By: Sami Bowden
In the article, “Collaboration Is Not Collaboration Is Not Collaboration: Writing Center Tutorials vs. Peer-Response Groups”, author Muriel Harris examines the difference between peer-response groups and writing center tutors. Harris says that they are both the same, but different at the same time. Even though a student gets a paper peer reviewed, they should also go to see a tutor in a writing center. She states that some form of peer review/writing center has been around for awhile, whether it is a friend asking another friend to correct their paper, or whether they just want them to find what is wrong with their paper.
Harris states that the role of a tutor, more broadly, is to strengthen the writer’s skills that will carry over to future papers. Tutors are there to listen, question, “why did you do that” is one of the most popular, and offer advice to the writer. In order for a tutor to be able to do all this, they must be trained, so they can be neither a teacher nor a peer, but a tutor instead.
She also shows the positives of a peer-response group. Ann Gere and Robert Abbot, reviewed published statements on peer response, show that teachers endorse the peer revised papers. The teachers stated that it gives the students a chance to see, and get used to, different writing styles, and develop a sense of community between the students.
The difference between tutors and peer responders are that tutors have had formal training and are there to ask questions about a paper and listen to the writer, and try to strengthen their writing for the future. Tutors also have dealt with critical reading of other’s texts. Peer responders are there more just to edit a paper and give feedback. The more students respond and critiques others work they will in turn become a better writer themselves. Many times, tutors will have on-going sessions with students so they can keep learning how to become a better writer. A peer responder will only see a student once or twice when they are in class where they have to review another’s work.
There can be times where there is tension between the tutor and the student. The student may just want their paper critiqued and that is all, where as the tutor doesn’t only want to work on the paper, but on the student’s overall writing. In cases like this, the tutor and student have to come to a happy medium. Normally, all a student wants, is to make sure the paper is accurate to the assignment. Tutors, however, sometimes have instructions from the teacher with what the student needs help on.
When the tutor starts asking the student questions they can learn what their writing method is and why he or she did certain things in his or her paper. When it comes to a peer responder, asking question isn’t really the purpose. Peer-response groups don’t focus as much on helping the student with their future writing, just how they wrote that one specific paper.
Certain reports have shown that peer evaluation has been as effective as a teacher evaluation, but the opposite has also been found to be true. To some students, they don’t think peer evaluation is effective, because they may just give back responses like: “Your paper was ok”, “This was spelled wrong” or “You just need to explain this a little more”. The tutor has to be a bridge between the students and the teachers. They need to know more than the student, but don’t know as much as the teachers.
Author Muriel Harris brings some clarity to the differences and similarities in his article “Collaboration Is Not Collaboration Is Not Collaboration: Writing Center Tutorials vs. Peer-Response Groups.” Although both are used to help a student write better, the “means to an end” are different between tutoring and peer-response groups. Peer response groups build a small community and introduce students to different writing styles, allowing them to expand their own personal style. However, unlike tutors, peers are not trained to help with writing; rather, they are in the same boat as the student they help. A tutor has been trained and has a more focused approach to guiding a student to improve personally. Peer groups allow students to become better at critiquing other’s papers, which transfers to critiquing their own personal papers. A tutor is more direct in his or her approach to helping the student become a better writer (although sometimes the student being tutored just wants to get by with what they’ve written. I feel that both methods can be very effective in aiding a student in becoming a better writer. Peer groups should be direct by the teacher on how to give proper feedback, and tutors should be aware of student’s different writing styles. Personally, I think both should be used often.
ReplyDeleteThis article makes a good point: peer tutors, while effective pursuers of mistakes, do not always have the prior knowledge to alter writing skills. Tutors, on the other hand, have the knowledge and training to do just that. They work with a student throughout many papers and have the ability to follow common mistakes and improve the writing style of a student. The main difference is training, time, and consideration of the tutor versus that of the peer tutor.
