Writing and Writing Instruction in Different Academic Contexts Writing Centre Development
WRITING CENTER THE NORWEGIAN WAY THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BERGEN WRITING CENTER AND EXPERIENCES AFTER THE FIRST YEAR IN BUSINESS
4 Randi Benedikte Brodersen¹, Michael Grote², Birger Solheim³, Pål Steiner
¹Department of Philosophy, Bergen, Norway ²The Humanities Library, Bergen Norway ³Department of Philosophy, Bergen, Norway 4 The Humanities Library, Bergen, Norway
In September 2014 the first Norwegian academic writing center in the Western part of Norway was opened, at The University of Bergen. During the autumn more than 100 students have received guidance, individually and in smaller groups, and many tailored writing courses have been designed and held. In this presentation we will describe the process that lead to the establishment of our center and discuss some aspects which contributed positively to the realization. Further we will share some of our experiences that we have made at this early stage, and reflect upon whether there is something about our pedagogical practice that singles us out in comparison to other writing centers. Is it possible to talk about a Bergen model of writing center? A combination of several factors might evolve into a specific Bergenconcept: a very active use of exercises to initiate and advance writing (e.g. spontaneous writing), a dialogic approach to guidance and an open attitude towards the students' individual needs paired with criterion based feedback and an extensive utilization of writing groups. To a large extent these principles are used both when we meet the students in individual and group guidance and in the tailored writing courses within the subjects. The Bergenmodel also includes a close cooperation between the writing center and library staff, especially in the development of our own online writing tool “Søk & Skriv” (“Search & Write). “Søk & Skriv” has users worldwide: over 340.000 visits last year.
References
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Søk&Skriv: sokogskriv.no