IDENTIFYING TUTOR TEACHING STRATEGIES: A CASE STUDY OF 
QUESTIONING, SCAFFOLDING AND INSTRUCTION  
IN THE ENGLISH CENTER 
 
 
 
Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this thesis is 
my own or was done in collaboration with my advisory committee.  This thesis does not 
include proprietary or classified information. 
 
 
 
________________________________ 
Miranda Leigh Morrison 
 
 
 
Certificate of Approval: 
 
 
 
_____________________           _____________________ 
Michelle Sidler            Kevin R. Roozen, Chair 
Associate Professor            Assistant Professor 
English          English 
 
 
 
_____________________           _____________________ 
Isabelle Thompson            Joe F. Pittman 
Professor          Interim Dean 
English             Graduate School 
 
 
IDENTIFYING TUTOR TEACHING STRATEGIES: A CASE STUDY OF 
 
QUESTIONING, SCAFFOLDING AND INSTRUCTION 
 
IN THE ENGLISH CENTER 
 
 
Miranda Leigh Morrison 
 
 
 
A Thesis 
 
 
Submitted to 
 
 
the Graduate Faculty of 
 
 
Auburn University 
 
 
in Partial Fulfillment of the 
 
 
Requirements for the 
 
 
Degree of 
 
 
Master of Arts 
 
 
 
Auburn, Alabama 
May 10, 2008
iii 
 
IDENTIFYING TUTOR TEACHING STRATEGIES: A CASE STUDY OF  
 
QUESTIONING, SCAFFOLDING AND INSTRUCTION  
 
IN THE ENGLISH CENTER 
 
Miranda Leigh Morrison 
 
 
 
 
Permission is granted to Auburn University to make copies of this thesis at its discretion, 
upon request of individuals or institutions at their expense.  The author reserves all 
publication rights. 
 
 
 
     
________________________ 
Signature of Author   
 
 
 
________________________ 
       Date of Graduation 
iv 
 
THESIS ABSTRACT 
 
IDENTIFYING TUTOR TEACHING STRATEGIES: A CASE STUDY OF  
 
QUESTIONING, SCAFFOLDING AND INSTRUCTION  
 
IN THE ENGLISH CENTER 
 
 
Miranda Leigh Morrison 
 
Master of Arts, May 10, 2008 
(B.A., Lipscomb University, 2004) 
 
57 typed pages 
 
Directed by Kevin R. Roozen 
 
 The field of cognitive science has provided us with a large quantity of research 
concerning one-to-one teaching strategies used by tutors in multiple fields.  However, 
writing centers have been slow to research these teaching strategies in writing 
conferences.  This study examines the teaching strategies of instruction, cognitive 
scaffolding, motivational scaffolding, and question asking, as defined by Cromley and 
Azevedo and Chi et al., to determine if one tutor in Auburn University?s English Center 
uses these strategies in a peer writing conference. This research shows that one writing 
center tutor does use all four teaching strategies and provides examples and explanations 
for each strategy used.  Additionally, this work considers implications for further study 
regarding teaching strategies in writing center research. 
 
v 
 
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
 
 
 The author would like to thank Dr. Kevin R. Roozen for reading multiple drafts of 
this research and for keeping me motivated to continue with this project.  I would like to 
express my gratitude to Dr. Michelle Sidler for taking on this thesis in addition to the 
enormous amount of work she already undertakes.  Also, I would like to give special 
thanks to Dr. Isabelle Thompson, who is responsible for my interest in research and 
writing center studies.  
 This thesis would not have been completed without the love and support of my 
parents, sister, and brother-in-law.  I am also grateful to the numerous friends who kept 
me calm, focused, and, most importantly, reminded me of what matters most. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
vi 
 
Style manual or journal used: MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6
th
 ed. 
 
Computer software use: Microsoft Office Word 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1 
 
Identifying Tutor Teaching Strategies: A Case Study of Questioning, Scaffolding and 
Instruction in the English Center 
 In an address to the Third Annual Meeting of the Writing Centers Association in 
1981, Muriel Harris discussed the coming of age of writing centers.  The ten or so years 
preceding Harris? address saw a large increase in interest in writing centers; several 
collections of essays were published which contained articles concerning writing center 
models, administrative advice, peer tutors, the one-to-one tutoring process and writing 
problem diagnosis.  Subscriptions to The Writing Lab Newsletter increased, and The 
Writing Center Journal was established.  Additionally, writing centers received more 
recognition from traditional literature and composition conferences, such as MLA and the 
4Cs.  And yet despite this increase in writing center interest, Harris asked, ?But what 
about other vital aspects of teaching writing in a tutorial setting?  What is individualized 
instruction in writing?  Theoretically and practically, how does it differ from classroom 
instruction?  How effective is it?  What is best left to one-on-one teaching?? (3).  
Researchers have answered Harris? call with an abundance of research on multiple 
aspects of writing center conferences.  Specifically, empirical research concerning 
writing center conferences has expanded to analyze numerous topics, particularly the 
tutor?s role in the conference, tutor expertise, and directiveness.   
In John Trimbur?s article ?Peer-Tutoring: A Contradiction in Terms?? Trimbur 
discussed the apparent contradiction of the role of a ?peer? and the role of a ?tutor.?  This 
2 
 
contradiction places tutors in the unusual position of determining whether they should 
value their role as collaborator with a student writer or their expertise as an experienced 
writer.  Trimbur suggested that writing center directors have a responsibility to help 
student tutors negotiate their roles to become effective and productive tutors (23).  Two 
empirical research studies have examined the ongoing struggle between a tutor?s role as 
peer and a tutor?s role as an authority.  Kevin Davis et al. applied Reigstad?s three types 
of conferences?teacher-centered, collaborative, and student-centered?to writing center 
conferences and then compared their findings with a study of classroom writing groups in 
the article ?The Function of Talk in the Writing Conference: A Study of Tutorial 
Conversation.?  They examined and coded four writing center conferences according to 
Fanselow?s four types of conversational moves and found that writing center tutors used 
both teaching and non-teaching talk during conferences.  They also concluded that tutor 
role is not always clearly delineated.  In a more recent study, Terese Thonus?s qualitative 
research used triangulated inquiry to examine perceptions held by tutors, students, and 
teachers of the role of a writing center tutor.  Thonus?s article, ?Triangulation in the 
Writing Center: Tutor, Tutee, and Instructor Perceptions of the Tutor?s Role,? published 
in 2001, found that all three groups were aware of the struggle for tutor identity during 
the conference, and yet none agreed on what the tutor?s role should be. 
A second area of writing center research has focused on tutor expertise.  
Advocates of non-directive tutoring argue that tutors do not need to be an expert in the 
field to effectively help students.  Several recent studies have examined this proposal to 
see if it holds true.  In ??Look Back and Say ?So What??: The Limitations of the 
3 
 
Generalist Tutor,? Jean Keidaisch and Sue Dinitz performed an empirical study on twelve 
tutor-student writing conferences discussing literature papers.  Some tutors were experts 
in the field, while others were not.  While all conferences were rated successful by the 
students and the tutors, literature faculty found that the tutoring sessions with expert 
tutors were more successful because the tutors focused on global issues rather than 
surface corrections.  Additionally Jo Mackiewicz?s fine-grained study looked at four 
technical writing conferences with engineering students; three of the four tutors were not 
experts in the field of technical writing.  Mackiewicz?s article, ?The Effects of Tutor 
Expertise in Engineering Writing: A Linguistic Analysis of Writing Tutors? Comments,? 
found that the non-expert tutors approached the technical writing documents as academic 
assignments, while the fourth tutor, who was a former technical writer, viewed the 
student?s document as a potential piece of communication.  Therefore, the three non-
expert tutors focused on surface errors and formal tone, while the expert tutor was more 
personable with the student and encouraged changes that would lead to a successful piece 
of communication, such as using a more conversational tone in text boxes and promoting 
an awareness of audience expectation regarding the text?s graphics. 
Several empirical studies have also investigated writing center conferences 
regarding tutor directiveness.  Blau, Hall, and Strauss, in their article titled ?Exploring the 
Tutor/Client Conversation: A Linguistic Analysis,? analyzed linguistic elements in thirty 
writing center tutorials to determine the nature of tutors? relationships with writing center 
students.  The researchers examined the language of the tutorials for power or 
collaboration from the tutor.  While a linguistic analysis of tutorial transcripts revealed 
4 
 