ReplyDeleteI myself tutor at an elementary school. The students would rather you give them the answer than show them how to find the answer. While the latter would be more beneficial in the future, the student sees his present work as a hindrance to his free time. I also supervise cross-age peer tutoring and find that the most common problem I encounter is the older student simply providing the younger one with answers.
Peer tutoring can be helpful, too. When done correctly, students who tutor tend to understand the concept better or to a fuller extent than those who do not tutor. The tutors also encounter several aspects of learning that they had not considered before. For example, an older child, who was very good at math, had difficultly, at first, explaining simple addition to a first grader. However, with a little assistance, the tutor was able to look at math in a visual manner instead of the mental math to which he was accustomed.
So I agree that a tutor, an adult who is trained, is extremely helpful to all students, but I also think that peer tutoring has benefits. Perhaps, before peer tutors are used, they all should be instructed on how to tutor. Therefore, they would not just be editing, but assisting in the learning process. They would also be active participants in this process, gaining knowledge as they give it.
Ideally peer tutors is a great idea, reason being is that some that they can relate to is helping in that subject, however at the same time students sometimes don't take their peer tutor as serious as they would a teacher, depending on their grade level. But I believe the best tutoring would come from a professor or someone of that caliber, mainly because they went to school and mastered that subject.
ReplyDeleteI think peer tutors is a great idea because I feel that students would be able to relate to their peers more than they could an actual tutor. But, i think an actual tutor is better for the student because they have connections with the teacher unlike a peer. It would be more productive to have a tutor review your work than it would a peer.
ReplyDeleteFrom the reading I gathered that there are pros and cons to peer response but only pros to peer tutoring. Peer response gives superficial help to students, can have a positive or negative affect on students, and is not as good at peer tutoring. Peer tutoring is better because the students are trained to give in depth responses to students on what they need to change and why. Peer tutors are recognized as being more knowledgeable than a regular student. They are not as intimidating as a teacher so students can open up to them and speak freely.
ReplyDeleteI think peer review and tutoring should go hand in hand. Peers can help fix small mistakes as they generally don't recognize what should and shouldn't go in a paper contentwise. They also tend to be nicer and not as critical as an actual tutor would be. And they don't have more connection to the teacher so they don't know what exactly should go in the paper.
ReplyDeleteTutors often have a connection to the teacher and they know exactly what they're supposed to be helping you on because the teacher has told them what you're having problems with. They can also be more critical than a peer because it's very possible that a peer would be your friend as well. Peers have a harder time being critical because they think it'll hurt your feelings, whereas tutors know what their jobs are.
Both are helpful and both should be used if needed.
The article examines the differences and similarities of peer editing vs. tutoring. In which I feel are both very good methods to revising work. Peer editing seems to be a good idea like the article said when students need to understand the different ways to write and bring some community to the group. However peers cannot give good advice if they cannot offer more than just editing. This is where a tutor or writing center would become a useful tool to utilize. Because, in an environment like that the student would definitely take more from the help and possibly improve in the long term when writing in the future.
ReplyDeletePeer tutors are something that I fell makes learning a lot easier. There is something about listen to a fellow student that is sometimes easier than listening to an instructor. The only downfall to peer reviews is that the student you are working with may not be able to give you sound advice on what and/or how to change something within your text. A tutor on the other hand has a direct tie to the professor, which means that the information they give you will fit into your situation a lot more simply.
ReplyDeleteI believe that having a tutor rather than a peer tutor is more effective. With a tutor a student can feel more comfortable to ask questions. If a student is being taught by a peer tutor the two students can easily be side tracked.
ReplyDeleteMy writing skills are up to par with my grade level but my grammar skills, hahaha, not so much. I have had countless tutors and have been in many peer mentor groups. I PREFER the tutor. Peer mentors tell me things I can figure out after proofreading my paper or just give an unneeded opinion. A tutor should be able to tell you why something is incorrect and give options on how to fix it. But everyone has their own opinions about both which is why reports find contradicting proof and arguments.
