Hello, this is Susan from Boise State's Writing Center and ENGL 303 class. Last Friday (the 7th) I conducted a consultation with a student who was to write an eight- to ten-page persuasive essay. She brought two pages with her and was seeking help in finding more to write about to in order to fill the instructor's requirement. I felt I gave her quite a bit of information to ponder, focusing on the three main parts of the essay: introduction, body, conclusion, as well as a few extra things, such as background and personal experiences. I asked her specific questions regarding her topic, and in doing so, she was able to formulate the rest of her essay.
"So what is the problem?" you ask. Well, when looking over her notes, she realized she still had a lot of research to do. She came to the Writing Center on Friday and the paper was due on Monday. She was clearly dismayed. Even though I felt the session had gone well overall, and she had enough information to fill the needed requirement, I came away feeling a little dismayed myself. Why? I would have welcomed the extra information with open arms. But she didn't. Anyone else have a similar experience? Did I help her . . . or hinder her?
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2 comments:
Hi Susan. Lynn here from London Metropolitan University in the UK. In response to your experience, I'd say that a large proportion of my peer mentoring sessions have highlighted the need for further research, and quite often this has been greeted with cries of "Oh no!"
My feeling is this; if you've identified that certain additional work is required, you're giving the student a free choice between doing it or taking a different path. You've raised their awareness and with it their range of possibilities. Of course, this may be seen as being quite burdensome, but you know what a wise man once said about the price of freedom being eternal vigilance, right?
I'd be really interested to hear everyone else's views.
I agree with Jenny.
I think the student knew she needed help and if the paper was due Monday and she just now realized she needed to expand... then it's a good thing you were there to point her in the right direction. =)
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