Location:
- Home
- Writing Center
Staff
Director
Patti Loesche, Ph.D., has directed the Psychology Writing Center since 1991. She also offers a graduate seminar on scientific writing in psychology. At the writing center, Patti:
- recruits, trains, and supervises graduate writing assistants
- conducts classroom lectures and workshops on scientific writing
- assists with designing and evaluating writing assignments
- documents writing needs and trends in writing usage in undergraduate psychology courses
- consults on writing in the undergraduate psychology curriculum
Graduate Writing Assistants
Graduate writing assistants (tutors) are selected for their strong scientific writing skills and evidence of their teaching skills. When meeting with a student, the tutor discusses the nature of the assignment with the student and the student’s readiness to write, then focuses on the areas of the paper that the student is most concerned about. Besides giving general guidance on how to put ideas into writing, tutors provide specialized help with scientific writing: how to present a theoretical argument, support it with evidence, document evidence with valid and reliable sources, and use appropriate style conventions. The tutors also keep daily records on writing center use to identify areas of need and how to improve our services. Five of our tutors have received the department’s Distinguished Teaching Award for graduate students.
