How did peer tutoring originate? Where did this idea come from? Bruffee
writes in his article that in the 1970's many students were not succeeding
in their college classroom environments, and were refusing help from campus
tutors and counselors because that help simply meant extra work for them.
"What they [college students in the `70's] needed, it seemed, was help
that was not an extension of but an alternative to traditional classroom
teaching. To provide that alternative some colleges turned to peer tutoring"
(Bruffee, 86). The idea of peer tutoring developed because of students'
need for aid in schoolwork, but reluctance to go to faculty for help.
Students feel comfortable going to other students
for help, especially within the context of the writing center. The University
of Michigan's writing center states part of the reason for the existence
of their peer tutoring program is that "students often feel more comfortable
talking about their writing with peers, many prefer tutors rather than faculty"
(Monroe and Rickly). This idea was confirmed in responses to my e-survey,
which showed that students tutoring other students increases the comfort
of the student writers. A sophomore at Rutgers University wrote that he
found his writing tutors helpful because "they were also students so
they still related to me and my work," (Bob Holmes, Engineering major)
as opposed to a professor who can be detached from the student. Another
sophomore and Geology major at Colgate University likes going to the writing
center because of the anonymity of the tutor, which prevents her from feeling
anxiety about having another person read her paper.
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