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Welcome to Writing and Learning Services at Huron!

We offer comprehensive support for students and faculty in writing, communication, subject-specific tutoring, and research. Our services include individual consultations, workshops, and resources to enhance academic success. The range of support we provide for students and faculty is vast, so if in doubt, ask us: we might be able to help! We also support students’ learning by providing Math, Business, and Economics tutoring. English Language Learning is another area in which we provide expertise. Whether you speak English as a first or additional language, we can help you improve your mastery of it. Book one-on-one tutoring sessions and take advantage of all that is available to you.

Having someone to go over your draft paper and provide feedback, speaking with a Math specialist and doing some Math problems under an expert’s supervision, and planning your research and thinking about a topic are some of the reasons you want to book an appointment with one of the tutors.

In-Person Support

  • Book an appointment with a tutor for Writing and Communication, Math, Business and Economics, English Language Learning, or French. Use our online booking system.
  • Drop-in appointments are available for Writing and Communication at the Research Help Desk in the Library’s Commons.

Online Support

  • One-to-one and small group appointments are available online in both synchronous (live on Zoom with your tutor) and asynchronous (tutor reviews your paper independently during your appointment and returns it to you by email at the end of the time) formats.

If you have any questions about our programming, please reach out to the Manager, Writing and Learning Services, Matt Rahimian. We look forward to working with you!

Book a Writing and Learning Services Appointment

Please read before booking

Students: You can book up to two 45min sessions per week for tutor appointments.
If you require more support, please reach out to the Manager of Writing and Learning Services at matt.rahimian@uwo.ca.

Writing Services appointments are being offered in-person and virtually. We strongly recommend booking your session in advance.

Book an Appointment

What We Do

Writing and Learning Services is a teaching service. Our goal is to equip learners with the information, strategies, and resources to become stronger and more confident communicators. We provide assistance for study skills and writing. As a writing support, we step into the role of educated outside readers to give student, faculty, and staff a sense of how their work might be received by their intended audience. Please note that we are not a proofreading service.

What we will do:

  • Allow students to retain control and final decision-making authority over their own study plans and work.
  • Encourage students to think about their goals and priorities to create a balanced study plan.
  • Ask probing questions to help students think critically about their writing and how their audience might react to it.
  • Provide short lessons and/or resources to help students polish their writing on their own and learn more about the qualities of strong writing.
  • Use mind-mapping and outlining techniques to assist students with brainstorming.
  • Offer reader reactions in real time to a piece of communication.
  • Discuss conventions of different communication genres (essays, reflections, case studies, blogs, etc.).

What we will not do:

  • Guess a grade: the design and assessment of a class assignment is the purview of the faculty member(s) who developed it. While we can discuss general expectations around post-secondary writing, the student should discuss specific concerns or questions about grading with the instructor or TA of a given course. Our role is to sit in as an educated outside reader to give you a sense of how your intended audience might perceive your ideas and style.
  • Proofread/copy-edit: the goal of a session is not to find and fix every error while the student sits passively. Instead, we work strategically and collaboratively to highlight areas of strength and potential concerns and provide strategies and solutions for improving written communication over time.
  • Work from a computer screen: writing centre sessions are most useful and productive when working from a hard copy. Unless a student requires their laptop for accessibility purposes, or because they are working on a multimedia/digital project, we prefer a hard copy in order to help most efficiently.

 

For course content support, our tutors will work with students (individually or in groups) to help them understand key concepts related to their coursework. Strategies may include reviewing class materials (notes, textbook), completing practice exercises, or quizzing to help students prepare for upcoming assessments. Please note that content tutors will not complete homework for students.

Writing and Learning Services Programming

Writing and Learning Services is committed to serving Huron’s students, faculty, and staff in all of their writing, learning, and multimodal communication goals and to positioning Huron as a hub of communication excellence. Our suite of programming is designed to meet the varied needs of our community and to reinforce the importance of collaboration and ongoing learning in the development of individual authorial voices.

Writing and Communication Tutoring for Students
English Language Tutoring
Course Content Tutoring for Students
Services for Faculty

Appointments and Drop-In Consultations

45-minute appointments with one of our tutors can be made by booking online. Once you have booked your appointment, you will receive a confirmation email that includes the Zoom link.

