As I reflected on my consultation with Gyra the word collaboration repeatedly came to mind. I felt as though what we were doing truly a collaborative effort. She would make a comment about something that would spark a thought in my mind. The dialogue was back and forth back and forth and we developed new ideas or ways of phrasing ideas. With this in mind I decided to do a little more research on collaboration in Writing Centers. In an article by Murial Harris called Collaboration Is Not Collaboration Is
Not Collaboration: Writing Center Tutorials vs. Peer-Response Groups I learned about the distinction made between what Writing Centers accomplish and what peer response sessions are like. She also differentiates between collaborative writing versus collaborative learning. On page 370 she says that collaborative writing is when multiple people work to create a piece of writing while collaborative learning is the process by which writer and a reader work together to improve a piece of writing. While collaborative learning occurs within the Writing Center, peer response groups are often very informal and take place in the dorm, study rooms, or coffee shops. Harris thinks that students do not often understand the importance of having a serious review of their work rather then just having a friend proofread it. I think this is a really good point. While it is good to have a friend read your paper, it is always better to make the review part of your learning process by going to a consultant and having a serious session about your paper.
Check out the link to this arcticle.. it's pretty good! http://www.jstor.org/stable/358228?seq=1
I agree that there is definitely a difference between having a casual meeting with a friend who reads over a paper and doing an actual consultation with a writing consultant. I have looked over my friends papers from time to time while sitting in their rooms watching tv and it is a completely different atmosphere. You end up saying hey I think you should think about changing this and usually get the response "Huh? Oh yeah sure just go ahead and write that on the paper" Actually having an intellectual conversation about your paper with a consultant gets ideas flowing and gets you in the right mood to write your paper.
ReplyDelete