Emily's experiences with non-traditional students. I had never thought about the authority issue between a non-traditional student and a tutor. Most of the students I have worked with are grateful for this service and open to suggestions. I guess in some ways I am a little biased because I would qualify as a non-traditional student. At least that's what all of the little fliers they keep sending me tell me. When I came back to school I was surprised by how many non-traditional students there were at Weber. It's probably a function of more than one factor. The first is this is a commuter campus. Most people don't live on campus and commute here. The students are people in the community who have this resource available, and would like to come back and get their degrees. In other cases universities are in communities where most of the population is already educated, and students are coming there from all over the country to start their degrees. They are often young and there on their parents' dime. They live on campus and a lot of them do not know what they want out of life yet. I think that is the major difference between traditional and non-traditional students. Most non-traditional students are more focused because they have decided what they want, they are paying for it, and they have a timeline they would like to fulfill. Traditional students are still figuring it out, and are sometimes using school as a delay tactic before they have to go out into the "real world" and get a job.
Personally, I like working with non-traditional students because oftentimes their papers are for upper division classes. I find these papers fascinating. The topics range from nursing papers, to criminal Justice papers, to aquatic ecology (which has been my favorite paper to tutor so far). I like learning about non-traditional students, and I like reading what they're writing. I like being able to help them (when they are willing) and I think I can relate to some of the things they are experiencing, or have experienced.
So, back to the beginning....maybe the role of non-traditional students in the writing center might be a good topic for a bibliographic essay. Should you tutor non-traditional students differently? Are there writing centers who have programs set up for non-traditional students? I don't think I'll write on this idea, so it's fair game if someone wants it.
But I would rather talk about non-traditional students. I was surprised to hear about Emily's experiences with non-traditional students. I had never thought about the authority issue between a non-traditional student and a tutor. Most of the students I have worked with are grateful for this service and open to suggestions. I guess in some ways I am a little biased because I would qualify as a non-traditional student. At least that's what all of the little fliers they keep sending me tell me. When I came back to school I was surprised by how many non-traditional students there were at Weber. It's probably a function of more than one factor. The first is this is a commuter campus. Most people don't live on campus and commute here. The students are people in the community who have this resource available, and would like to come back and get their degrees. In other cases universities are in communities where most of the population is already educated, and students are coming there from all over the country to start their degrees. They are often young and there on their parents' dime. They live on campus and a lot of them do not know what they want out of life yet. I think that is the major difference between traditional and non-traditional students. Most non-traditional students are more focused because they have decided what they want, they are paying for it, and they have a timeline they would like to fulfill. Traditional students are still figuring it out, and are sometimes using school as a delay tactic before they have to go out into the "real world" and get a job.
Personally, I like working with non-traditional students because oftentimes their papers are for upper division classes. I find these papers fascinating. The topics range from nursing papers, to criminal Justice papers, to aquatic ecology (which has been my favorite paper to tutor so far). I like learning about non-traditional students, and I like reading what they're writing. I like being able to help them (when they are willing) and I think I can relate to some of the things they are experiencing, or have experienced.
So, back to the beginning....maybe the role of non-traditional students in the writing center might be a good topic for a bibliographic essay. Should you tutor non-traditional students differently? Are there writing centers who have programs set up for non-traditional students? I don't think I'll write on this idea, so it's fair game if someone wants it.
posted by Tamar at 9:09 AM
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