Benefits of Workshop Series to Students,

Faculty, and StaffDevelopmental English Learning Center

Weber State University

Overview

• 9-topic workshop series. Each topic taught for 1 week.• Taught 24 times/week, 25 minutes per session.• Includes pre- and post-tests for all sessions.• Scripted by me with tutors, faculty, & LYSK and taught by

tutors through a scaffolded training process.• Materials posted on conference site and at weber.edu/delc.

• Will discuss

– Theory and research behind our choices.– Benefits to students, faculty, and staff.– “How to” of workshop process.

Curriculum + Tutoring

• DE Learning Center dedicated to supporting DE Department and curriculum.

• Tutoring required in order to teach students to use services, but tutoring only mandatory 3 times.

• DELC mostly quiet.• Course became hybrid in 2010. Workshops a way of

giving f2f support to students and faculty moving online.

• Grammar taught as part of the course. We can help.

Showing up for StudentsTheory & Research

• For and against grammar. Like riding a bike. WAC.• Collaboration & Vygotsky’s zones of proximal

development. Walk the path together, & go farther. • Another reason tutoring is required. High self-

efficacy & help-seeking behaviors (Williams & Takaku).

• Gardner and scaffolding—applies to tutor training AND to workshop content (S&V before IC/DC).

BENEFITS TO STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND TUTORS

Benefits to DE Faculty

• Help with curriculum.• Student bonding.• Student preparedness, dendrite building.

Enhanced classroom learning.

Benefits to tutors: Tutors created scripts and helped devise and revise the workshop process.

Benefits to Tutors/Program

• Skill building in grammar, explanation, collaboration, group management.

• Confidence blossomed. Most now eager for chances to teach.

• Building relationships with students before they come in for sessions—saves time, facilitates interaction.

• Learn & practice diplomacy and how to make students right—“I know, right?”

• Tutors innovate and improvise within parameters. AC/DC?

IC/DC Ring Words

Picture of Frodo and Samwise omitted here.

Fragments workshop example

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a word are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and you awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt

Tutor Feedback

Tutor• 1) This is probably one of the biggest benefits of having workshops

as part of what we do: the fact that it has benefitted ME. I, myself, am much more confident about my own tutoring and my own knowledge. Having to stand up and explain grammatical principles to entire groups of people has translated into my being more sound in both my delivery and my understanding in explaining it to the individual writer.Teamwork-wise, the teaching of workshops has brought us all together as colleagues. We laugh more, know one another more, and have learned to trust one another with the passing on and the receiving of the baton, so to speak.

Tutor Feedback, cont.

Tutor• 2) . . .We've always wanted this center to not just be about

studying and writing, but to be a welcoming and inviting and safe place for students. I believe that the workshops have contributed immensely to that. This is because the way in which the workshops are taught is fun, light, and not scary, but ALSO because the students are getting to see us tutors in a different light and context. Walls come down and ice is broken when they see us joking, laughing, and yet also giving them our undivided attention for twenty minutes. And they didn't even have to bring a paper in. I think that it helps them to not be afraid of tutors in any way.

Tutor Feedback, cont.

Tutor• 4) It is manifested by writers being familiar with us tutors in

a more personal way, for instance: knowing our first names (something I've personally noticed a spike in), knowing our individual personalities, joking with us about long-running jokes/topics, having almost no hesitation in asking questions or asserting answers in the workshops, and finally, outside of workshops and tutorials, hanging out more in the centers, either before or after workshops/tutorials.

Tutor Feedback

Tutor• I think that the workshops have made us all better tutors

because, essentially, tutoring is a form of teaching. When we, as tutors, improve our teaching skills we improve the way we talk about, explain, and understand students’ concerns regarding writing. The confidence to teach a workshop translates to the confidence of a tutor in a session. I think the workshop experience has promoted a decrease in the time we spend in the tutoring sessions talking about grammar and instead has allowed the student and the tutor to move on to the more important issues of thesis, structure, and supporting evidence in our sessions.

Tutor Feedback

Tutor• In sessions there have been times when I knew

something was wrong, but for whatever reason, didn't know how to explain why it was wrong, especially when tutoring ESL students, and getting to watch other tutors explain things another way helps me see ways to explain those things that were previously inexplicable.

• The “wonky” sentence cure.

Tutor Feedback

Tutor• 1) I feel more confident in my ability to teach

grammar rules. I could usually tell when something needed to be fixed, but now I can tell tutees why something needs to be fixed.

Lab Aide Feedback

Lab Aide• Ever since starting the workshops, being a lab aide, I have noticed

a change in how the tutors work with the students, and how they assist the students with their papers. What I have seen is that the workshops were not just good for the students on learning grammar and punctuation, but also assisted the tutors with learning great tips and techniques on working with the students. The grammar workshops have united the tutors in how they go about doing their one-on-one sessions, so that they all use similar techniques in working with students. The confidence of the tutors, in working with the students, has also come up in the past semester due to the confidence building that the workshops offer.

Benefits to DE StudentsTutor Feedback:• Skill building. Seemed to know more at end than at beginning.• Safe introduction to DELC.

