Changes in W131 class force writing services to adapt

Roughly 2,000 freshmen and sophomores take the Elementary Composition, Eng-W131, course each semester. However, due to changes in this high demand course, IU’s Writing Tutorial Services have had to revamp their tutoring techniques to keep up.

WTS, which is part of the Campus Writing Program, provides writing assistance and guidance to any area of education.

“The mission that WTS is meant to address is to serve any IU student in any class,” said Director of WTS Jo Ann Vogt, adding that the nearly 50 tutors employed by WTS come from all areas of study and are matched with students in
similar departments.

Vogt said the W131 course alone, which serves as a required course for many students, receives a large portion of WTS attention and services.

“About 30 percent of our students using Writing Tutorial Services are W131
students,” Vogt said.

This year there were a few slight changes made to the W131 curriculum, which Vogt said occurs every few years due to changes in staffing.

In order to adjust to the changes, WTS tutors received a two-hour training session to update them on the course differences.

Michael Lewis, a tutor of two years and graduate student studying English, said the changes are not major but make the class more feasible for students.

“There are fewer small writing assignments,” Lewis said. “There is also an emphasis that students should focus on the specific texts they are analyzing and not to make a larger statement than needed.”

Lewis said the class is still the same and has the same goals.

“It will affect us, but I don’t think it will shift how we interact with students,” Lewis said.

Despite the high popularity of this course, however, Vogt said the benefits and services offered by WTS falls under the radar for many students even though there are seven offices throughout campus.

“We often see juniors or those who have graduated that had no idea the Writing Tutorial Services even existed,” Vogt said.

Sophomore Kelsey Ray, who took W131 last year, was one of these students.

“I felt sometimes that the papers had no direction and were really broad,” Ray said. “My professor would have us turn the papers in early for him to revise, but he would just say what is wrong and not explain why, so I had to figure it out by myself.”

Vogt said WTS is striving to be more visible to students and is in the process of making a Facebook page.

“You’d think it’s almost impossible for students not to have run into us with our seven locations on campus,” Vogt said. “We’re trying to branch out and get the attention of more students.”