beneficial information, Blau, Hall and Strauss were concerned because many 
collaborative tutorial sessions lacked focus and accomplished less than more directive 
conferences.  In another project, ?Dominance in Academic Writing Tutorials: Gender, 
Language Proficiency, and the Offering of Suggestions,? Terese Thonus studied sixteen 
writing center tutorials through the frame of academic discourse to find dominant 
dialogue moves related to gender, language proficiency and the interaction between the 
tutor and the student.  She coded her transcripts to identify the number and frequency of 
tutor suggestions and mitigation strategies.  Thonus determined the tutor?s role as an 
authority in an institutional setting was more likely to account for tutor dominance in 
writing center conferences than the tutor?s gender. 
Despite the multiplicity of research on writing center conferences, research has 
been slow to explore teaching strategies used by writing center tutors.  While these 
strategies have been studied in other fields, such as cognitive science (Chi et al.; Merrill 
et al.; Lepper et al; McArthur, Stasz, and Zmuidzinas; Person et al.) writing center 
researchers have spent considerably less time identifying and describing these strategies.  
One clear exception is Jessica Williams, whose article ?Tutoring and Revision: Second 
Language Writers in the Writing Center? examines tutoring strategies, specifically 
scaffolding, used by tutors working with second language writers who come to the 
writing center for help with the revision stage of their writing process. 
When writing center coordinators consider training tutors, they might turn to one 
of the many guidebooks for writing tutors.  However, these guidebooks often focus on 
how to conduct a tutoring session in terms of setting an agenda, encouraging student 
5 
 
participation, responding as a reader, and recapping what has been discussed during the 
conference.  Furthermore, the information found in these manuals is not based on 
empirical research, but instead provides anecdotes to discuss tutoring concepts.  In one 
such guidebook, The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors, authors Leigh Ryan and Lisa 
Zimmerelli include a chapter titled ?Inside the Tutoring Session.?  This chapter discusses 
getting started, making the student feel comfortable, setting an agenda, becoming an 
active listener, responding as a reader and allowing the student time to respond and write 
(18-27).  Specifically, the section on responding as a reader encourages tutors to facilitate 
student participation in the discussion through requesting information or clarification, 
refocusing and prompting.  Several of these strategies are defined as scaffolding moves in 
other fields, and yet a discussion of these strategies occupies a very small portion of 
Ryan?s and Zimmerelli?s work (26).  Additionally, in The St. Martin?s Sourcebook for 
Writing Tutors, Christina Murphy and Steve Sherwood articulate and define the 
paradigms which have shaped writing centers.  Most of these paradigms emerge from 
composition theory and therefore Murphy and Sherwood stress the importance of 
informed tutors who achieve an understanding of these theories and paradigms (2-8).  
They also include a section on the role of the tutor with a list of characteristics tutors 
should bring to conferences.  Murphy and Sherwood write:  
Among the many traits effective tutors share are good intentions, strong 
writing and editing skills, flexibility, an eagerness to help, an analytical 
yet creative mind, a dedication to excellence, good listening skills, an 
ability to be supportive yet honest, a willingness to work hard, a sense of 
6 
 
humor, sensitivity to others, careful judgment, patience, and a dedication 
to collaborative learning. (8) 
While this list certainly promotes an inviting atmosphere and a caring tutor, teaching 
strategies are conspicuously absent from this list. 
Tutors, like teachers, want the students they work with to gain knowledge and 
understanding of their writing processes to take with them when they leave a conference.  
Tutors want to teach students about developing a strong thesis statement, so that when a 
student begins working on his next paper, he will remember how to develop a strong 
thesis statement.  If a tutor teaches a student the rules for semicolons, the tutor wants the 
student to recognize improper usage and to be able to employ proper usage in the future.  
Muriel Harris commented on the importance of writing centers in academic communities 
because writing centers allow instantaneous and current feedback on such strategies.  She 
wrote, ?When a tutorial teaching strategy doesn?t work, the student sitting next to us 
knows it pretty quickly? (5).  And yet, as we have seen, these teaching strategies have not 
been thoroughly researched and are not readily apparent in tutor training guides.   
Key Tutoring Strategies 
 Research in cognitive psychology has revealed a corpus of tutoring strategies: 
instruction, cognitive scaffolding, motivational scaffolding and questioning.  Two studies 
have examined and defined these tutoring strategies through research in the fields of 
reading and biology. In ?What Do Reading Tutors Do? A Naturalistic Study of More and 
Less Experienced Tutors in Reading,? Jennifer Cromley and Roger Azevedo performed a 
naturalistic study of adult basic literacy tutoring sessions.  One of Cromley and 
7 
 
Azevedo?s research questions examined the proportions of each of the four tutoring 
strategies used by more and less experienced tutors.  Michelene Chi et al. conducted a 
similar study regarding tutoring and presented their results in the article ?Learning from 
Human Tutoring.?  Their study sought to determine which type of one-on-one tutoring is 
more effective: tutor-centered, student-centered or interactive.  Additionally, they 
continued their study by limiting the tutoring strategies available to tutors in an 
interactive one-on-one tutoring episode to establish which teaching methods are most 
conducive to promoting student learning.    Their research examined the effectiveness of 
these moves and of the students? responses.  The following definitions of key teaching 
strategies are taken from Cromley and Azevedo?s and Chi et al.?s research. 
Instruction 
Chi et al. report that tutors generally control the conversation of a conference.  
Tutor dominance occurs because tutors set the agenda and select which problem to solve 
and how the tutor and student will solve it.  This dominance often leads tutors to instruct 
their students.  Instruction ?convey[s] information to students during tutoring sessions? 
(Cromley and Azevedo 87).  Instruction occurs when a tutor directly tells the student 
what to do.  For example, ?Put a comma after ?magazine.??  Instruction also can occur 
when a tutor provides an answer or explains an answer.  For example, the tutor 
mentioned in the previous example might continue by explaining why the student needed 
a comma after the word ?magazine? because it concludes a long introductory phrase.  
Instruction may also include summarizing or using analogies.   Tutors employ the 
teaching strategy of instruction when they desire to provide information to students. 
8 
 
Scaffolding 
Chi et al. showed how the strategy of scaffolding grew out of Lev Vygotsky?s study 
of development.  They pointed out:  
Since tutoring is similar to adult-child interaction, scaffolding may be the pivotal 
step in tutoring as well.  Translating this to the tutoring context, ?guidance? means 
that in structuring the task, a tutor might decompose a complex task into smaller 
ones, so part of the task, initiate a task and let the student to the rest, remind the 
student of some aspect of the task, and so forth. (473)    
The concepts behind the teaching technique of scaffolding emerged from Vygotsky?s 
studies of learning and development.  Vygotsky wanted to understand the relationship 
between learning and development.  He viewed the previously developed theories of 
learning and development as inadequate, and began his research by breaking down his 
investigation into two parts: the general relationship between the two and the specific 
relationship that emerges when children reach school age.  Vygotsky asserted that 
children?s learning begins before school.  He said, ?Learning and development are 
interrelated from the child?s very first day of life? (Vygotsky 84).    Vygotsky described 
children?s development as consisting of two parts.  The first, actual developmental level 
defined what a child already knows and can comprehend in his mental processes.  While 
two children might have the same actual development level, their potential development 
levels may be very different.  Vygotsky called these differences his second level or the 
?zones of proximal development? (86).  He defined the zone of proximal development as, 
?the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent 
9 
 
problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem 
solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers? (86).  Thus 
Vygotsky asserted that judging children?s development strictly on their independent skill 
sets limited our understanding of their learning ability (86). 
Vygotsky?s zones of proximal development allow us to look at the potential 
development of children by understanding what they are attempting to master at the 
present time.  A child?s inability to solve a problem independently today does not 
indicate that he will not be able to solve it independently tomorrow.  Vygotsky continued 
his discussion by saying, ?The actual development level characterizes mental 
development retrospectively, while the zone of proximal development characterizes 
mental development prospectively? (86-87).  Vygotsky argued that this method of 
observing learning and development allows psychologists, educators and researchers to 
examine not only the skills and mental abilities a child has mastered, but also the 
independent problem solving that is maturing inside the child.  Vygotsky provided 
evidence for his theory by citing a research project initiated by Dorothea McCarthy.  
McCarthy examined the functions of children from the age of three to five.  She looked at 
the functions the children could perform independently and the functions they could 
perform with the assistance or guidance of an adult or in collaboration.  McCarthy found 
that the functions these children could perform with guidance were actually mastered 
independently by the students between the ages of five and seven (87). 
Vygotsky argued that understanding the zone of proximal development requires us to 
reevaluate imitation.  He acknowledged that classical psychology does not recognize 
10 
 