ReplyDeleteI feel that both peer-reviewing and tutoring can both be used as an effective way to look over a paper; however, there are several differences, as pointed out int he article, between these two types of reviewers. Last semester for my English 101 and 102 class we constantly peer-reviewed papers. There were some students who were helpful and actually pointed out mistakes and other issues; on the flip side, there were those students which simply did not care and said "yeah, okay, whatever," just to be done with the review.
ReplyDeleteTutors, on the other hand I feel are good for a more long-term approach to helping a student. Just as the article summary stated, the tutor can ask questions about the students writing as well as critique the writing, because they have been trained for this position.
I think that it depends not only on the situation but also the student. Some students need a more long-term type of help as opposed to the student which may have a few simple mistakes in the grammar.
what i mainly got from this article is that students who have work with tutors rather than peer tutors actually do learn more since the tutors will most likely know more than a peer tutor would know unless they were an expert on that subject. With a peer tutor it will be somewhat beneficial for the both of them and be a learning experience but most likely not find as many mistakes as a normal tutor would. so really both are good but a normal tutor is better than peer one.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the article but I disagree. I do agree that peer tutors can often get off task and not be as affective as a regular tutor. I also believe that in some cases a peer tutor can be more affective. A student may feel uncomfortable around a tutor who is not his or her peer. Often when student are more comfortable they are more open to suggestions and learning. I remember in high school math I had a teacher that would always try to help me with my math homework. I never really understood him though and would always just ask my brother how to do it when i got home. My brother would teach me in a different way and I would get it very easily. This is one example of how peer tutors can sometimes be more affective then actual tutors.
ReplyDeleteThe article, “Collaboration Is Not Collaboration Is Not Collaboration: Writing Center Tutorials vs. Peer-Response Groups.”, very well states the difference between tutoring and peer collaboration. I totally agree that both methods of learning are quite different . Students might learn more from someone that has been train to help them on their writing skill rather than someone who is probably at the same learning stage as the student peer correcting another peer’s paper.
ReplyDeleteIn some cases I think that peer tutors can help you out, but sometimes they can hurt you more than a regular tutor. I guess it just depends on the person and how much they know about the subject that they are tutoring. But with peer collaboration, you can get ideas from a bunch of different people, whereas you only get one view from one person in a normal tutor. Some people learn things differently and when you have input from a lot of different people you can determine which method is better for you.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I agree with the fact that peer editing and tutoring is different but both effective. Peer editoring is good for reviewing what mistakes is made, whether from a peer or friend and you just correct them. However, tutoring is great for explaining and breaking down the steps and method to crooecting a paper so it wont happen again or often. I agree with both basically.
ReplyDeleteBoth methods of peer editing and tutoring is very helpful in its own domain. I have done peer editing and I believed it has helped me getting use to different writing styles . This method has also allowed me to compare my writing to my peers and where I’m standing in regards to my writing. Furthermore, tutors do offered more insightful information about one’s writing.
ReplyDeleteThere are pros and cons to having peer reviews vs having tutor help. having a tutor help you witha certain subject will probably help you with the more direct help that you need whereas peer reviews helps themselves become better. Sometimes it kind of fucks having peer reviews, because the person that is reviewing your paper may not necessarily be as well versed in your subject as you are and could give you advise that isn't as good as the advice given to you by a tutor who is more well versed in the subject matter.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to peer reviewing, I think its beneficial to the little grammar mistakes like spelling or re wording the sentence. I feel more comfortable using a tutor because a tutor has more advice on the subject matter. They are both great when it comes to make a paper stronger, I just personal feel a tutor can help someone out more.
ReplyDeleteI agree that both resources are useful. I think that peer reviewing is a good first step in writing a paper. However peers are students just like the writer, so they are just as capable of making the same mistakes as the writer or overlooking a mistake. Tutors, on the other hand, are trained to notice all the mistakes a writer may have made. It would be wise I think to use both if you want to improve a paper and your overall writing.
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