The Writing Support Desk held a workshop for its tutors on 21 November in the group learning area of the Othmer Library.

The workshop's objective was tutoring skills and was attended by seven tutors and three members of the educational staff. It was led by Susan Edwards, a lecturer at Sophia University, who works with ICU as a tutor trainer to support implementation of the university's new "W-courses." The workshop focused on the graduate student tutors, who exchanged thoughts about the problems they face when tutoring undergraduates and the improvements they've tried to make.

The tutors used video recordings to analyze actual tutorials while Ms. Edwards offered advice on how to use the limited amount of time in each tutorial in a beneficial way. The participants put her advice to use in mock tutorials and offered one another feedback. They also discussed the nuances of graduate students encountering other students as tutors rather than classmates, exchanging ideas about the difficulties of that situation and the proper tone to take.

The tutors and educational staff members at the workshop commented that "the tutorial was a big help" and they were "able to have a lively exchange of information and experiences."

The Writing Support Desk started in the winter of 2010 in order to help ICU's undergraduate students write theses, essay and other papers. Graduate students serve as tutors and give advice about academic writing with the aim of helping the writer to improve his or her skills.

As part of its MEXT supported project to cultivate graduates with exceptional international skills, ICU has started classifying some courses as "W-courses." These are specialized courses taught in English that have a significant component devoted to improving students' academic research and writing skills. In addition to the professors leading these courses, WSD tutors also attend each class and work with the professor to help students write their papers.

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* Writing Support Desk (WSD)
ICU's Writing Support Desk was started in winter 2010 in order to help undergraduate students write their theses and other papers. WSD tutors are drawn from the ICU Graduate School. Tutors help students with an emphasis on their growth as writers.
** W-courses
ICU is starting a system to designate some specialized courses taught in English as "W-courses" ("writing courses"). These courses have a significant writing component and strive to improve students' academic research and writing skills. The courses' instructors help students with their writing but WSD tutors are also set up to give additional support. The tutors attend the W-courses' regular classes and work together with the instructor to support students when writing papers.