Peer writing fellows support Colby College students

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a greater number of incoming college students have struggled with finding their footing academically in higher education. A September report by EAB found undergraduate students cannot keep up with the rigor of their courses and are struggling with reading, and more graduate students are seeking help for writing skills tutoring.

One opportunity to meet this skills gap is through tutoring. A May 2024 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found one-quarter of respondents (27 percent) believe if colleges and universities promote study groups or peer learning opportunities, it would increase their academic success.

A long-standing initiative at Colby College in Maine embeds writing-specific tutors into academic courses, working alongside faculty to ensure students are meeting expectations and thriving academically. The writing fellows program supports writing-intense courses across disciplines and provides a greater connection between the writing center and learners.

The research: Tutoring is a high-impact practice that can benefit students’ feelings of connection to their institution and advance their academic outcomes, but frequently students do not take advantage of the service.

Embedded tutoring brings the resource one degree closer to the student by designating a specific tutor to a credit-bearing course, which allows the tutor to contextualize general skills to the course content. Previous research shows that course-embedded peer writing support can result in mentorship for incoming students and teaches the tutor how to engage in collaborative learning and promote growth mindsets.

How it works: Similar to many colleges, Colby has a writing center that employs peer writing tutors to assist students with their writing processes. Since 2009, the center has hired writing fellows who go a step beyond and are assigned to a particular course, supporting faculty and students in a more targeted manner.

Faculty members can request a writing fellow for any writing-intensive course or first-year seminar (called W1s at Colby) they may be teaching. Depending on the nature of the course, students hold varying job responsibilities such as leading in-class review sessions on writing-related topics, providing feedback on lab reports or advising students with their group writing projects.

The center hires between 15 to 20 students as fellows each term, and fellows work up to six hours per week both in the classroom and for drop-in or by-appointment meetings. To be considered to be a tutor, students don’t have to belong to a particular major, but they must complete a four-credit, semester-long training course that covers both pedagogy and technical elements of tutoring.

“They study the history of writing centers, analyze videos of actual tutoring sessions, and practice tutoring,” according to a college release. “Students also learn how to use the Socratic method with the students they’ll tutor, which fosters critical thinking by asking questions and carefully listening.”

Tutors learn to write across disciplines, such as lab reports, case studies, application essays and response writing, to be able to effectively serve any learner who may need help.

The why: The program accomplishes several student success goals, first and foremost helping students be more confident and competent in their writing.

By embedding writing fellows into courses, students are also more aware of other opportunities for peer learning and writing services offered by the college.

Faculty are encouraged to partner with their writing fellow, sharing materials, introducing them to the students and collecting the fellow’s report of student feedback on course assignments after major assignments.

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