Last Updated: December 21, 2017, 3:48 pm

Writing Center seeks to aid students with weekly workshops

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Unfinished thesis statements and countless quotes from sources haunt students as they construct research papers, but the Dixie State College Writing Workshops help attendees put ideas into action. 

The Writing Workshops are held each semester, and last year the workshops covered grammar and the mechanics of writing. 

Braden Lindstrom, DSC Writing Center coordinator and English instructor, said emphasizing the process of constructing research papers will help students in all disciplines, and this year’s presentations were designed to build off each other every week.

“By the time [attendees] finish the workshops, they have the tools they need to write effective research papers,” Lindstrom said.

DSC Writing Center tutors plan the presentations and include slides, group activities and Q&A sessions.

Garrett Faylor, a senior English major from St. George and Writing Center tutor, presented the workshop on writing an effective introduction. He said he spent a week developing an intriguing slide presentation and finding ways to involve students in the discussion.

“It’s nice that if [attendees] are working on an essay in a [course], they can come and put their ideas forth for the class to discuss,” Faylor said.

Group participation and the way the workshops intertwine help attendees get the most out of the experience.

Whitley Wilson, a sophomore general education major from St. George, said it was a new experience to show research ideas to people out of the normal classroom setting. The different atmosphere could open attendees up to new ideas, and Lindstrom said this takes the pressure off.

“It’s an informal situation, and the presenters will be roughly the same age as those who attend the workshops,” Lindstrom said.

Because attendees can present ideas, new components of a research paper can be built upon each week.

“[The workshops] started with how to set up a paper and come up with a title, and the next workshop transitioned to a thesis, so it helps with thinking about the creation of the paper,” said Mindy Ainsworth, a sophomore general education major from Salt Lake City.

The Writing Workshops take place every Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in room 471 of the Jeffrey R. Holland Centennial Commons. At the final workshop, MLA and APA style documentation will be covered.

Faylor said it is expected for college students to loath writing research papers, but if they make an effort to look into all aspects of constructing a paper, students will find there can be creativity.

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