When to Use a Writing Tutor

If you are unsure of what type of academic help you should use, you will find the Which Academic Support Should You Use? decision tree especially useful. 

If you've reviewed the writing and APA guides and still have a question, a writing tutor is available--24/7/365. Get writing help through chat, an interactive whiteboard, or audio. 

The writing tutors support students in the following ways:

  • Answer a specific writing question you have.
  • Provide tips to improve your writing skills.
  • Cannot edit your writing or write any part of your assignment.

When to Use Another Type of Writing Support

To ensure you use the best writing support for your needs, review the following information on what each support can provide:

Course Instructor

  • Answers questions about Canvas or the course.
  • Answers questions about the assignment or rubric.
  • Provides guidance of what learning supports you may benefit from.

Writing Guides

  • Self-help writing and APA guides, samples, and templates for you to follow.
  • Writing Refreshers to help you improve your writing.

Grammarly

  • Immediate check of grammar and punctuation.
  • Does not review APA.
  • Does not review content.

Paper Review

  • General writing feedback to help you revise and improve your writing.
  • Not a proofreading, editing, or APA service.
  • Does not review the content of the paper or check for plagiarism.

How to Maintain Academic Integrity while Using Tutoring

  • Do not take your assignment to the session to complete there.
  • Do not ask a tutor to edit or complete any part of your assignment.
  • Do not ask a tutor to provide you with research sources for your paper. 

How to Have an Effective Tutoring Session

  • Prepare for a tutoring session by creating specific questions for your tutor.
  • Work on only 1 or 2 questions or concepts during a single session.
  • Limit your session to 30 min. and then work on your own.
  • Take notes during the session so you can work on your own after the session.

Accessing 24/7 Live Writing Tutoring:

  1. Click on the “Writing Center & Library” link within your course.Canvas classroom left navigation with arrow pointing to Writing Center & Library link
  2. Click on the “Chat Now” button. Writing Center landing page within Canvas with arrow pointing to the Chat Now button/link.
  3. Click on the "Tutoring" button on the screen that opens.
     Visual of Live Tutoring Free: Connect Now button

     

  4. This will open a screen to the Live Writing Tutoring service.
  5. Include your questions or what you want to work on with your tutor to connect with a tutor who can address your specific questions. You can also upload a document if you'd like. Showing where to type your writing question. Within the box under the statement: Please describe your Writing question. Example writing question is: I need help revising my thesis statement and citing my sources.

     

  6. Click the "Request a tutor" button to connect with a live writing tutor.Visual of Submit button

     

Accessing Past Live Writing Tutoring Sessions:

  1. Follow the same process you went through to access the live writing tutoring service above.
     
  2. From the Pear Deck Tutor dashboard, open your student account area by clicking on your name to find the "My tutoring history" tab.
     Arrow pointing to My tutoring history from the student Pear Deck Tutor dashboard
  3. You will find previous live writing tutoring sessions within “Live tutoring sessions."
     Arrow pointing to Live Lessons on the Past Lessons screen

Related Video Tutorial

Using 24/7 Writing Tutoring Video Icon

3-minute watch time