imitation as indicative of independent mental activity or development.  However, 
Vygotsky claimed newer psychological studies found the children can only imitate what 
is within their range of development.  Vygotsky?s zone of proximal development 
enforces the idea that ?good learning? focuses on development levels children have not 
yet reached (89).  Vygotsky?s zone of proximal development requires learning.  He 
wrote, ?[L]earning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to 
operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment and in 
cooperation with his peers.  Once these processes are internalized, they become part of 
the child?s independent developmental achievement? (90).  Thus Vygotsky concluded 
that learning is not the same as development, nor does it occur parallel to development.  
However, learning does result in the development of independent mental processes and 
skill sets that would not exist without this learning (90).  Chi et al. explained that 
according to Vygotskian theory, scaffolding is a significant step in children?s 
development because scaffolding calls for an adult to ?guide? a child to his fullest 
intellectual potential.  Tutoring mimics adult-child interaction because a student is 
working with a more knowledgeable, more experienced individual who can help the 
student achieve a greater potential.   
In 1976, two years before Vygotsky?s work was published, David Wood, Jerome S. 
Bruner and Gail Ross used principles similar to those advocated by Vygotsky to construct 
a model of learning called scaffolding.  Their article, ?The Role of Tutoring in Problem 
Solving,? was written to examine the tutoring process, the ways an expert guides a less 
expert individual.  The authors argued that children?s skill set are hierarchical.  They 
11 
 
master individual skills and then combine them to accomplish a more complex task.  
However, learning these skill sets and tasks is not simply an individual process.  Wood, 
Bruner, and Ross argued, ?More often than not, it [skill acquisition] involves a kind of 
?scaffolding? process that enables a child or novice to solve a problem, carry out a task or 
achieve a goal which would be beyond his unassisted efforts? (90).  They continued by 
explaining that the tutor controls the task so the learner can focus only on what is 
necessary to solve the problem.  The authors? research project studied thirty three-, four-, 
and five-year-olds as they attempted to piece together a wooden puzzle with the aid of a 
tutor.  Based on their observations and using a scoring system, Wood, Bruner, and Ross 
concluded that the scaffolding process consists of six facets: recruitment of student 
interests, ?reduction in degrees of freedom,? guiding the students in a particular direction, 
?marking critical features,? controlling the student?s frustration, and modeling (98).  
These six moves, along with Vygotsky?s extensive research, form the basis for the 
current teaching strategies of cognitive and motivational scaffolding. 
Chi et al. also commented on the connection between Vygotsky?s concept of 
guidance and the teaching strategies of scaffolding when they wrote, ?Translating this to 
the tutoring context, ?guidance? means that in structuring the task, a tutor might 
decompose a complex task into simpler ones, do part of the task initiate a task and let the 
student do the rest, remind student of some aspect of the task and so forth? (473).  Thus, 
scaffolding occurs when a tutor guides the student in order that the student can find the 
12 
 
solution or finish the task on his own.
1
  Cromley and Azevedo provided further insight on 
scaffolding in their article.  Cromley and Azevedo break scaffolding into two types?
cognitive and motivational?which are defined below. 
Cognitive Scaffolding 
Researchers have identified instances of scaffolding in tutorial session in many 
different fields.  The most basic definition of scaffolding is explained by Cromley and 
Azevedo as ?support[ing] students in figuring out problems for themselves? (Cromley 
and Azevedo 88). Cognitive scaffolding can occur in several different ways.  A tutor can 
hint or prompt a student to lead him towards the correct answer.  This could occur when a 
tutor begins a sentence and allows the student to fill-in-the-blank with an answer.  
Cognitive scaffolding also occurs when a tutor breaks a large problem into subtasks so 
the student can answer the problem one step at a time.  Additionally, a tutor may ask a 
student an open-ended question, allowing the student to devise an answer on his own.  
The tutor may also ask a question which forces the student to choose an answer among 
alternatives.  Finally cognitive scaffolding moves focus a student?s attention on a specific 
piece of information that is crucial in solving the problem.   
Motivational Scaffolding 
Motivational scaffolding ?provide[s] students with various types of positive and 
negative feedback? in order to guide the students to make choices on their own (Cromley 
and Azevedo 89).  Tutors use motivational scaffolding to respond to student decisions 
with both positive and negative replies.  Motivational scaffolding may be explicit positive 
                                                 
1
 Recent research on scaffolding has been used to build computer-based tutoring programs (Graesser, 
Person, and Magliano; Chi et al.; Lepper et al.), yet most studies conclude computer-based tutoring cannot 
mimic one-on-one tutoring sessions (Puntambekar and H?bscher).  
13 
 
or negative responses or elaborated feedback.  Motivational scaffolding occurs when a 
tutor asks a student to check his work or to try again.  Motivational scaffolding 
acknowledges the difficulty of the current task and also occurs when tutors attribute 
student performance to a particular move.  Motivational scaffolding can be either positive 
or negative and helps students understand the success or failure of their choices.   
Question Asking 
Question asking can be a part of any of the previous three techniques: instruction, 
cognitive scaffolding, or motivational scaffolding (Cromley and Azevedo 90).  As we 
have seen from previous definitions, a tutor might use an open-ended question to scaffold 
student learning.  Question asking may also be used to solicit information from the 
student regarding the assignment or the student?s knowledge about the present topic.  The 
strategy behind question asking is not always clear.   
It is important to note that all of these teaching strategies are directive to some extent.  
A tutor may use instruction to explain a solution to a student by using an analogy; the 
instruction may help the student more clearly understand the solution so that he can 
figure out the next answer.  Additionally, using scaffolding or question asking may not 
indicate that the tutor is leading a student-centered conference.  Scaffolding moves guide 
students toward a better understanding or toward a correct answer. Therefore, instruction 
and scaffolding, as well as question asking, can be very directive while still allowing the 
student to discover the answer on his own. 
 
 
14 
 
Previous Findings in Teaching Strategy Research in Other Fields 
Cromley and Azevedo?s review of research prior to their study indicated that more 
experienced tutors provided specific rules or facts and also created general examples to 
inform students, while novice tutors occasionally gave answers and did not wait for the 
student to come to a conclusion on his own (88).  However both novice and experienced 
tutors broke problems down into smaller steps or processes to help scaffold student 
learning.  They also tended to ask open ended questions, which allowed the students to 
create their own responses (89).   Cromley and Azevedo also reported that tutors use 
motivational scaffolding to assist with student learning.  When students provided the 
wrong answer, both novice and expert tutors encouraged students to try again, rather than 
giving direct, negative responses.  Additionally Cromley and Azevedo pointed out that 
expert tutors gave indirect positive feedback more often than novice tutors (89). Their 
research found that ?Many tutor moves seemed to combine instruction and motivation? 
(88).  This combination of instruction and scaffolding guided the student while allowing 
them to make some decisions for themselves. 
Cromley and Azevedo?s study found similar results to the research they did prior to 
their study.  They concluded that more experienced tutors cognitively scaffold their 
students 66% of the time, while novice tutors only used cognitive scaffolding 44%.  They 
also found that expert tutors used less instruction and less motivational scaffolding than 
novice tutors.  Additionally, their studies showed that expert tutors not only use more 
cognitive scaffolding, but also use a wider variety of cognitive scaffolding techniques 
(99-100).  Cromley and Azevedo found their results consistent with previous studies of 
15 
 
instruction and scaffolding with tutors who teach in a wide variety of disciplines 
(McArthur et al.; Lepper et al.; Graesser, Person, and Huber; Chi et al.).  They mentioned 
the continuing debate in the field of education regarding the balance between teacher-
centered and student-centered learning.  They concluded that the positive effects of one-
on-one tutoring may show us the proper balance between instruction and cognitive 
scaffolding (103). 
 In ?Learning from Human Tutoring,? Chi et al. looked at one-on-one tutoring 
episodes.  An important note for my current study is that Chi et al. found ?that tutors 
often do not have formal training in the skills of tutoring.  Tutoring skills refer to the 
pedagogical skills of knowing when to give feedback, scaffoldings, and explanations, 
when to hold back error corrections and allow students to infer that an error has been 
made, and so forth? (472).  Chi et al. discovered that tutors frequently are not trained in 
tutoring strategies, but they are familiar with the content they are tutoring.  Chi et al. 
argued that tutor training is difficult since we still have so much to learn regarding 
tutoring strategies and effectiveness (472). 
Research Question 
 Other fields have closely investigated tutoring strategies used by tutors in one-to-
one tutoring sessions.  However, writing center research is just beginning to explore these 
strategies in writing center conferences.  This study looks at one writing center 
conference to determine if the teaching strategies of instruction, cognitive scaffolding, 
motivational scaffolding, and question asking, which have been identified in other fields, 
16 
 
