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 to help anytime—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:
- Click on the “Writing Center & Library” link within your course.
- Click on the “Chat Now” button.
- Click on the "Tutoring" button on the screen that opens.
- This will open a screen to the Live Writing Tutoring service.
- You will be asked to state the writing question you have before connecting to a live tutor. You can also upload a document if you'd like, but this is optional.
- Click the "Submit" button to connect with a live writing tutor.
Accessing Past Live Writing Tutoring Sessions:
- Follow the same process you went through to access the live writing tutoring service above.
- When you get to the “describe your writing problem” screen, close this screen by clicking the X in the upper left corner to reveal your TutorMe dashboard.
- From the TutorMe dashboard, open your student account area to find the “Past Lessons” tab.
- You will find previous live writing tutoring sessions within “Live Lessons.”