Training for Clarity & Depth During Agenda Setting: Applications for Asynchronous, Synchronous Video, and In-Person Sessions Maureen McBride & Allie Hamilton, University of Nevada, Reno abstractThis training activity focuses on how to help consultants/tutors gather more detailed information during the agenda setting process to enhance the support and guidance they are able to provide to students. Materials in this lesson include a list of discussion/reflection questions that can be used in-person or adapted to asynchronous online learning modules, scenarios, and three PowerPoints: two for differentiation and one for digging deeper.KEYWORDSIn-person tutoring LESSON OVERVIEWAgenda setting is frequently noted in writing center scholarship as an essential component of a session; however, there is very little published about how to set an agenda. The two that we frequently reference are Shanti Bruce’s “Breaking Ice and Setting Goals: Tips for Getting Started” chapter in ESL Writers: A Guide for Writing Center Tutors (Bruce & Raforth) and William Macauley Jr.’s “Setting the Agenda for the Next Thirty Minutes” in A Tutor’s Guide: Helping Writers One to One (Raforth). While Macauley’s mapping metaphor is useful, it does not help consultants to dig past “signpost” elements or to differentiate types of projects (i.e., genre, discipline). The consultants at our center typically have a strong foundational understanding of agenda setting. Then, in the moment of the session, they can often succumb to the pace imposed by the student and “jump” into support without enough understanding of the student’s context, writing process, engagement, expectations, writing vocabulary, etc. This lesson has two parts. First, we focus on helping consultants differentiate for modality, discipline, and student-specific needs. Next, we help consultants understand how to dig deeper during the agenda setting moments of their sessions to gather more information and more useful details to help guide the student with their session.
FORMAT TYPEIn-person TIMING & OCCURRENCELesson Time: Multiple sessions TUTOR AUDIENCENovice tutors Experienced tutors High school student tutors Undergraduate student tutors Graduate student tutors Faculty/professional tutors In-person tutors Synchronous online tutors Asynchronous online tutors MATERIALS NEEDED
AUTHOR INFORMATIONMaureen McBride, University of Nevada, Reno mmcbride@unr.edu Maureen McBride is the Director of the Writing & Speaking Center at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), where she has been leading her academic center for the last 15 years. Her research interests include peer academic support, peer response groups, first-year writing, co-requisite curricular approaches, reading-writing intersections, reading pedagogy, writing assessment, and mentorship models. She has published with College Composition and Communication, Composition Forum, Praxis, and Journal of Writing Assessment. She serves as the Co-Coordinator for the International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) Mentor Match program, has served on the IWCA board as an affiliate representative for Rocky Mountain Writing Centers Association (RMWCA), been a state representative for RMWCA, hosted a virtual TutorCon, and been a mentor group facilitator, keynote speaker, and conference committee member and presenter for the Online Writing Centers Association. Allie Hamilton, University of Nevada, Reno alliehamilton@unr.edu Allie Hamilton is the Coordinator of the Writing & Speaking Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. Allie worked as a peer consultant while pursuing her undergraduate degree before transitioning to writing center administration after graduating. Her research interests include online and asynchronous support, tutor training, and AI in the writing center. |
