academic writing centres as tools for information literate ... · academic writing centres as tools...

Academic writing centres as tools for information literate students

Ane Landoy1, Angela Repanovici2, Silvia Ghinculov3 Natalia Cheradi3

1University of Bergen, Norway 2Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania 3Academy of Economic Studies, Chisinau, Moldova

ECIL, Oulu, 24-27 September 2018 P24: IL and Digital Empowerment 1

2 ECIL, Oulu, 24-27 September 2018

http://siu.no/eng/Programme-information/Cooperation-outside-the-EU/Eurasia-Programme

P24: IL and Digital Empowerment













https://newinformationservices.wordpress.com/





Academic writing centres - important tools for providing students with an education with higher quality

• Universities and their libraries utilize centres for academic writings as tools for enabling students to gain an education of higher quality.

• Academic writing centres come in many different forms and formats.


Best practices 5 ECIL, Oulu, 24-27 September 2018

Academic writing centre organisation in the academic world – a quick look

• The authors did a small study of organisation and other aspects of academic writing centres, by comparing information found on the universities’ websites.

• The information was gathered as part of the 2017 Summer school in the project “Modernisation of academic library services in Moldova – CPEA 2015/10014”, funded by The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• In the summer school, the participants were divided in groups. Each group was given a randomly selected couple of web-pages, from where they collected the relevant information: Who is responsible for the academic writing centre? How is it staffed? Where is it localised?

Norwegian University of Life sciences https://www.nmbu.no/en/students/writing

Purdue University https://owl.english.purdue.edu

The Writing Center of University Wisconsin-Madison www.writing.wisc.edu

NUI Galway OE Gaillimh www.library.nuigalway.ie/awc

Harvard College Writing Program https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/

Norwegian Business School, Master your studies, Oslo https://at.bi.no/EN/campus/oslo/master-your-studies-oslo

University of Oslo Library http://www.ub.uio.no/english/)

Center for Academic Writing, Central European University http://caw.ceu.edu/

University of York https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/develop-your-skills/study-skills/writing/

Centre for Academic Communication, University of Victoria Library https://uvic.mywconline.com/

The Academic Writing Centre at HSL, The Arctic University of Norway

https://uit.no/om/enhet/artikkel?p_document_id=313545&p_dimension_id=88147

The Writing Center at Zahnow Library, Saginaw Valley State University

http://www.svsu.edu/writingcenter/

The Writing Center at the University of Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters http://writingcenter.nd.edu/

The Writing Center at the Michigan State University http://writing.msu.edu/

Temple University Writing Center http://www.temple.edu/writingctr

Academic Writing Help Centre, University of Ottawa http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/en/writing

University of Twente Writing Centre https://www.utwente.nl/en/ces/tcp-language-centre/students/writing-centre/#writing-support

Dublin Institute of Technology Academic Writing Centre http://www.dit.ie/awc/

The UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center https://writingcenter.unc.edu/

Nijmegen Centre for Academic Writing, Radboud University http://www.ru.nl/asn/english/

https://www.nmbu.no/en/students/writing

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/

http://www.writing.wisc.edu/

http://www.writing.wisc.edu/

http://www.library.nuigalway.ie/awc

http://www.library.nuigalway.ie/awc

https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/

https://at.bi.no/EN/campus/oslo/master-your-studies-oslo







http://www.ub.uio.no/english/

http://caw.ceu.edu/

https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/develop-your-skills/study-skills/writing/







https://uvic.mywconline.com/



http://www.svsu.edu/writingcenter/

http://writingcenter.nd.edu/

http://writing.msu.edu/

http://www.temple.edu/writingctr

http://www.sass.uottawa.ca/en/writing

https://www.utwente.nl/en/ces/tcp-language-centre/students/writing-centre/









http://www.dit.ie/awc/

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/

http://www.ru.nl/asn/english/



• 8 of the writing centres that were looked at were from universities in the US, 4 were from Norway, 2 from Ireland, 2 from the Netherlands, 2 from Canada, one from the UK and one from Check Republic.

Is the writing centre organised under the library?

Does the writing centre have another kind of connection to the library?

Yes 4 9

No 16 7

Blank - 4

Organisation of the writing centre




• Only one of the writing centres was staffed singularly by librarians, 16 of the centres were staffed by other academics.

• In 3 centres the staffs was comprised of both librarians and others.

• Nine of the centres had student mentors as part of the services, where master students or Ph.D.-students contributed to tutoring or mentoring other students under the auspices of the centre.



The actuality of empirical research

• Library specialists studied the experience of Academic Writing Centres around the world, different in format and organization, with a diverse and rich experience, which encouraged them to organize similar structures in the universities they represent.

• These Academic Writing Centres, according to experts, can be organized by university libraries or other structures, placed in the library or outside it, and are staffed by librarians, scientists, undergraduates and other specialists.



The actuality of empirical research

• Academic Writing Centres for writing scientific texts are very necessary for university communities from Republic of Moldova. The system of academic writing will allow to gradually and effectively train future and current researchers to communicate with the international scientific community.

• The novelty of this topic leads to the need to implement an empiric research that will provide the necessary information for making effective management decisions for creating and operating Academic Writing Centres in Moldova.



Survey of Moldovan Academic Libraries

• The expediency of creating Academic Writing Centres will be determined in the framework of the study, which was conducted in May-June 2018 in university libraries of the Republic of Moldova.

• The instrument used for the survey is a questionnaire provided online by SurveyMonkey.

• An expert evaluation of 18 experts - directors of university libraries was realized.

• The purpose of the research is to determine the need for the services of the Academic Writing Centres in the scientific community of Moldova and the possibility of their creation in higher educational institutions of the country.



