A Synthesis of Qualitative Studies of Writing Center Tutoring, 1983-2006

This book grew out of the desire and necessity to understand just what went on in writing center tutoring sessions. Utilizing previous research – mostly dissertations that have not been widely read – the authors analyze the available data using a grounded theory approach. With information from over 50 sources, the resulting text is not only a resource, but illuminates for the first time just what happens in writing center tutoring sessions. From their grounded theory analysis, the authors identify the dimensions impacting a tutoring session, such as personal characteristics, outside influences, communication, the emotions and temperament of the interlocutors, and the ultimate outcomes. An analytic conclusion ties the grounded theory data to other published research and theory.

Rebecca Day Babcock is Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, where she teaches writing and linguistics. Her writings have appeared in Writing Lab Newsletter, The Journal of College Reading and Learning, Linguistics and Education, and Composition Forum as well as several popular publications. She is the co-author (with Terese Thonus) of Researching the Writing Center: Towards an Evidence-Based Practice (Peter Lang, 2012), and winner of the 2011 International Writing Centers Association (IWCA) Outstanding Article Award.
Kellye Manning is Director of the Writing Center and Coordinator of Developmental English at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, where she also teaches writing. She frequently works as a freelance editor and copy editor on a variety of scholarly works, and currently serves as journal manager for The Social Science Journal.
Travis Rogers is a graduate of the University of North Texas, where he earned his MJ at the Frank and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism. While earning his BA in English and communication at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin, Rogers worked at the university Writing Center under Kellye Manning. In 2006, Rebecca Babcock and Manning recruited him to be a research assistant during the genesis of the project that would later evolve into this book. Rogers remained involved in the project, helping to present it at the 2008 IWCA conference, and later becoming the third co-author.