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Study Help and Tutoring

Drop-In Hours

Drop-In Schedule (Starting September 17, 2018):

 

  Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
AM N/A 9:00-11:00 11:00-12:00 9:00-12:00 N/A
PM N/A N/A 1:00-3:00 N/A N/A

 

*PLEASE NOTE: MORE DROP-IN TIMES MAY BE AVAILABLE IF INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS HAVE NOT BEEN FILLED. CHECK AT THE WRITING SKILLS CENTRE FOR MORE INFORMATION*

Exciting news!!

Student requests for more drop-in hours have not gone unnoticed by our staff. As a result, starting September, 2018, the Writing Skills Centre will be exclusively offering drop-in hours!! 

Please keep in mind that these drop-in hours may mean that you share the writing tutor with other writers. Also, drop-in hours will not be offered on holidays or weekends. 

Looking for individual, one-to-one appointments with a writing tutor? Check out the calendar below!!

But....What Does it Mean???

Introducing exclusive drop-in hours will give student writers a chance to use the Writing Skills Centre as a place to create a community: A community for writing, sharing ideas, discussing topics, or just hanging out with fellow writers! While there are no limits to drop-in use, please be advised that tutors will ensure that the Writing Centre does not become a crutch for your creative process. We want you to be able to write everywhere, not just here!

So come over to the Writing Skills Centre and get your write on. We look forward to working with you!!

Make an Appointment with the Writing Skills Centre

The Writing Skills Centre will be open on September 17, 2018. Use the "Schedule Appointment" button to make an individual appointment, or visit the WSC during the drop-in times listed above.

If you are looking for the ESL tutor, find her schedule here.

Helpful Resources and Links

The Writing Skills Centre is now accepting papers for online review!! Just read the instructions below and submit your paper to: nicole.rice@rdc.ab.ca 

We want you to become a better writer and we will provide feedback with that as our goal.

We will not edit or proofread your submissions. (That is your job).

We look forward to working with you to help you become a better writer!

In our review, we will look for issues that may affect your ability to communicate clearly and coherently in written form. This includes thesis, organization and paragraph development. If you have specific issues you would like addressed, please include them in the body of your email. We will address as many as possible.

  • You must submit from your RDC Student email.

Why? So we can confirm that you are an RDC student; only submissions from RDC . We want to serve you as quickly as possible and submissions from non-RDC students would slow down that process. If you do not submit using your RDC email, your paper will not be reviewed. Having difficulty accessing your email or not sure how? Contact the Library at 403-342-3344.

  • Submit in a Word document with the file name in the following format: CourseCodeAssignmentName

 e.g. EN1201ReflectionEssay 

  • Please submit with a copy of the instructions that the instructor has provided you. This will assist us with determining if you are fulfilling requirements.
  • You are welcome to submit an individual assignment for review up to three times. If you resubmit, the assumption will be that you have followed suggestions from the previous review.

You can expect a response in 5 business days. Keep in mind that our tutors work Monday to Friday, 8:00am - 4:00pm (September to June).

We are happy to review most essays and writing assignments; however, there are some exceptions. We cannot accept for review:

  • Resumes and cover letters
  • Group assignments
  • Take home tests

So now that you know what we need from you, fire away! Send your papers for review to writingskills@rdc.ab.ca

Writing an Essay
the Academic Way
 
Ask yourself:
Understand Your Assignment
Why has it been assigned?
How does it fit in your course?
What are the assignment's guidelines?
Explore What You Know
Pick a topic
Mind map
Brainstorm
Ask questions about the topic
 
Pre-write ideas
Plan Your Writing!
Research
Use reference material to gain broad view of topic
Focus search
Use a variety of research materials
Organize research using notes, annotated bibliography, sticky pads...
Outline essay
Create a topic for each paragraph
Develop a logical order for paragraphs
 
Write!
Create an arguable thesis
Ensure paragraphs support thesis
Incorporate research smoothly
Cite your sources!!
 
Review Your Work....
Revise
Edit
Polish...
...then hand it in and celebrate!
 

These links and handouts are useful for the initial stages of writing.

These links give a global overview of the writing process.

These handouts will help you understand more about the parts of speech.

Having strong transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and ideas makes an essay flow clearly.

These tools can help you learn some essay-writing basics.

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