UNews - Writing Centre

Grad students get a leg up with new English class

trevor.kenney — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:08:03 +0000

Undertaking a master's degree can be daunting for anyone. Not only does it involve extensive research, it requires a great deal of writing – something that's a challenge for many students. Now try doing it in another language.

For international students studying at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge, working on a master's thesis can be especially difficult. This summer, a group of 10 international graduate students at the U of L received a little assistance by learning to organize, present and write about their ideas in new and effective ways. All the while, they gained additional insight on everything from finance and statistics to evaluating shards of ancient pottery.

Academic English for International Graduate Students ran for the first time this summer as a pilot project. This new class is designed to prepare international students for the challenge of writing literature reviews, theses and other materials throughout their graduate studies.

"The purpose of the class is to make the transition to graduate studies as easy as possible for international students," explains Eric Low, instructor of the course and consultant at the U of L's Writing Centre. "The idea is to orient them to the expectations of academic writing in a Canadian university and specifically at the U of L."

Students learn techniques for creating outlines, writing literature reviews, organizing and structuring their ideas and engaging in reader-based writing. They gain an understanding of writing styles and citation styles as well as techniques for thinking critically about their research topics. As much as possible, the class incorporates each student's individual needs while remaining broad enough to be relevant for all of the students.

"Eric asks us for feedback on our expectations and what we want to learn, and in turn he gives us feedback on what we need to work on," says Shengchen Huang, one of Low's students.

"The personalized approach is extremely helpful," adds Ghaderpour Ebrahim. "We can go to him anytime for one-on-one meetings."

The course's mandate stays true to the liberal education philosophy of the U of L by allowing students to broaden their minds into different fields of study.

"We have students in this class from a wide variety of disciplines – from math to archaeology to health sciences," says Low. "By discussing their research in class, they not only learn about different areas of research but also help each other see their research from different perspectives. They can also help each other challenge the constructs surrounding their research questions and hypotheses."

Indeed, the students learn much more than writing.

"We've gained skills in presentation and discussion, exchanged ideas and gained confidence," says Thabit Alomari. "We've also gained cross-cultural communication skills."

The students have formed a close group of friends, reveling in the opportunity to learn about each other's cultures as well as Canadian culture.

"This should be a central course for international graduate students," says Montserrat Villanuevo Barbolla. "Sometimes international graduate students can lose their way, and this class provides guidance."

Low agrees that the course is an important way to help international graduate students stay on track.

"This class is a first step in demonstrating to international graduate students that we care about their well-being, want them to succeed, and that they have access to resources here when they need them."

Library focussing on new ideas

trevor.kenney — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 21:40:40 +0000

By NICOLE EVA

If you tried to access the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library on May 4, you would have found the doors locked – and for good reason. Every year at this time, the library closes its doors for a one-day staff retreat. This year, the library administration team brought in speakers from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and Edmonton Public libraries to talk about new initiatives they have recently undertaken that may prove useful here at the U of L.

For example, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria underwent major renovations recently, turning the main floor of the McPherson Library into the C.W. Lui Learning Commons. The idea of a learning commons is one that is catching on in many academic libraries worldwide, as institutions try to better serve the needs of today's students.

For most, it means a change from a collection-centric model of the library to a more learning-centric model – making the library into a central hub of learning on campus. At Victoria, they created partnerships with several other campus units, such as the Writing Centre, Systems, the Teaching & Learning Centre, Career Services, Peer Help and other subject-specific tutoring services, giving them all space in the commons. It thereby makes the area a one-stop shop for students in need of any kind of help, be it research, technological or otherwise.

As well, a media commons was also developed, where students are able to borrow laptop computers, video cameras and other equipment in addition to using multimedia stations where they can create and edit audiovisual projects.

Meanwhile, the Edmonton Public Library (EPL) and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta (U of A) libraries have entered into a unique relationship whereby the EPL has established a satellite branch in one of the libraries on the U of A campus.