– Learning each others’ names—high fives on campus (Zombie flu led to the fist bumping substitute.)

– Meeting with a friend—less nervousness, fewer self-deprecating comments.

– Return in later semesters, knowing this place can help.• Student preparedness, dendrite building (repetition).• Born out in student survey—but also disliked repetition.

Student Survey Comments • “I really liked the workshops they hlped me understand the grammar.”• “The workshops were also helpful, you can never review too much.”• “The workshops were short enough so I didn’t get bored, and helped

reinforce the topics.”• “The workshops were a bit more useful [than tutoring]. It opened up a

level of understanding. But if the purpose of it was to intro it so we can focus on it in class and it makes more sense, the yes, it was very effective.”

• “The workshops were also helpful. I really liked them.”• “I thought the workshops were valuable when I had to make them up,

face to face.”• “The workshops helped reinforce good lessons.”• “I thought the workshops was a chore to go to, but it was helpful.”

Student Survey Comments • “Some [workshops] were boring and others really helped

me. I think it was because of the peope who taught them.”• “The workshops were good but not thorough enough.”• “The workshops were just reviews for me, and for the most

part I felt like I didn’t need to attend them.”• “I didn’t think the workshops were helpful just because I

knew everything they were teaching me.”• “The workshops were unessary to have.”• “I believe that the workshops were better one on one.”• “But I didn’t really care for the workshops.”

Student Survey Comments• Loved the results for faculty and tutors. • Prepared to adjust to less-satisfied student

feedback.

• One more thing needed to validate this process.

Learning Outcomes!• Karpicke’s & Blunt’s study on testing as a learning tool.

– 120 students who studied in repetitive cycles were compared with those who studied once & tested once before taking the real test.

– Did not matter whether the testing was diagnostic or practice!– Our pre- and post-tests are both real practice and non-

diagnostic (read non-threatening) AND they give us data about student learning outcomes.

• Um, we can’t speak to retention.• Smilkstein can. Repetition and dendrite building.

See workshop data file on workshop materials page.

WORKSHOP PROCESS

●Student Process●Faculty Involvement●Documents to Manage Work Flow ●Lessons Learned

Times & Duration

• Offered many times each week.• Evenings and weekends included.• Set workshop times close to class times.• Enough to accommodate all 600 students=

4x/day.• Strict 25 minutes per session. Guaranteed to

get to next class.• How did this affect the budget? Tutoring time?

Color coding helped organize.

See Schedule of Workshops and Tutoring on DELC home page.

See workshop Times and Procedures on the DELC homepage.

Each Workshop Session

• Students arrive early & log in at front desk.• Tutors mill about with students to chat—yes!

That’s the good stuff! • Sign on door prohibits entering after sessions

starts and gives alternative support.• Pre-test, workshop, post-test, review, stamp,

chat, mill, stay to study, or go to other classes, etc.

The 25-minute workshop has begun, and no

further participants may join us at this

time. Please see the lab

aide for further support.

Students

• Sign up in advance of sessions—often early in the semester.

• Arrive early and sign in.• Mingle with tutors.• Take risks, speak out, participate.• Maintain and bring their workshop tracking

sheet• Demonstrate understanding of concepts.

Tutors• Learn the material. Scaffold—observe, assist, teach.• Mingle with students.• Teach workshop theory (repetition, testing).• Teach the workshops (concepts).• Administer the pre-tests and post-tests.• Review the test concepts.• Grade the tests.• Enter data and file the materials.

• They manage their tutoring sessions, lesson planning, and materials organization in order to start workshops on time. Great job training and confidence building!

Faculty

• Inform workshop content and help train tutors.

• Encourage or require attendance as part of hybrid course work.

• Show students where to get the Attendance Tracking Sheet.

• Workshop materials posted online for faculty reference.

Documents for Process

• Schedules, Explanation of procedure, Hours postings

• Sign-up sheets• Weekly presenter schedule• Attendance Tracking Sheet• Pre-tests and Post-tests• Scripts & attending Tabletop Tips• Data collection (log-in, test scores)

Lessons Learned• Keeping rolls for faculty

– Too many cooks, plenty o’ errors. Students not know instructor name or not sign legibly.

– Student accountability is better.• Workshop make-up sessions—No-no. • Paper sign-up

– F2f is good for contact w. students and getting students to come into the center.– Online much more efficient for making changes and logging in data.

• Different workshop topics– Eliminate Punctuation, Spelling, Sentence Types– Textbook Reading– Summary vs. Paraphrase– MLA formatting

Sources

• Hartwell, Patrick. “Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar.” College English Vol. 47, No. 2 (Feb. 1985), pp.105-27.

• Karpicke, Jeffrey D. & Janell R. Blunt. “Retrieval Practice Produces More Learning than Elaborative Studying with Concept Mapping.” Science Vol. 331. 11 Feb.

2011.• Smilkstein, Rita. We’re Born to Learn. Corwin Press. 2002.• Williams, James D. & Seiji Takaku. “Help Seeking, Self-

efficacy, and Writing Performance among College Students.” Journal of Writing Research. 2011.

weber.edu/delc

clairehughes@weber.edu