MENAWCA 2009: Resource Archive

Learning Circles: A Tool for Group Tutorial
Paula Hayden, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar
Many students have difficulty completing a written assignment simply because they do not understand the written material associated with it. A learning circle is a strategy to help small groups understand and reflect on written material they may wish to reference in a written assignment or presentation. Please find attached the handouts for use in your session/class.  Feel free to use, adapt, or discard as needed!  

Strategies to Encourage Student Use of Writing Centers: The College of the North Atlantic-Qatar Experience
Michael Long, College of the North Atlantic-Qatar
Contains a power point presentation.

Using Concordance Software
Jan Cambrensis, UGRU, UAE University, JCambrensis@uaeu.ac.ae
At this session, participants were introduced to a program that teachers can use with their own corpora to make  pertinent materials for students. An example of such materials can be found at UGRU/UAEU Concordance.  Jan is the Editor of the UGRU Concordance, for which the rationale can be read on the homepage by clicking on  the 'Rationale' link.  The software used can be downloaded to PCs from www.concordancesoftware.com for a 30 day free trial. UAEU has a site licence for perpetual use.  

Building a website for learners from available resources
Robert L. Fielding, United Arab Emirates University (UGRU)  RobertF@uaeu.ac.ae
Resources available to creators of websites are always going to be limited (particularly in education).  Visit these two websites to see several ways of coping with such limitations and still provide users what they need.   Mission statement: That no student be prevented from using the site because of his or her limited abilities in either English or IT, and that the material provided on the site supplements more conventional learning rather than trying to replace it.
UAEU Writing Centre website - http://www.ugr.uaeu.ac.ae/writing_centre/index.shtml
Personal website - www.rlfielding.com

The Creative Writing Center
Autumn Watts, Writing Center Coordinator,Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar
"With this workshop, I aim to  blur the distinction between "academic" and "creative" writing in the Writing Center, and share some exercises I've used to help students enrich their language and their enjoyment of it."
Contains power point presentation.

Starting a Writing Center Wherever You Are:
KEEPING TRACK OF DATA: WHY, HOW, WHAT NEXT?

N. Jean Hodges, VCUQatar Writing Center Instructor
In 2004 new Writing Center Instructor Jean Hodges inherited little for running the Writing Center at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQatar). This presentation examined why record-keeping is important; explained the manual system of forms, software, and reports that has been evolving at VCUQatar from 2004 to the present; and identified benefits from record-keeping. The purpose of the presentation was to convince attendees that record-keeping, regardless of what system is used, is a necessary and important part of Writing Center work.
Contains a .pdf of a power point presentation in "View/Notes Page" format so that you can see the presentation notes and explanations along with the slides.

A 12-step Discovery Program
Bevin Roue, Emirates College for Advanced Education, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Email: broue@ecae.ac.ae
A 12-step Discovery Program looks at the richness of writing center start-up in the Middle East and offers steps for discovering how to begin, rather than simply telling how to begin. Contains a handout and power point slides.

Living on Tutor Time   (Part 2)
Liticia Salter, Texas A&M University - Qatar
This presentation presents the value of an effective time-management system and reviews the experience of finding a workable appointment and record-keeping system for the writing center on the campus of Texas A&M University at Qatar. Contains a power point featuring audio interviews with two TAMUQ writing consultants.

Overcoming Challenges in a Middle-Eastern Writing Center
Maria Eleftheriou (Director of the AUS Writing Center)
Tutors:  Samihah S. Zaman, Farhaana Ismail, Ljubisa Djordjevic, Raghad Tayeh, Celine George
American University of Sharjah, meleftheriou@aus.edu
Our presentation focused on the challenges experienced by writing center consultants when working with ESL students at the American University of Sharjah. A powerpoint presentation is included here.

Establishing a Tutor Training Program in the Absence of Region-Specific Literature
Lynne Ronesi, American University of Sharjah, lronesi@aus.edu
MENAWCA peer-tutor trainers have access to American tutor training literature but must develop training programs that address their unique local needs.  This presentation demonstrated how a student-centered approach�active inquiry, reflection, and experiential learning�has fashioned a training curriculum that supports American University of Sharjah�s multilingual student body.

UAEU Men's Campus Writing Center: A Tour
Jennie Murray, Saif Awadh, Mariam Meqbali, Musa Rahim Gul, Seira Ben-Ammar
email: jenniem@uaeu.ac.ae or jenniemurray2001@yahoo.com
Jennie Murray, the supervisor, two tutors from the men's writing center and one tutor from the women's writing center, along with a former tutor who is now teaching English in secondary school, showed how this writing center is run on a daily basis and the challenges therein, how we work in English and Arabic, what other student projects we run besides writing consulting and how we are expanding across our campuses and into the hostels.