Researching the Writing Center : Towards an Evidence-based Practice

Researching the Writing Center is the first book-length treatment of the research base for academic writing tutoring. The book reviews the current state of writing center scholarship, arguing that although practitioner-researchers continue to value anecdotal and experiential evidence, they must also appreciate empirical evidence as mediating theory and practice. Readers of this revised edition will discover an evidence-based orientation to research and be able to evaluate the current scholarship on recommended writing center practice. Chapters examine the research base for current theory and practice involving the contexts of tutoring, tutoring activities, and the tutoring of specific populations. Readers will investigate the sample research question "What is a ‘successful’ writing consultation?" Researching the Writing Center concludes with an agenda for future questions about writing center practice that can be researched empirically. This revised edition of the text is intended for writing center professionals, researchers, graduate students in English, composition studies, and education, and peer tutors in training. It is also suitable for courses in writing center theory and practice, learning center theory and practice, composition studies, education, and learning assistance.

Rebecca Day Babcock (Ph.D., Indiana University of Pennsylvania) is William and Ordelle Watts Professor and Chair, Literature and Languages Department, University of Texas of the Permian Basin. She is the author of two other books on writing center research, the co-editor of Writing Centers and Disability, and the winner of the 2012 IWCA outstanding article award.

Terese Thonus (Ph.D., Indiana University) is Professor and Director of the Writing Program, Klein Family School of Communications Design, University of Baltimore. She has published articles in writing center and applied linguistics journals.