Pre-booked appointments allow for a guaranteed time slot. Students may access up to two booked appointments a week, if availability exists. Drop-in appointments are ideal for quick questions or if you would like quick feedback on a short piece of writing. Please note that drop-ins are not guaranteed and depend on tutor availability.

Please note that it is nearly impossible to identify all areas for improvement in a single session; working with your tutor, you will identify the key issues for discussion and receive feedback and strategies for refining your work. If you would like in-depth support for a single assignment, It’s best to plan ahead and book a number of sessions.

Book an Appointment

Our Specialists

For students whose first or primary language is not English, we can offer specialized support to help them navigate the challenges of communication in English. We ensure our students receive all the communication support they need, whether written or oral.

Course Content Tutoring

Our content tutors will work with students, whether individually or in small groups, to help them enhance their understanding of key course concepts in the following courses/subject areas:

  • Math and Statistics
  • Economics
  • Business
  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • French

Our tutors have demonstrated themselves to have strong knowledge of course content in their areas. Our Math Specialists and tutors include a PhD and two undergraduate students. Our peer tutors for Business, Economics, Accounting, and Finance are upper-year Huron students with a strong record of academic achievement.

Book an Appointment

One-on-One Appointments

One-on-one 45-minute consultations are available to discuss and offer feedback on any aspect of your research/writing project, including project management, productive writing strategies, brainstorming, drafting, and revising.

Appointments for faculty are limited, so book early – email Matt Rahimian to discuss scheduling.

In-Class Support

Writing Services offers customized, integrated course support in order to help your students meet communication outcomes.

Previously offered workshops include writing literature reviews, public scholarship and knowledge translation, writing English essays, designing and delivering effective presentations, and writing in non-academic genres.

If you would like to discuss opportunities for collaboration and in-class writing and communication interventions, email  Matt Rahimian to discuss further.

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Helpful Information and Resources

How to Prepare for Your Appointment

In order to have the most productive session possible, please consider the following tips:

  1. For online appointments, make sure to log on a couple of minutes in advance so that your session can begin on time. If you are having connectivity issues, email your tutor to let them know that you are unable to access your session.
  2. If possible, make sure to have a copy of the assignment instructions/rubric/syllabus (digital or hard copy, depending on the appointment type), so that your tutor can look at the assignment expectations if needed.
  3. If your session is in person, arrive about five minutes before your scheduled start time. If possible, make sure to have a copy of the assignment instructions/rubric/syllabus (digital or hard copy, depending on the appointment type) so that your tutor can look at the assignment expectations if needed.
  4. Identify your key questions and concerns in advance.
  5. Come prepared to think, talk, and write! These sessions are teaching-based and collaborative, and the most successful ones include participation from both the tutor and the student.
Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How many appointments can I access a week?
A: Students can book up to two 45-minute appointments a week if spaces are available, and no more than one on the same day. If no appointments are available, you can come to the Writing and Learning Services on the second floor of the library and ask if there are any appointment available. This does not guarantee you get an appointment, but we’ll try our best to help you. If a tutor is available to work with you on a drop-in basis, they will book you in the system.

Q: Can you proofread my paper?
A: Not exactly! We can look at grammar with you if it is a concern, but our goal is to focus on the most important areas for revision in any one session. When we work with you on grammar, you will likely have to do proofreading on your own outside of the session, but you’re welcome to come back for another session to see how your changes are working!

Q: Can I get feedback on my presentation?
A: Yes! Tutors will work with you at any stage of preparation, from brainstorming, to drafting, to practicing your talk, to developing your PowerPoint slides. We will work with students on any communication piece at any stage.

Q: I am worried or nervous about using Zoom. Is my tutorial recorded?
A: No. We will never record your sessions at Writing and Learning Services, and only you and your tutor will participate in your session. You also have the option of choosing between video, audio-only, and chat conversations with your tutor, so there is no requirement that your video be on. Asynchronous appointments are also available, in which you upload your work, and a tutor sends it back to you with written feedback at the end of the appointment time. However, live sessions offer more opportunities for you to ask questions and help the tutor focus their attention on particular concerns in your writing.

Q: I’m having trouble booking an appointment on Libcal – help!
A: We can help with that! If you’re new to Libcal and need support with booking a session, our Manager, User Services, Christina Caranci, or our Digital Scholarship Librarian, Ryan Rabie, are able to help!

Do you still have other questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out – we’re here to help!

Key Contacts