How the Teaching and Learning Center and Writing Center can help you this finals season

As the semester begins to come to a close, many students find themselves drowning in school work. Between papers, projects, presentations and exams students can quickly grow overwhelmed, unsure where to begin. To ease these anxieties and aid students in their academics the university offers a variety of support systems students can turn to for help with their school work. Two particularly beneficial services offered are the Teaching and Learning Center, TLC, and the Bucknell Writing Center.

Teaching and Learning Center 

The Teaching and Learning Center offers a wide range of opportunities students can utilize to assist their studies such as facilitated study groups, peer tutoring, academic skills workshops, professional consultations and printable study aids. One of their more popular resources is the student led study groups. These groups typically range in size from 8-12 people, meeting once a week for 90 minute sessions throughout the duration of the semester. Due to the groups smaller sizes, the TLC facilitator can really help individualize the sessions to best benefit the students. There are study groups offered on the following courses: ACFM 203, ARBC 101, ARBC 103, BIOL 122, BIOL 205, BIOL 207, CHEM 205, CHEM 212, CSCI 203, CSCI 204, ECON 101, ECON 202, ECON 203, ENGR 239, FREN 101, FREN 102, FREN 103, FREN 104, GEOL 203, GRMN 101, ITAL 101, LATN 101, LING 105, MATH 192, MATH 201, MATH 202, MATH 211, MATH 212, MATH 216, MATH 227 and PHYS 211. 

Another resource offered by the Teaching and Learning Center is peer tutoring sessions. These peer tutoring sessions are scheduled on a need-based basis for students struggling with biology, physics, mathematics and chemistry courses. These sessions are 45 minutes in length and try to focus on three to four central questions surrounding the subject. The goal of these sessions is to discover what basic conceptual issues the student is having with the material and work towards filling these gaps. TLC also offers individual consultations with Teaching and Learning Center staff professions. In these sessions the staff professional works with the student on learning, research and studying techniques that the student can ultimately utilize for the rest of their University careers or even schooling beyond. The goal behind any of the TLC programs is to eventually have the student outgrow their need for the center. 

Furthermore, the TLC has opportunities for staff members to work on their teaching strategies and education methods. They offer weekly presentations, workshops and learning communities for professors. Some other staff opportunities that the TLC provides are: course design & pedagogy workshop, new faculty pedagogy series, Friday learning series, new faculty learning series, Learning communities, curricular workshops, teaching circles, mentoring ecosystem and faculty teaching activities survey: “how we teach.” 

Drew Filchner ’22 has been involved in the TLC as both a student and facilitator during her time at the University. From her experience in the TLC, Drew really recognizes the importance of having such a resource. “The TLC is a great resource for students to not only increase their content knowledge, but to learn new study tips and tricks. As someone who has participated in TLC services as both a client and staff member, I see the value in building an academically supportive community for the study body. The TLC strives to support student learning above all, and personally, I view the center as an integral part of my learning experience at Bucknell,”  Drew said.

More information about the University’s TLC programs can be found on their website page: Teaching & Learning Center (bucknell.edu). 

Writing Center 

Another on campus resource the University offers is the Writing Center! The Writing Center is located in the Carnegie Library and Bertrand Library. It is a free resource where students can bring any type of writing piece at any stage in the writing process and work on said piece with either a peer writing consultant or professional staff members. The Writing Center is open Monday through Friday as well as some weekend hours. Students can make appointments either via phone Monday-Friday from the hours of 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Students can also make appointments through the online platform of TutorTrac which can be accessed through the Writing Center’s page. Prior to working for the Writing Center, students must complete the course UNIV 239. This course centers around the writing process as well as how to work with writers in a collaborative setting. 

“The conversations with peer writing consultants we have had examine writing successes and what it means to be successful in writing. Furthermore, following the completion of the course the peers continue the conversation through their weekly training sessions. These meetings provide opportunities for the peer writing consultants to learn from one another,” Writing & Teaching Consultant Megan Mulligan said. Mulligan also mentioned how helpful these conversations about writing can be to starting a paper. “Many students forget that the Writing Center can also be used to brainstorm ideas and get started on papers. Sometimes when students are stuck, talking to someone about it helps shed light on the more general writing process which can then help the writer next time you need to get started on a paper,” Mulligan said.

More information about the Writing Center can be found on their website: The Writing Center | Bucknell University.