Keywords
asynchronous, written feedback, email, synchronous, video chat, text chat, Google Docs, research study, tutor interviews, accessibility, affordance, writing center guidebooks, history, identity, pedagogy, online writing instruction, social constructivism, technology, technological determinism, training, transfer, transformative practices
Abstract
While the body of literature regarding online tutorials in the writing center is growing, researchers seem hesitant to fully endorse, or even commend, online writing tutorials. This seems appropriate for work in communication theory and human-computer interaction; working across a medium may be different, but this could create new and interesting ways of tutoring. This research reports on a comparative analysis of online and in-person tutoring at three different universities, focusing on tutor self-perceptions and on affordances, a concept drawn from systems engineering, human-computer interaction and ecological psychology. Unstructured interviewing is used to create a set of preliminary affordances of online tutorials, including, but not limited to issues of access, tutor training, and identity construction. The research also looks at issues in technology adoption and its relation to the writing center.
Citation Information
Type of Source: Thesis
Author: Erik V. Holtz
Year of Completion: 2014
Title: “Mode, Method, and Medium: The Affordances of Online Tutorials in the Writing Center”
Institution: University of Connecticut