are used by one writing center tutor.  A complete transcript of the conference is included 
in Appendix A. 
Methodology 
This research is part of a larger project currently being conducted by Auburn 
Univerisity?s English Center coordinator Dr. Isabelle Thompson.  This project examines 
English Center Conference #17543.  The conference was held at Auburn University?s 
English Center, a writing center available to students in core English courses.  The 
conference involves a male consultant and a female student who are meeting for the third 
time.  The tutor is an experienced PhD student who taught high school English for 6 
years and tutored for three semesters. The student, Jackie, is an undergraduate who was 
enrolled in her first semester of English Composition at the time of the conferences.  The 
conference was rated highly satisfactory by both the tutor and the student according to a 
survey each completed at the end of the conference. 
This data was IRB approved by the Human Subjects Review Board in August of 2007 
for Dr. Isabelle Thompson?s research.  The data was retroactively approved approved for 
this study in April of 2008.  This data was collected with the permission of both the tutor 
and the student.  The tutor asked the student if she would be willing to participate in the 
project, and she agreed.  Their conference was videotaped and transcribed.  Later, the 
English Center coordinator videotaped an interview with the tutor regarding this 
conference and his pedagogical decisions.  Additionally, I have obtained a copy of the 
conference information from the English Center database, which explains the reason for 
the student?s visit and the tutor?s response.  This conference information is e-mailed to 
17 
 
the teacher.  Additionally, Jackie?s teacher provided me with a copy of the assignment 
sheet for the essay Jackie is working on in this conference.  
I analyzed this conference according to the descriptions of teaching strategies 
outlined by Cromley and Azevedo and Chi et al.  I created a coding scheme to identify 
instruction, cognitive scaffolding, motivational scaffolding, and question asking.  Since 
question asking may be used to instruct or scaffold, I coded for instruction, cognitive 
scaffolding and motivational scaffolding over question asking if the tutor?s goal seemed 
to be teaching the student rather than simply gathering information.  I identified instances 
of each of these teaching strategies using the following codes: 
Instruction Telling 
Providing the answer 
Explaining the answer 
Cognitive Scaffolding Hinting 
Prompting 
Forcing a choice 
Breaking a problem into subtasks 
Asking open-ended questions 
Focusing student attention 
Motivational Scaffolding Positive or negative feedback 
Reinforcement 
Acknowledgement of difficulty 
Question Asking Requesting information 
18 
 
 
I did not code the conference transcript for tutor comments such as ?mm-hmm? or 
?Okay.?  Additionally, I did not code places in the transcript where the tutor asks the 
student for specific information regarding her assignment.
2
 
Conference Information 
On the conference form the student fills out for the English Center consultant, she 
writes that she comes to the English Center ?To help me come up with an outline and 
thesis statement for my new paper.  Come up with certain topics to discuss in the paper.?  
The student is beginning work on her third paper, the critical analysis.  She comes to the 
English Center with her assignment sheet and some paper on which to take notes.  The 
student?s assignment sheet asks for a three- to four-page paper.  The assignment reads, 
?We have been using our analysis skills to read the surface and subsurface of objects, 
written texts, images, and advertisements to determine the implicit cultural myths. . .now 
you must put those skills to work.  For this essay, choose a magazine about which you 
will form a focused, analytical, and organized argument.?  The assignment continues by 
asking students to note several different aspects of the magazine?s ?packaging,? 
?philosophy,? and ?audience.?  The teacher writes, ?Determine how each of these factors 
affects you as a consumer.  Ask yourself how these elements work together to influence 
your decision when purchasing a magazine.?  The teacher also includes a list of questions 
the students should consider.  These include, ?What cultural myths or stereotypes are 
                                                 
2
 The tutor indicates his continued involvement in the conversation by responding with ?Uh-huh? and 
?Okay.?  Graesser, Person, and Magliano define these responses as backchannel feedback, which 
?acknowledges that the listener is following what the speaker is saying? (503-504).  See also Victor 
Yngve?s ?On Getting a Word in Edgewise? (1970) and John J. Gumperz?s Discourse Strategies (1982). 
 
19 
 
implicit?what is the worldview that you observe?? and ?What beliefs and value systems 
are and are not promoted??  The student brings this assignment sheet to the tutor and tells 
him that she has come to the English Center to request help brainstorming ideas for her 
third paper.   
Throughout the conference the tutor and the student work together to generate ideas 
regarding what the audience of Cosmo Girl expects from the magazine and how the 
magazine responds to those expectations.  They also spend some time discussing ways 
the student can organize her paper to fulfill the assignment. 
Data Analysis  
The following section identifies and examines examples of each of the teaching 
strategies used by the tutor in this conference. 
Instruction 
 The teaching strategy of instruction occurs when a tutor gives information to a 
student during the conference through direct instruction or telling, providing an answer, 
or explaining an answer. 
 The following tutoring move occurs several minutes into the conference.  The 
student admits she is overwhelmed with the assignment and is not sure where to begin.  
The tutor and student first discuss things the typical Cosmo Girl reader might be 
interested in, and then proceed to analyze what the cover promises to the reader.  At this 
point the tutor provides direct instruction to the student. 
Tutor: Okay.  So now you can kind of start to see, based on your list of kind of  
20 
 
the average Cosmo reader, not necessarily you, but just the average Cosmo 
reader, what their kind of interests are and how the magazine. . . I mean 
they kind of work hand in hand, right?  You know, so the reader is fashion 
conscious and maybe money conscious and, you know, the magazine can 
go ahead and promote that. 
This example of direct instruction occurs when the tutor shows the student how 
their different conversations about what type of people read Cosmo Girl connects with 
their discussion of what the cover of the magazine promises the reader.  In this section of 
the conference, the tutor gives the student the answer and continues by summarizing what 
they have discussed.  He says, ?So the reader is fashion conscious and maybe money 
conscious, and, you know, the magazine can go ahead and promote that.?  First, the tutor 
makes the connection for the student.  He does not ask her to figure out how the two 
conversations work together, but instead provides the solution for her.  Cromley and 
Azevedo point out that experienced tutors often set up a certain problem for the student to 
accomplish a certain pedagogical purpose (88).  In this case, the student had indicated the 
overwhelming nature of her assignment.  The tutor breaks down the problem into two 
smaller problems for her to solve.  After she has solved them, he uses direct instruction 
and summary to show her how they connect to each other to solve the original question 
posed by the assignment. 
The tutor?s longest instance of instruction occurs later in the conference.  The 
student and tutor have discussed several different aspects of the magazine at length.  
They return to the assignment sheet to decide which prompt the student should answer 
21 
 
based on the information they have discussed.  The tutor reads a series of prompts from 
the student?s assignment sheet. After one of the prompts, ?What self are the creators (of 
the magazine) trying to promote,? he comments ?Right, that might be interesting there.?  
The student does not respond to this hint from the tutor, so he begins a series of 
instructional moves. 
Tutor: Okay.  Yeah.  Okay.  Well, I like this (points at prompt on assignment  
sheet which asks ?What self are the creators trying to promote??) because 
you had mentioned, you know, that it doesn?t talk about self-esteem, but it 
kind of talks about these outward, you know, issues.  So, you know, which 
self are these creators trying to promote?  So if you, you know, what kind 
of person. . .Umm, you know, if you want to think about these, you know, 
if you think about yourself, as you know, you have kind of these multiple 
selves, right?  
Jackie: Yeah. 
Tutor: Where, you know, you kind of have this, kind of, outward self.  You have,  
you know, this kind of inward self that deals with, you know, emotions.  
You know, you?ve got another inward self that deals with intellectual 
issues, you know.  And so if you want to think about it, different 
magazines kind of target different aspects of that.  Like Oprah magazine 
draws real heavily on emotions.  Where, like umm, Popular Mechanics or, 
umm, Discover magazine deals with, kind of, intellect and science, right? 
22 
 
