Brainstorming for Research Project

I am interested in researching:
How to identify who is high ability vs. low ability
When to use directive tutoring vs. non-directive tutoring
How to assess whether a session was helpful for a writer or not

Off the top of my head, I would think that higher level students, such as senior would have more ability than a new college student. I think that an ESL student would have less ability as a writer, since they are not used to the standards expected of writing in english, or for a particular domain. Even writing in a different domain than what one is used to for an english speaking writer may make someone's ability diminish. I believe I would need to study more about how to identify the differences between high ability and low ability writers, and possibly keep a checklist to determine this at the begining of a session.

I feel that there is nothing wrong with using directive tutoring if you notice that a writer is not responsive to minimalist tutoring. In my mind, minimalist tutoring falls in the same category as non-directive tutoring. Also, a tutor should definitely use directive tutoring if a writer needs help in a domain that you as the tutor are very familiar with. If someone needs help "correcting grammar", wouldn't it make for a successful session for an english major to help them directly with that? Maybe you could incorporate a little non-directive tutoring by saying things such as, "I found 6 typos...how about trying to identify and correct them now?" If the student needs further direction, you can show them how to locate tools to help, such as spell check, and let them do it on their own while you watch.

Finally, how do we determine if a session was successful or not? Maybe the tutor and writer can list what they feel goals should be at the begining of a session, and narrow them down to what they agree on. Then, the tutor can use a few minutes to write out a game plan for getting those goals accomplished during the session. This can be used as a checklist that at the end of the session will show just how many goals were accomplished. I'm a fan of using a rating system as well. This way, the tutor and writer can agree on whether a goal was completely satisfied, or just slightly. Finally, they can collaborate on ideas to get those goals accomplished more thoroughly during their next session.