Do your students need help in areas of essay writing, grammar, structure, citations, and more? Writing Help Online is a great resource for self-paced student support!

The new and updated study guides include three levels:

Explore: Presents and explains different academic writing topics.

Engage: Complete a study guide self-assessment. Answer true/false, multiple-choice, or comparison questions to apply knowledge from Explore modules

Elaborate: Complete a final study guide self-assessment. Submit a writing sample from knowledge gained from the previous two sections. Students then receive individual feedback, explaining how well they are applying their new knowledge, and providing further guidance.

The WHO program is run through Brightspace and is newly updated. It's easy to use and customizable for each class. If you would like more information, please contact WHO@smu.ca.

Writing Centre Tutors are available to provide workshops during your scheduled classes. Examples include:

• The effective use of digital learning environments

• Academic writing and critical thinking

• Presenting, critical listening skills, reflective writing, and personal statements

• Overview of The Studio’s tutoring services

If you would like to book a workshop for your class or have any inquiries, please contact Amanda Saoud at amanda.saoud@smu.ca. Also, please visit the Studio Calendar to see a list of writing and academic communication workshops we host throughout the semester.

If you would like to have a workshop tailored to your course, please contact the Director of Academic Learning Services (writing@smu.ca). Most workshops are one hour long.

We can also train your TAs in writing skills, as well as essay marking skills.

As an incentive for students to use the Writing Centre's services, you might consider assigning bonus marks for visiting us. If you choose to do this, please contact us to arrange tracking of your students' visits.

If you have an exceptional paper submitted by a student, please encourage them to submit it. Here are more details about the award program and the student journal, Afficio.

Successfully piloted with SMU faculty, Office Hours in the Writing Centre is a new program designed to assist you in helping students with their assignments with a dedicated writing tutor.

Whether beginning or completing an assignment, schedule office-hour time in the writing centre with a dedicated writing tutor. Invite your students to work with you and a tutor on a specific assignment—lab report, case study, or essay. You can connect with your writing tutor in advance to plan the session to get the most from the time; send assignment descriptions; and provide any materials in advance so that the tutor will be prepared to assist.

Students who attend report being better prepared to write, have greater comprehension of assignments, and feel more confident academically. Students are also introduced to the writing centre as a place for academic help, not just for remediation.

For more information, please contact writing@smu.ca

We provide resources on many areas of writing and writing instruction. We have written materials for teaching in science, arts or business that may be checked out from the centre. These include theoretical materials and practical examples of how to improve and instruct in writing, reading and analyzing skills.

We also develop new resources as required, and present faculty development workshops several times a year.

Here are resources for you to use in your classroom.

We have the resources and experience to help you in many areas of writing, so please come and see us if you:

• want to include more writing initiatives/activities in your class;

• want to learn marking strategies for writing-intensive courses;

• have any questions about our centre, our services, or writing in general.