After the student fails to recognize or acknowledge the tutor?s hint, he takes a more direct 
approach and tells the student why he believes considering the question ?What self are 
the creators trying to promote?? is beneficial for her as a writer.  Although he is 
providing the student with instruction, he does point out that the student mentioned that 
Cosmo Girl did not talk about self-esteem.  Although he does ask the student ?Which self 
are these creators trying to promote?? instead of allowing the student time to answer, the 
tutor continues with another instructional move when he begins explaining to Jackie the 
idea of multiple selves.  The tutor continues instructing the student as he explains to her 
that people have inner and outer selves and that different magazines target different 
selves. 
Cognitive Scaffolding 
 Cognitive scaffolding occurs when a tutor guides a student to discover an answer 
or figure out a problem on his own.  Cognitive scaffolding moves include hinting, 
prompting, forcing a choice, breaking a problem into subtasks, asking open-ended 
questions, and focusing student attention. 
 One of the tutor?s first teaching moves in the conference is a cognitive scaffolding 
move.  Jackie tells the tutor, ?I just wasn?t really sure how I was going to like, if I was 
just going to introduce the magazine or what the magazine holds, or, like, when you?re 
talking about like the people that would be most likely to read it, or. . .I just wasn?t sure 
how to get. . .?  Early in the conference the tutor is aware that Jackie is unsure about how 
to begin her paper, so he scaffolds her by breaking the assignment into subtasks.   
Tutor: Well, why don?t we finish this (making a list of topics Cosmo Girl readers  
23 
 
are interested in).  We?ll kind of do people and then also do the magazine  
. . . and then we?ll compare them. 
The tutor scaffolds the student by breaking down the student?s assignment into smaller 
pieces.  The tutor says ?We?ll kind of do people and then also do the magazine.?  The 
tutor simply shows the student that she can break the overwhelming task down into 
smaller pieces and tackle them one by one.  Rather than trying to address all three points 
at one time, the tutor suggests that the student start out by talking about people, the 
readership of the magazine, before moving on to look at different aspects of the magazine 
itself.  During an interview with the English Center coordinator he says, ?Yeah, we talked 
about the cover, the articles, the advertisements.  I really tried to break those things 
down.?  This comment during his interview reinforces his teaching move as an instance 
of cognitive scaffolding.  During the conference, the tutor continues by showing her that 
after they discuss both of these things, they can ?compare them? to see how surface and 
subsurface elements of the magazine attract a particular type of reader.   
The tutor continues the tutoring session by asking the student to consider the 
readers of Cosmo Girl magazine (which he refers to as Cosmo for most of the tutoring 
session).   
Tutor: What kind of things are Cosmo readers interested in or interested in  
reading about?  I mean, basically if they?re going to go buy the magazine 
off the shelf, what?s in it. . . 
In this excerpt, the tutor uses two cognitive scaffolding techniques to assist the student in 
the tutoring session.  He begins by asking her an open-ended question, ?What kinds of 
24 
 
things are Cosmo readers interested in or interested in reading about??  He asks this 
question to allow the student to determine the answer for herself, in contrast to directly 
telling her what he believes interests Cosmo readers.  This open-ended question is an 
example of cognitive scaffolding because the tutor asks the student a question in order for 
her to answer the question on her own.  Tutors often use questions in cognitive 
scaffolding moves when the tutor knows that the student knows the answer.  At the 
beginning of this session, the student informs the tutor that she subscribes to this 
magazine, and that is why she chose to evaluate it.  The tutor knows the student is aware 
of what the magazine?s readers are interested in because she is a reader herself.  
Additionally, in his interview with the English Center coordinator, the tutor says, ?This 
(brainstorming) worked out well, too, because I drew a lot on her personal knowledge.  
She?s writing about Cosmo Girl magazine, and she subscribes to it.?  He continues in his 
interview by demonstrating the type of questions he might ask her: ?You know, what 
kind of person reads this? And she?ll say, you know, ?I?m the type of person. . .? which 
worked out well until you get to the analysis part.?  By asking her this open-ended 
question, the tutor guides the student to determine the answer for herself.  The tutor does 
not stop with this question but continues his thought by giving the student a phrase to 
indicate the type of answer she might provide.  The tutor asks her a leading question, ?. . . 
if they?re going to go buy the magazine off the shelf, what?s in it. . . ??  The tutor trails 
off before answering what is in the magazine.  This move prompts the student to fill-in-
the-blank.  Again, the tutor is aware that the student knows the answer to the question and 
expects her to take an active role in the tutoring session by filling in the missing 
25 
 
information.  He knows that she is aware of what attracts Cosmo Girl readers to the 
magazine, and his leading question provides her with an example of how she might begin 
answering the question.   
 Another example of cognitive scaffolding occurs when the tutor and student move 
on to discuss the magazine itself.  The tutor had previously broken the student?s 
assignment into two parts: examining the readership of Cosmo Girl and then looking at 
the magazine.  He begins addressing the second subtask by asking Jackie an open-ended 
question regarding the cover of the magazine. 
Tutor: What?s the cover going to promise to the reader? 
The student comments that she should have brought the magazine with her, and the tutor 
encourages her to bring it to their next conference.  Then he prompts the student to 
respond by asking a more simple question. 
Tutor: So, what?s on the cover?  
The tutor employs two cognitive scaffolding moves.  He redirects Jackie?s attention to the 
second subtask, a discussion of the magazine when he asks her, ?What?s the cover going 
to promise to the reader??  Then he further breaks down the subtask by prompting the 
student to consider the cover of the magazine.  The tutor scaffolds the student by 
breaking down the problem into subtasks and then asking an open-ended question: 
?What?s the cover going to promise to the reader?? which allows her to determine the 
answer for herself.    After brief off-task talk where the student mentions that she should 
probably have brought the magazine and the tutor encourages her to bring it to their next 
conference, the tutor reiterates his question, simplifying it this time from ?What?s the 
26 
 
cover going to promise the reader?? to ?What?s on the cover??  This cognitive 
scaffolding move allows the tutor to prompt the reader to answer a less complex question.  
In his interview with the English Center director, the tutor mentions that although Jackie 
is very intelligent, he did not think she understood the concept of what the magazine 
cover might ?promise? to the reader, so he tried to question her in a different way.  In 
other words, before Jackie can determine what the cover ?promise[s] the reader,? she 
must consider what is on the cover. 
 The tutor also uses cognitive scaffolding to focus the student?s attention on a 
particular part of the problem.  In a section of the conference that was mentioned earlier 
in regards to instruction, the tutor reads off a list of prompts from the assignment sheet 
and attempt to focus the student?s attention on the one he believes is most appropriate for 
the ideas they have discussed. 
Tutor: Okay (read assignment sheet again)  Okay, so some of these things, umm,  
some of these things could make good, good prompts.  I?m not sure which 
would make better prompts for your, you know, for Cosmo Girl.  Umm.  
(The tutor reads the following questions or portions of questions off the 
assignment sheet) ?cultural myths or stereotypes are implicit?  ?What is 
the world view that you observe??  Umm.  ?How do you fit into this world 
view??  ?Who created these products??  ?What self are the creators trying 
to promote??  Right, that might be, that might be interesting there. 
As the tutor reads through the list of assignment prompts, he comes across one that seems 
to fit the student?s discussion of Cosmo Girl and its readership.  After he reads the 
27 
 
prompt he says, ?Right, that might be, that might be interesting there.?  This comment 
focuses the student?s attention on one specific prompt out of the list of five provided by 
her teacher on the assignment sheet.  By suggesting that the question, ?What self are the 
creators trying to promote?? is interesting, the tutor draws the student?s attention to the 
idea of ?self? which they discussed earlier in the conference. 
Motivational Scaffolding 
Motivational scaffolding occurs when a tutor provides a student with explicit or 
elaborated positive or negative feedback.  Motivational scaffolding can also reinforce 
student response and acknowledge the difficulty of the problem.   
In several instances, the tutor simply uses ?Okay,? ?Good,? ?No,? and ?Yeah? to 
respond to the student.  These instances often occur after Jackie has given a response to 
the tutor?s question and she looks to him for feedback.  Rather than elaborating or making 
additional comments, the tutor responds with a simple answer to alert Jackie that she has 
answered correctly or incorrectly. 
At the beginning of the conference, the tutor and student discuss the readership of 
Cosmo Girl magazine.  The tutor uses a series of questions to prompt the student to think 
about what type of people read the magazine and what types of concepts or ideas are 
interesting to those readers.  After the student provides the reader with an extensive list of 
responses, he uses motivational scaffolding to provide the student with positive feedback. 
Tutor: Okay.  Well, I mean, I think that?s a great list that we can get started with.   
28 
 
