Identifying Tutor Teaching Strategies: A Case Study of Questioning, Scaffolding and Instruction in the English Center

Abstract

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.