Called eplGO, the 1,500 square foot space houses approximately 8,000 high-use materials from the public library, including fiction and non-fiction books, DVDs and CDs which patrons can borrow using their existing U of A library card (on an opt-in basis). The branch has proven to be very popular and has seen high circulation numbers since opening in November 2008.

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta has also introduced an integrated service desk model. Rather than having separate reference and circulation desks, the U of A has opted to have one service desk, staffed by both librarians and technicians. This allows library users the ability to ask for research help and check out materials all in one location. It is a concept the U of A has been rolling out at all of its campus libraries and has been well received by students, staff and faculty.

The success of these initiatives provides interesting food for thought for our own operations, as we look to better serve our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community in the future.

Nicole Eva is a professional librarian in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library

Retreat helps generate ideas for library

trevor.kenney — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:47:12 +0000

If you tried to access the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library on May 4, you would have found the doors locked – and for good reason. Every year at this time, the library closes its doors for a one-day staff retreat. This year, the library administration team brought in speakers from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Victoria, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta and Edmonton Public libraries to talk about new initiatives they have recently undertaken that may prove useful here at the U of L.

The success of these initiatives provides interesting food for thought for our own operations, as we look to better serve our ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community in the future.

Nicole Eva is a professional librarian in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library

Finding the language of belonging

trevor.kenney — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:36:08 +0000

There's a language of belonging when entering an academic environment, and finding the key to unlocking that language is more difficult for some than others. Thankfully, there's a gatekeeper on hand to assist in the search.

Eric Low (BA '75) mans the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Writing Centre, a haven for those searching for guidance when trying to write in a language that, at times, can seem foreign.

"There's a misunderstanding that writing takes place alone. I don't know very many practicing writers who don't collaborate in some fashion," Low says. "Writing, by its nature, works well in a collaborative situation."

The Writing Centre is not a remedial centre and Low, along with Manager of Language Services, International Centre for Students, Jenine Hawryluk, is not there to simply edit papers. Instead, they offer an opportunity for students to vet their ideas and gain feedback on whether they are hitting the mark with their papers.

"A great deal of what we do here is listen and respond, at any stage of the process," Low says.

"We're here to encourage, to suggest, to diagnose problems or patterns and to make suggestions. It then all goes back to the student. After talking to us, it's the student's job to say, 'This is what I'm going to do.' "

Low's jack-of-all-trades background is extremely beneficial in the work he does with students. An English graduate, he also studied drama and eventually earned a master's degree in journalism from ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Western Ontario. At the U of L he has taught drama, English, English as a second language and academic writing, as well as some management and communications courses.

"That's one of the reasons I'm here, I have a varied background and very little astonishes me," he says.

An Ottawa, Ont. native, Low says the Writing Centre welcomes students at all stages of the writing process. Whether it's helping them with the first stage of unpacking an assignment and making sure they begin on the right path, to clarifying the organization of their ideas and then finally recognizing grammatical pitfalls, it's all a process to help students understand the forum within which they are now writing.

"Anytime a student begins feeling anxious to the point of being concerned about an assignment is the time to come in," Low says.

Students and faculty both profit from this collaboration. To that end, Low and Hawryluk encourage faculty to promote the Writing Centre to their students. Some even make it a requirement to visit the centre at least once during the writing process.

To better understand the needs of faculty, the Writing Centre is sending out an electronic survey that will ask faculty questions on style and formatting and just how they'd prefer their students to write.

GET THE FACTS

• The Writing Centre's survey for faculty should be sent out during the first week of classes.

• The Writing Centre is located in L1012 in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library. It's an ideal location and allows for collaboration between the centre and the librarians.

• Students can book 30-minute or 50-minute Writing Centre appointments online. The Writing Centre is also open for drop-in appointments Monday to Friday,
9 a.m. to noon, and Monday to Thursday, 1 to 4 p.m.

• For more information on the Writing Centre, visit the website at www.uleth.ca/ics/writingcentre

UNews - Writing Centre

Grad students get a leg up with new English class

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Library focussing on new ideas

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Retreat helps generate ideas for library

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