This comment from the tutor is more than a simple, ?Correct.?  He uses elaborated 
positive feedback to show the student the answers she has provided are a ?great list? 
which they can use to continue their discussion of the magazine. 
 Later in the conference, the tutor asks the student what kind of ?self? Cosmo Girl 
magazine is targeting.  The student responds with a question, and the tutor provides 
elaborated feedback and reinforces her answer. 
Jackie: What?s a good word for ?outward appearance?? 
Tutor: Umm.  I mean, if you want to stick with outward appearance that?s, that?s 
fine for right now. 
In this move, the tutor accomplishes two different types of motivational scaffolding.  
First, the tutor gives the student positive feedback by saying ?That?s fine.?  But 
additionally, by restating the student?s response, ?outward appearance,? he reinforces that 
the response she provided is correct.  The tutor commented on Jackie?s confidence in his 
interview with the English Center coordinator.  He says, ?With her in particular, she is 
very self-conscious about her writing. . .So I?ll try to play an authority.?  He continues by 
discussing the previous brainstorming session he and Jackie had.  He said Jackie appears 
confident when they discuss concepts out loud, but she appears nervous to put them down 
on paper and convert them into an essay.  This feedback shows Jackie that the 
terminology she has selected is fine for now, because her concept is correct and she can 
change the word choice later. 
 In this conference, I did not find an example of the tutor using motivational 
scaffolding to acknowledge difficulty.  This may be because the tutor stated in his 
29 
 
interview with Dr. Thompson that he tried to establish himself as an authority to show 
that he ?know[s] what [he?s] talking about? and to help the students build confidence 
when they do something well. 
Question Asking 
 The tutor asks multiple questions throughout this writing center conference.  This 
may be due in part to the nature of the conference.  This conference is a brainstorming 
session, and Jackie came to the English Center to generate ideas for her essay.  The tutor 
uses questions to perform all three teaching strategies previously mentioned.  He also 
asks questions to gain information from the student.   
 Early in the conference, after the student has made a list of interests of Cosmo 
Girl readers, the tutor uses a question for the purpose of instructing the student. 
 Tutor: So let?s set that aside and talk about the magazine, just in general.  I mean  
it has a lot of, a lot of these (points to the student?s list), right? 
Here the tutor asks the student if the qualities of the magazine mimic the interests of the 
readership.  However, even though this comment is phrased as a question, the tutor 
instructs the student with this move.  He provides her with the answer; the magazine has 
a lot of the qualities from the student?s list. 
 Additionally, the tutor frequently uses questions to cognitively scaffold the 
student.  Often these questions are open-ended, but occasionally the question forced the 
student to make a choice.   
 Tutor: Umm, okay.  So what can you, based on all of that and based on  
30 
 
everything we?ve talked about so far, umm, what are, what are some 
things you could argue about?  
Here, the tutor, who has just recapped with Jackie the ideas they have discussed, asks 
?What are some things you could argue about??  This open-ended question allows Jackie 
to decide what argument she wants to make concerning Cosmo Girl and its readership.  
The tutor does not tell the student which argument she should make nor does he provide 
her with examples of possible arguments.  This open-ended question allows the tutor to 
scaffold Jackie?s learning so that she develops an argument herself. 
 The following cognitive scaffolding question forces Jackie to make a choice. 
 Tutor: So, you know, Cosmo Girl, if you were to kind of pick a particular kind of  
self, for lack of a better word, you know, you know, what part of ?you? 
are they, kind of, targeting? 
Before this question, the tutor has instructed the student about the different types of 
selves magazines might target.  He asks the student this question to force her to determine 
which type of self Cosmo Girl targets.  Again, this question is a cognitive scaffolding 
move because the tutor guides the student to make a decision on her own. 
 This tutor also asks questions to provide the student with positive and negative 
feedback.  Early in the conference he asks Jackie what is one the cover of Cosmo Girl 
magazine.  She replies the current issue features the start of a popular television show.  
The tutors responds to Jackie?s answer with motivational feedback in the form of a 
question. 
Tutor: So it uses celebrities from popular television shows, right? 
31 
 
This question reinforces Jackie?s response to the tutor?s question regarding the cover of 
the magazine.  By restating her point, the tutor confirms that Jackie?s answer is correct, 
although posing his response as a question allows Jackie to contradict him if he has an 
incorrect understanding.  This is particularly important at this point in the conference, 
because the tutor is still relying on Jackie?s knowledge of the magazine to control the 
conference, as he mentions in his interview. 
 Finally, the tutor uses questions to request information from the student.  Early in 
the conference the student says she wants to discuss Cosmo Girl for her essay. 
 Tutor: Now you?re going to have to help me with this.  I?m pretty familiar with  
Cosmo.  Is it pretty much the same? 
This question for Jackie is not intended to teach her anything or to guide her to a better 
understanding of the magazine or of her writing.  Instead, the question simply allows the 
tutor to gain understanding from the student.  In this case, he is requesting information 
about the magazine itself. 
 The tutor also uses questions to gather information regarding the student?s 
assignment.  Over the course of several minutes of the conference, the tutor asks Jackie 
multiple questions regarding the assignment.  He asks: ?Is this like the last assignment?;? 
?So, we?ve got to get three of four pages then?;? and ?Did the instructor give you, like, a 
prompt??  Again, these questions are not intended to scaffold the student?s learning or to 
instruct her in any way.  The tutor uses these questions to gain information from the 
student that will help him determine how to continue with their conference. 
 
32 
 
Discussion 
This study finds that one writing center tutor, like tutors in other fields, uses instruction, 
cognitive scaffolding, motivational scaffolding, and question asking during the course of 
a conference session.  The tutor uses all of these teaching techniques to help guide the 
student through the process of brainstorming ideas for her essay.  The tutor does not 
appear to follow any particular pattern,
3
 although he does use motivational scaffolding to 
inform Jackie of correct and incorrect responses.  The tutor uses cognitive scaffolding 
more frequently than direct instruction to guide the student through this conference.  The 
tutor?s use of cognitive scaffolding may be attributed to the type of conference he was 
holding, a brainstorming session; the tutor?s use of scaffolding may also be due to his 
experience as an educator and tutor.  Conducting a brainstorming session requires a 
different type of participation from the student.  Because the tutor does not have a text to 
look at, the tutor must engage the student in conversation about the topic.  For this 
particular conference, cognitive scaffolding appears to be an effective teaching strategy 
for the tutor because he is able to use open-ended and leading questions to gain the 
student?s responses to the assignment prompt.  The tutor often replies to Jackie?s 
responses with motivational feedback.   
Instruction is used in this conference only when the student seems unaware of 
where the tutor is leading her.  When the tutor asks Jackie a question and she looks 
unsure or even asks him what he means, the tutor responds with an instructional move, 
frequently using an example, to ensure the student?s understanding.  The frequency of 
                                                 
3
 Some studies indicate that experienced tutors sometimes follow a mini-script, a series of short 
instructions.  See Cromley and Azevedo, 88.  
33 
 
instructional moves increases towards the end of the conference.  The tutor uses cognitive 
scaffolding to break the student?s task into smaller pieces?discussing the audience, the 
cover, the advertisements?and to question her about the assignment prompts.  However, 
once they have covered those ideas, the tutor uses instruction to explain the connection 
between the subtasks.  In his interview, he says, ?I?m trying to explain those things, those 
promises of the magazine, but also how the expectations (create those promises).?  He 
also mentions that the student?s familiarity with the magazine was beneficial until they 
began discussing the promises.  He believes Jackie had trouble stepping away from the 
situation since she reads the magazine regularly.  These comments may explain why the 
tutor use instructional moves more frequently near the end of the conference than he did 
at the beginning. 
Implications 
While these findings certainly cannot be generalized to apply to every tutor in 
every writing center, the paucity of research on teaching strategies in writing centers 
should be addressed.  Future research can look at one tutor?s teaching strategies in a 
variety of conferences, including conferences which address different types of writing 
problems: brainstorming, organizing, making global changes, and revising surface errors.  
Researchers can look at multiple tutors to determine if only a few or if most writing 
center tutors use these strategies.  Additionally, researchers can examine tutor and student 
satisfaction with these teaching strategies; do tutors or students prefer one type of 
strategy over another?  The effectiveness of tutoring the writing process is difficult to 
34 
 
quantify, however, research concerning the effectiveness of these strategies could be 
beneficial to the future of writing centers as well.   
Research can also consider if writing center coordinators should train tutors in the 
teaching strategies of instruction, cognitive scaffolding and motivational scaffolding.  
While it seems that tutors should be aware not only of how to conduct a conference in 
terms of setting an agenda and being a good listener, but also in how to employ teaching 
strategies to help students learn more about their writing and their writing processes, 
writing center research has not addressed this issue.  While these strategies may emerge 
as the tutor gains experience in the writing center, the earlier we equip our tutors with 
methods to assist students, the more effective they will become.   
 Training tutors in the teaching strategies of cognitive and motivational scaffolding 
also shows tutors how they can be directive without simply providing answers to 
students.  When a tutor uses a cognitive scaffolding movement to guide a student to a 
response, the tutor has not given the student the correct answer, but he has helped lead the 
student to a solution.  Additionally, writing is individual. If we, as tutors, want students to 
find their own voices and write for themselves, we must allow them to discover answers 
on their own, even if they are not the answers we might have chosen. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
35 
 
