Also worth looking at the COWL project from Coventry University (JISC  
funded) where writing support staff have been experimenting with  
online writing tutorials - both synchronous and asynchronous.

Website is http://cuba.coventry.ac.uk/cowl/

Peter



Quoting Eloise Sentito <[log in to unmask]>:

> Thanks very much for this Kim, some helpful ideas, especially the  
> return comments boxes which we hadn't considered. I do empathise  
> with the Word comments boxes, your remark about requests for general  
> comments, and the measures to limit our advice.
>
> Emily Danvers, Sandra Sinfield and Pauline Ridley have also offered  
> helpful responses which they may want to share with everyone? Given  
> the encouragement and interest I may well post a pilot or something  
> on the list for feedback etc. - thanks!
>
> From: learning development in higher education network  
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kim Shahabudin
> Sent: 02 March 2010 16:30
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: email support service pragmatics
>
> Hi Eloise,
>
> I suspect this is an increasingly apposite question for many of us,  
> with more part-time and distance learning students, and students on  
> placements and studying abroad.
>
> We don't have a formal email advice service, but I often have  
> students asking for feedback via email. Our principle is that we  
> don't give email advice unless we have already seen the student for  
> a f2f meeting. Then I say that I am happy to look at a small section  
> of work provided the student tells me which section to look at and  
> what they want comments on. In practice, I often end up looking at  
> the whole piece if they send it to see if an error is just that or  
> symptomatic of a deeper misunderstanding, but I only comment on a  
> section. We never do proofreading, and if they ask for general  
> comments, I give them a general comment (something like "looks okay"  
> or "needs some work") and send it back saying would you not prefer  
> to let me know what you actually want feedback on?
>
> My personal feeling is that using the Comment function in Word tends  
> to produce more detailed comments than I want to give via email.  
> Perhaps a form with tick boxes for them to select what they wanted  
> comments on, and you to return comments in would help to limit the  
> extent of advice? I also ask them to send any instructions they have  
> had regarding word count, structure, referencing etc - and of course  
> the assignment brief or title (very often missing!).
>
> Thanks for getting me thinking about this - will be interested to  
> see what other people have to say!
>
> Kim
>
> ________________________________
> Dr Kim Shahabudin, Study Adviser & LearnHigher Research Officer
> Room 107, Carrington Building, Whiteknights, University of Reading,  
> RG6 6UA| * 0118 378 4218|
> *  
> www.reading.ac.uk/studyadvice<http://www.reading.ac.uk/studyadvice>  
> * www.learnhigher.ac.uk<http://www.learnhigher.ac.uk/>
>
> ________________________________
> From: learning development in higher education network on behalf of  
> Eloise Sentito
> Sent: Mon 01/03/2010 17:32
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: email support service pragmatics
> Hi all,
>
> At Plymouth we offer an LD email support service for quick queries  
> on any of our study skills topics (referencing's the most common)  
> and for feedback on 400-500 words of assignment-in-progress text. We  
> have agreed basic principles to do with autonomy, authorship,  
> workload and turnaround time (up to 1 week) for responding to these  
> requests in terms of roughly limiting the time we spend (up to 45  
> mins), the number of times we'll look at one assignment (roughly  
> twice) or at one students' work (a handful of times). We add  
> comments to their extract using the Word comments function, sum up  
> the issues in an accompanying email and return the annotated version  
> within a day or two.
>
> Take-up is increasing rapidly, which is great, but we need to  
> consider ways of making this more efficient, and especially ways of  
> encouraging students to really engage with the process rather than  
> simply attach a whole essay to their email with no contextual  
> information and simply ask for 'any comments' or 'proofreading'.
>
> We are considering the use of an automated submission form which  
> could not be submitted without all the necessary supporting  
> information and a bit of thought, so maybe students would have to  
> summarise their whole piece of writing in a 200 word text box as  
> well as submit the section they're most concerned about, and perhaps  
> rank their writing-related concerns for us to prioritise, maybe from  
> a list of aspects such as critical analysis; referencing / use of  
> theory; structure; answering the question set; language: style /  
> expression / clarity.
>
> Does this sound like a good way forward? If your team offers email  
> support of some sort, I'd love to hear from you if we could learn  
> from your different experiences.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Eloïse
> Eloïse Sentito     [cid:image001.png@01CABA2B.5DD683A0]
> Learning Development
> Tel. (01752 5)87752 (Part-time: regular days= Tuesdays and Wednesdays)
> Room 103, 21 Portland Villas, Drake Circus
> University of Plymouth  
> www.plymouth.ac.uk/learn<http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/learn>
> [cid:image002.gif@01CABA2B.5DD683A0]
>
>



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