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This April the Writing Centre director for St Mary’s (Mr
Jonathan Worley) and two student peer tutors (Una Burns and Catherine
McArdle) visited the Merrimack College (Massachusetts, USA) Writing
Centre as part of a continuing partnership between the two centres.
The partnership, initially established in 2006, was made possible
when the St Mary’s Writing Centre was designated as a Centre
for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL-NI). Jonathan and
Dr Kathy Cain, the two Writing Centre directors, were able to
continue with plans for additional joint conference presentations
and publications addressing issues of writing centre pedagogy
on both sides of the Atlantic. Further, they explored the potential
for teaching joint courses on peer tutoring at Merrimack and St
Mary’s.
The St Mary’s peer tutors were able to meet with Merrimack
College peer tutors, attend the weekly peer tutor staff meeting
and generally gain exposure to pedagogical strategies at an American
university. The Merrimack College Writing Centre has a well-deserved
reputation for excellence as a result of its innovative tutoring
strategies emphasising effective group work and the writing skills
needed for particular academic subjects. |