Works Cited 
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Singley, Carol J. and Holly W. Boucher. ?Dialogue in Tutor Training: Creating the  
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22.  
The St. Martin?s Sourcebook for Writing Tutors. 2
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Appendix A 
Conference Transcript 
Tutor: Okay, so we are brainstorming today, right? 
Jackie: Yes, here is the assignment.  Umm. 
Tutor: Okay.  So you?re analyzing an entire magazine? 
Jackie: Basically, umm, I don?t know.  I probably should just use Cosmo Girl. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: As my magazine that I?m going to use.  And basically you can use one of the  
three (references assignment sheet) and I found audience to be probably the 
easiest one to talk about. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: And I just haven?t even started it, obviously.  And I just don?t know how to bring  
it, you know, like having this sort of outline and trying to come up with a thesis  
statement for it. 
Tutor: Okay, now here it says (reading from assignment sheet), ?Ask yourself how all of  
these elements work together to influence your decision? (when purchasing a 
magazine).  So are you supposed to talk about all of these? 
Jackie: No, just one. 
Tutor: Okay, just one.  Okay, so you?re thinking about audience, right?  And we?re. . .  
Cosmo Girl? 
Jackie: Yeah, sure. 
Tutor: Right, okay.  Alright.  Now you?re going to have to help me with this.  I?m pretty  
39 
 
familiar with Cosmo.  Is it pretty much the same? 
Jackie: Yeah, just not as mature. 
Tutor: Okay.  Okay.  So let?s start off.  Have you answered these questions yet (refers to  
a list of prompts on the assignment sheet)? 
Jackie: No, but I mean, I know them. 
Tutor: Okay, alright.  So who reads the magazine? 
Jackie: Of course teen readers. 
Tutor: Teenagers, okay. 
Jackie: So like teenagers.  And then probably just like females.  So it?s not really for  
adults or anything.  It has to do with, like, celebrity gossip. 
Tutor: Okay.  Okay.  So maybe we could even make a list of everything we know about  
their target audience. 
Jackie: Umm, so teenagers. 
Tutor: Yeah.  You said female. 
Jackie: Discuss gossip. . . celebrities. 
Tutor: What else?  I mean what kind of traits or whatever does the average Cosmo Girl  
reader have?  I mean, what would they all have in common? 
Jackie: Umm, I guess popularity. . . probably money. 
Tutor: Okay, so it?s upper class? 
Jackie: I would think so, just because it?s like. . . I mean you have to have a subscription. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: I mean. . . right? 
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Tutor: Yeah, well, yeah.  And a subscription is even a cheaper way to go cause, I mean,  
if you bought it off the shelf it would be more. 
Jackie: Yeah, okay.  Umm. 
Tutor: And what are their, what are their interests? 
Jackie: I would say really girly. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: Like probably like a cheerleader. 
Jackie: I just wasn?t really sure how I was going to like, if I was just going to introduce  
the magazine or what the magazine holds, or, like, when you?re talking about like  
the people that would be most likely to read it, or. . . I just wasn?t sure how to get.  
. . 
Tutor: Well, why don?t we finish this.  We?ll kind of do people and then also do the  
magazine. . . and then we?ll compare them.  
Tutor: So what else, I mean. . . What kind of things are Cosmo readers interested in or  
interested in reading about?  I mean, basically if they?re going to go buy the 
magazine off the shelf, what?s in it. . . 
Jackie: Probably like the latest fashions. . . 
Tutor: Okay. Alright, so they?re probably fashion conscious, right. 
Jackie: Let?s see.  Fashions and trends.  Umm.  They usually have, like, a lot of tips on  
exercising.  How to dress for less.  Celebrity fashion looks, I guess.  
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: I don?t know.  True or rumor. 
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Tutor: Say that again? 
Jackie: True or rumor thing. 
Tutor: Oh, true or rumor.  Okay. 
Jackie: Embarrassing moments.  CDs. 
Tutor: Okay, music trends. 
Jackie: I?m not sure what else. 
Tutor: Okay.  Well, I mean, I think that?s a great list that we can get started with.  Okay.   
So, let?s set that aside and talk about the magazine, just in general.  I mean, it has  
a lot of, a lot of these (points to her list), right?  Okay, so, uh based on that, you 
know, what kind of. . . Well, let?s start with the cover. 
Jackie: Okay. 
Tutor: What?s the cover going to promise to the reader? 
Jackie: I should have brought the magazine. 
Tutor: Yeah, well maybe next time you can.  Why don?t you do that next time? 
Jackie: I?m coming in for a different issue next time. 
Tutor: Oh, okay. 
Jackie: I can bring it the next next time.  I can do that. 
Tutor: So, what?s on the cover? 
Jackie: Well, in this issue. . . Do you watch The Hills? 
Tutor: Uh-uh 
Jackie: Well, it?s basically one of the stars of the show who everyone hates is on this  
cover. 
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Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: Of the particular magazine I actually have. Umm. 
Tutor: So, it uses celebrities from popular television shows, right? 
Jackie: Mm-hmm. 
Tutor: Okay,  Alright, and then when I?m thinking of Cosmo they always have these  
different texts (makes hand motion to outline magazine). 
Jackie: Normally it?s like some type of interview with the celebrity.  Kind of like,  
?What?s up with this celebrity?  I guess, like, you know, like, ?100 pairs of pants 
to buy? 
Tutor: Okay, yeah.  So fashion tips, which I think you wrote down.  I mean, you can  
write it down again.  Trends and tips, yeah. 
Jackie: Yeah, basically ?100 places to vacation for less than $1000? 
Tutor: Okay, so it seems very fashion conscious, right? 
Jackie: Oh, and it?s kind of seasonal. 
Tutor: Seasonal, okay, seasonal. 
Jackie: Yeah, I remember seeing little crafts that they?d have in it that you could like do  
for your friends.  It?s basically a middle school magazine. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: So probably for ages 13 to 16 would probably read it. 
Tutor: Okay.  So now you can kind of start to see, based on your list of kind of the  
average Cosmo reader, not necessarily you, but just the average Cosmo reader,  
what their kind of interests are and how the magazine. . . I mean they kind of  
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work hand in hand, right?  You know, so the reader is fashion conscious and  
maybe money conscious and, you know, the magazine can go ahead and promote  
that. 
Jackie: Yeah.  And also with these, too. (pointing to list) 
Tutor: Okay. Yeah. Alright. Good.  So they?re very, kind of, hip to culture, very hip to  
what?s going on, kind of in those scenes. 
Jackie: Culture.  That?s a good word. 
Tutor: Umm, what about the advertisements.  Tell me about the advertisements.  
Jackie: They have like perfumes. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: Let me put that (on my list).  Fashion lines. 
Tutor: Does it have makeup?  Cosmo Girl? 
Jackie: Yeah, makeup!  I didn?t even think about that.  Makeup and products.  Umm,  
what else if girly? 
Tutor: OK, so if we were to talk about those in our advertisement and things like that,  
what you have is. . . with exercising, it?s very body-conscious, very fashion- 
conscious, very money-conscious.  Umm, those things seem to be very, the  
magazine, again not you, but the magazine kind of promotes this outward focus  
on outward appearance.  Would you agree? 
Jackie: I would.  It?s not very, yeah.  Like, when you mention that, it?s not really like  
?How to Boost Your Self-Esteem.?  It?s like 
Tutor: Yeah. 
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Jackie: ?How to Look Like a Celebrity.? Umm.  ?Macy?s Bag 20% Off.? 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: That kind of stuff. 
Tutor: Alright.  And then so coming back to this question, now I realize we?re focused  
on this, but some of these kind of go hand in hand, you know like what kind of 
lifestyle does that. . . 
Jackie: I would go with preppy. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: Very preppy, hip, trendy. 
Tutor: Okay and here it (refers to assignment sheet) asks you what is visible, what is  
invisible.  And you can talk about self-esteem issues that are invisible, right? 
Jackie: Mm-hmm.  I guess like up here (refers to assignment sheet) it talks about the 
language, you know, umm, slang. 
Tutor: Yeah, but, yeah.  I think it?s a certain kind of slang, too.  It?s not, you know, inner  
city slang; it?s this preppy, up-to-date, I?m trendy slang.  So then if you start to  
put these things, kind of, together, we see how (referencing the assignment sheet) 
they determine how they shape the expectation of the consumer and how these all 
work together.  Do you see how they, I mean, it kind of goes hand in hand.  
Obviously if you?re a magazine, you want to appeal to your target audience, 
right?  And, you know, your target audience you have to, kind of, reflect, right, 
otherwise you lose your audience. 
Jackie: Yeah. 
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Tutor: You know.  But it, but it can appeal. . .  I?m sorry; I was letting you write. 
Jackie: Oh, no.  That?s fine. 
Tutor: It appeals to people who have this lifestyle, right?  At the same time it kind of  
encourages that lifestyle, too.  Does that make sense? 
Jackie: Yeah. 
Tutor: Okay.  Umm, so then the question, you know, the next question would be, how  
does it go about that? 
Jackie: Wait.  How does it go about what? 
Tutor: How does it go about reflecting this lifestyle, but then also encouraging that  
lifestyle? 
Jackie: I?m not really sure.  I think it, I think you honestly need to have like a lot of time  
on your hands. 
Tutor: (laughs) Okay. 
Jackie: I think. . .  Let?s say you?re in that popular crowd where, like, all of your friends  
are like cheerleading and sports and then you?re just like ?Hmm, I guess I?ll  
watch E News tonight.? 
Tutor: Okay 
Jackie: I guess. 
Tutor: No, that makes sense.  Yeah.  Okay, does this help you kind of get started? 
Jackie: Yeah, I just wasn?t sure, like, how to , how to, you know, like, to, you know, start  
mentioning it, like, in my paper.  Should I. . . 
Tutor: Okay. 
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Jackie: Should I, I mean, I don?t know really what to start out talking about first, like, do 
. . .  I introduce what the magazine is and then move on to what it looks like and 
then what it has contained in it or. . . 
Tutor: Well, first tell me, kind of, about this assignment.  Is this like the last assignment?   
Where you only had to write, like, a page on the one issue and then your longer 
paper was. . . 
Jackie: No, this is just one paper. 
Tutor: This is, okay.  So we?ve got to get three to four pages then?  Okay.  Umm.  Okay,  
so you?ll, you?ll (reading from assignment sheet) ?form a focused, analytical and  
organized argument about this magazine.?  Okay, so what do we know?  What 
can you tell us?  Ok, what can you tell the reader about this magazine? 
Jackie: Umm, let?s see.  I basically can tell my reader a lot about current, current  
celebrities and what they?re doing, current fashions and what, what designer to 
wear. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: Umm, latest gossip.  Who?s pregnant, who?s not pregnant.  Who got a DUI last  
weekend.  Paris Hilton. 
Tutor: Again. (laughs).  Umm, okay.  So what can you, based on all of that and based on  
everything we?ve talked about so far, umm, what are, what are some things you 
could argue about? 
Jackie: I?m not sure. 
Tutor: Okay.  No, and that?s fine.  I?m trying to think. . . I?m trying to look to see if. . . 
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Jackie: I just don?t know what, I?m not really sure what my argument would be.  You  
know, if I?m arguing that the audience is going to be a certain age, or if I?m going 
to argue that, what would bring someone to want to look at this magazine, or. . . 
Tutor: Okay, umm. (reads assignment sheet)  I was just reading here to see if, like, they  
kind of give you. . .  Did the instructor give you, like, a prompt?  You know or 
some kind of direction or is it just kind of. . . 
Jackie: (points at assignment sheet) 
Tutor: Okay.  This is. . . okay.  I just wasn?t sure if there was another handout or  
anything on the board in class. 
Jackie: No. 
Tutor: Okay (read assignment sheet again)  Okay, so some of these things, umm, some  
of these things could make good, good prompts.  I?m not sure which would make 
better prompts for your, you know, for Cosmo Girl.  Umm.  (reads the following 
phrases and questions off the assignment sheet) ?cultural myths or stereotypes are 
implicit?  ?What is the world view that you observe??  Umm.  ?How do you fit 
into this world view??  ?Who created these products??  ?What self are the creators 
trying to promote??  Right, that might be, that might be interesting there.  Umm.  
?Are the creators successful who created these products??  Umm. 
Jackie: I?d imagine.  Because it says ?Girl.? 
Tutor: Okay.  Yeah.  Okay.  Well, I like this (points at assignment sheet prompt, ?What  
self are the creators trying to promote??) because you had mentioned, you know, 
that it doesn?t talk about self-esteem, but it kind of talks about these outward, you 
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know, issues.  So, you know, you know, which self are these creators trying to 
promote?  So if you, you know, what kind of person. . . Umm, you know, if you 
want to think about these, you know, if you think about yourself, as you know, 
you have kind of these multiple selves, right? 
Jackie: Yeah. 
Tutor: Where, you know, you kind of have this, kind of, outward self.  You have, you  
know, this kind of inward self that deals with, you know, emotions.  You know, 
you?ve got another inward self that deals with intellectual issues, you know.  And 
so if you want to think about it, different magazines kind of target different 
aspects of that.  Like Oprah magazine draws real heavily on emotions.  Where, 
like umm, Popular Mechanics or, umm, Discover magazine deals with, kind of, 
intellect and science, right?  So, you know, Cosmo Girl, if you were to kind of 
pick a particular kind of self, for lack of a better word, you know, you know, what 
part of ?you? are they, kind of, targeting? 
Jackie: What?s a good word for ?outward appearance?? 
Tutor: Umm.  I mean, if you want to stick with outward appearance that?s, that?s fine for  
right now.  One word that, that comes to mind for me is ?superficial,? which 
literally means ?on the surface,? but it kind of has a negative connotation to it, 
too. 
Jackie: That?s what I would. . . just cause, I mean, girls at that age are, you know, going  
49 
 
