Investigating Writing Center Report Form Efficacy

Alumni Boardroom

Session report forms are undoubtedly an important source of information for writing centers, but are they actually completing the function set out for them by writing center directors? This study investigates whether or not the session report forms collected at a specific university writing center are effective in transmitting information about the sessions to their primary audience, the student’s instructors. The researchers conducted a survey of instructors in order to develop training for the peer consultants who work at the writing center. After three weeks, report forms were collected and analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the training and whether or not the form needed to be modified in order to better serve the primary audience. Finally, the researchers conducted an interview with three writing center directors in order to determine the best approach to modifying the report forms to better suit their purpose.