In the process of research the following tasks were solved:

• To identify the need for the creation of Academic Writing Centres in higher educational institutions of Moldova;

• The identification of readiness to create Centre’s and implement its services and the place of university libraries in this process;

• The diagnostics of resources, which the libraries have for the creation of the Academic Writing Centre;

• Analysis of the range of services that can be presented in the Academic Writing Centres of the country.



The following hypotheses were formulated:

• The creation of Academic Centres in Moldova's higher education institutions is necessary due to the increasing complexity of scientific production and the need to correspond with international standards in the field of scientific communication;

• Academic Writing Centres should be established in university libraries;

• Creation of Academic Writing Centres requires clear coordination and interaction of all structures of the university;

• Some Moldovan university libraries have sufficient human, technical and financial resources to implement such a project.



"Do you think there is a need to create academic writing centers in Moldovan universities?"

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Trainings on Information Literacy

Trainings and consultations on writing academic texts

Consultations on developing research skills

Assistance with quoting sources and refining bibliographic lists

Informing on publication in peer-reviewed scientific papers and injournals with impact factor



"What resources does the university library have for creation and operation of an academic writing center?"

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Information resources in support of scientific research

Collaborates with scientific departments

Collaborates with teachers

Trained personnel

Collaborates with native speakers of foreign languages



The evaluation scale

"How attractive is the idea of creating an academic writing center in your university library?“

The weighted average score was 3.52 out of 5.



The evaluation scale

"How relevant is the creation of academic writing centers in the country's universities?“

The weighted average score was 4.2 out of 5.



Recommendations of experts

• Informing and promoting the idea of creating Centers at all levels: from the state level to the level of master's and doctoral students.

• Clear coordination and interaction with the ministry, the administration of universities and the department for science.

• Development of a national strategy. Cooperation of academic writing centers in universities in the Republic of Moldova and other countries.

• Training of potential employees of Academic Centers, studying the international experience.



Recommendations of experts

• Well-thought-out management-marketing: Trainings on Information Literacy

Trainings and consultations on the writing of academic texts;

Consultancy on the development of research skills;

Assistance with quoting sources and editing bibliographic lists;

Training on forms and techniques for avoiding plagiarism;

Informing on publication in peer-reviewed scientific papers and in journals with impact factor;

Proof-reading services;

Proof-listening services;

Individual meetings (consultations on the bachelor's or master's thesis - what should be included in the paper, how to identify the resources on the subject, etc.);

Modular trainings on various topics related to academic writing and scientific research;

Tutorials aimed at the process of elaboration of scientific papers and articles;

Introduction of online courses for researchers.



Conclusions:

1. Academic Writing Center, through the services it provides, should propose to be a useful resource for both students and professors. Such services will help students to consistently articulate, define their research theme and research questions, structure their work and discourse logically, document themselves in order to carry out research, comply with the rules of academic honesty, etc.

2. It is necessary to clearly distinguish the Scientific Centers of the universities, their functions and the functions of the Academic Writing Centers. The creation in Moldova of the Center for Academic Writing, whose mission will be to improve the quality of scientific production and promote Moldovan science, is impossible without effective external support. Government support and grants from ministries would be a significant help in the creation of such centers.

3. A good idea may be the establishment of an inter-university Academic Center that will permit to save resources for its creation and unite specialists from various universities, including specialists on academic writing, this will also help to eliminate interdisciplinary and interdepartmental barriers.



Conclusions:

4. The academic writing centers will become a bridge between scientific traditions and new traditions of academic writing, which will bring new experience, new knowledge and new meanings to the work of the researcher. The ability to function effectively in an international academic environment will greatly enhance the competitiveness of scientists.

5. The libraries of the country can become a base for the creation of academic centers, which will allow optimizing the resources of universities, attracting library specialists in the field of information literacy and uniting specialists in the field of academic writing in the country.

6. The establishment of Academic Writing Centres will not only improve the efficiency and quality of scientific activities in the country, but will also help to overcome interdisciplinary and interdepartmental barriers and promote the widest and fastest dissemination of scientific knowledge.



References

1. Denchuk, A.: The role of language and academic literacy in the success of generation 1.5 students at two canadian universities (Order No. MR77333). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1022335734). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1022335734?accountid=8579 (2011)

2. Milewicz, E. J.: “But is it a library?” the contested meanings and changing culture of the academic library (Order No. 3360006). Available from ProQuest Central; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (305092448). Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/305092448?accountid=8579 (2009)

3. Neurohr, Karen A. First-generation undergraduate library users: Experiences and perceptions of the library as place. Available: https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/54583/Neurohr_okstate_0664D_15232.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y (2017)

4. Rienecker, Lotte. How to Start a University Writing Centre. Available: https://sisu.ut.ee/sites/default/files/writingnetwork/files/how_to_start_a_university_writing_centre.pdf

5. The Writing Center at UW-Madison: An Overview. Available: https://writing.wisc.edu/AboutUs/PDF/uwmadison_writing_center_overview_july2013.pdf

Acknowledgement

• CPEA-2015/10014, Modernization of academic library services in Moldova, Eurasia Program, The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs


https://search.proquest.com/docview/1022335734?accountid=8579

https://search.proquest.com/docview/305092448?accountid=8579

https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/54583/Neurohr_okstate_0664D_15232.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/54583/Neurohr_okstate_0664D_15232.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

https://sisu.ut.ee/sites/default/files/writingnetwork/files/how_to_start_a_university_writing_centre.pdf

https://writing.wisc.edu/AboutUs/PDF/uwmadison_writing_center_overview_july2013.pdf


Thank you for your attention!


academic writing centres as tools for information literate ... · academic writing centres as tools...

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