through that hormonal phase and, you know, ?I need to be in the ?in? crowd.?  ?I 
need to look my best at all times.?  ?I need to have the hottest purse.?  To get the 
social attention. 
Tutor: Okay, yeah.  Umm, that?s good.  Why don?t we start on a separate piece of paper,  
and you can start to think in those directions.  So if you were to, you know, if you 
were to say ?Cosmo Girl targets. . .? what? 
Jackie: So, targets the superficial young teenager? 
Tutor: Sure, yeah. 
Jackie: Superficial young teenager.  I need to argue that. . . targets the superficial young  
teenager because the magazine focuses on how to be pretty on the inside but not 
on the inside, I mean, be pretty on the outside. 
Tutor; On the outside, right.  Okay. 
Jackie: Should it be. . . I guess that would work.  ?To be pretty??  Is that? 
Tutor: I mean, for right now, yeah.  I mean you can. . . 
Jackie: To be pretty 
Tutor: Right now as far as a working thesis goes. 
Jackie: On the outside but not on the inside.  Cause beauty is only skin deep. 
Tutor: Okay, so by, by doing that, what are they leaving out again?  You?ve said, we?ve  
said the same things before.  It leaves out what kind of things? (points to her 
notes)  The inside.  It?s inside beauty issues, right?  Okay, so according to the 
magazine, what?s more important? 
Jackie: Umm, being trendy? 
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Tutor: Right.  yeah, you know, or even, yeah, I mean, being pretty and fashionable and,  
does that make sense? 
Jackie: Mm-hmm. 
Tutor: Okay, so if we were to keep that in mind, you know, and that, kind of, as our, as  
our working thesis, umm, do you, do you have to. . . okay.  I see the rough draft is 
due Tuesday, October 30th.  Umm, do you turn in, like, your thesis ahead of time?  
Do you talk to your professor about it? 
Jackie: No, but I?m going to try to go by her office. 
Tutor: Okay. 
Jackie: And talk with her. 
Tutor: Yeah. 
Jackie: I?ll probably, when I go home this weekend I?ll probably just, just start typing and  
then just go from there. 
Tutor: Okay.  So if you want to think about, umm, organization in the future, you know,  
what you can do is, I mean, (points at her notes) how do they target, you know, 
what, what do they include?  You know, how do they, do they target these areas?  
And what do they exclude? 
Jackie: Okay. 
Tutor: You know, these things like this.  What?s there and what?s not there on the page.   
And that might be a good way to, to organize. 
Jackie: Okay. 
Tutor: And then after that, you can even think about, you know, what does that do to the  
51 
 
reader?  Does that make sense? 
Jackie: Mm-hmm. 
Tutor: Okay.  Well, what do you think?  Is that enough to get you started? 
Jackie: I think so, yeah. 
Tutor: Okay.  Any other concerns? 
Jackie: Umm.  Yes and no.  Next Wednesday I, umm, well actually this Friday I have a  
conference with her, like.  You know I told you I got a D on my first paper? 
Tutor: Mm-hmm. 
Jackie: Well like, like if you have a conference with her and then retype it, you know,  
revisionalize it and all that, and turn it in, she?ll grade that one and average the 
two.  So next Wednesday I wanted to come in and talk to you about that.  See if, 
like, I?m on the right track with what she was wanting to do.  And then I guess 
you can just like read over what I attempted to write. 
Tutor: Yeah. 
Jackie: If that?ll be okay. 
Tutor: Yeah, and then maybe between now and then you might want to run that thesis,  
run that thesis by her also. 
Jackie: Okay. 
Tutor: Sounds like a good plan.