Introducing a new program from the Writing Centre.
Our pilot CHAT w/PT program (CHAT with a Peer Tutor) invites instructors to incorporate an appointment with a peer tutor into your course assignments. Peer tutor appointments offer an alternative to AI chatbots by providing GenHI: generative human interaction!
We know that peer tutors are an important bridge between student and faculty knowledge: many students are more willing to ask questions or admit lack of understanding to a fellow student than an instructor (Kovel, 2021; Abbot, Graf, & Chatfield (2018)).
We also know the lure to use AI chatbots for writing assignments is strong and omnipresent: talking through ideas with a peer tutor encourages students to trust their own thinking, gain confidence, and critically question when and how to use AI assistance.
Finally, research shows that help-seeking comes more easily to those who feel most empowered to ask for help, which may exclude many students most in need of support (Salem 2016). Building peer tutor appointments into course assignments ensures ALL students can access important supports.
How it will work
Email us to express interest with as many details about your assignment as you have (approximate deadline, genre, requirements – whatever you have ready).
We will work with you to determine where in the timeline it makes the most sense to schedule appointments, whether appointments should be for extra credit (recommended) or required, and how you want students to demonstrate that they have had an appointment.
You share the final version of your assignment brief before scheduled appointments begin. Optional: you can come work with a peer tutor to develop and finalize your assignment brief if you want student input.
We schedule additional appointments to meet student demand in the week(s) leading up to your deadline.
Students who attend appointments include proof of their appointment when they submit the assignment.
Works Cited
Abbot, Graf, & Chatfield (2018). Listening to undergraduate peer tutors: Roles, relationships, and challenges. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 30(2). 245-261.
Kovel, D. (2021, March 23). The benefits of peer tutoring and how to develop an effective program (opinion). Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs. Read more.
Salem, L. (2016). Decisions…Decisions: Who Chooses to Use the Writing Center? The Writing Center Journal, 35(2), 147–171. Read more.