Tutors respond to two type of submissions: Writing Assignments and eQuestions. Review procedures for picking up submissions and reminders on best practices below.
PROCEDURES & BEST PRACTICES
Filter submissions by type - Writing Assignments and eQuestions
Picking up a Writing Assignment
Working with a second or third submission
Student sends thanks or a complaint
Responding to long Writing Assignments
No file submission with a Writing Assignment
Collision avoidance - multiple tutors claiming a submission
Responding past an assignment due date
Unable to respond to submission
Both types of submissions come into the WriteAway tutoring queue:
During your shift, the priority should be responding to Writing Assignments. If you have a few minutes at the end of your shift, or between Writing Assignments, then you should respond to eQuestions.
Filter submissions by type - Writing Assignments and eQuestions
You can filter the queue to show only Writing Assignments:
To respond to eQuestion submissions, when you have a few minutes at the end of your shift, or between Writing Assignments, filter the queue to show only eQuestions.
Once you've filtered the queue, remember - set-up the queue by clicking "Updated" and pointing the arrow up:
Picking up a Writing Assignment
Update the queue by clicking "Updated" and pointing the arrow up:
Preview the first Writing Assingment at the top of the queue by clicking the eye icon:
** ONLY CLICK THE BLUE TITLE IF YOU ARE ABLE TO RESPOND TO THE WRITING ASSIGNMENT**
If you click the blue, it's up to you!
This will show you information from the student submission form before you pick up the Writing Assignment:
Once you've previewed the submission form to learn more about the Writing Assignment, and you've determined that you have time on your shift to respond (based on the page numbers included in the submission form), select "Go to ticket page"
If you will not have enough time on your shift to respond, select "Close" and preview the next Writing Assignment in the queue.
Working with a submission
When responding to a Writing Assignment, follow the procedures as outlined in the WriteAway Tutor Response Template. There are also more documents in the Resources section of this website that can assist with your response (e.g. Responding to Long Submissions).
In the diagram below, review the six steps to working with a submission using the tutoring software:
**N.B. For Step 2: It is helpful to use a consistent naming convention when saving student assignments. The WriteAway Administrative Centre suggests saving the paper with the original title and your initials added the end (e.g. EffectsOfSmokingJR.doc). Avoid using symbols (e.g. *%#) in the title.**
Submission Status
Analytics
The Analytics Dataset was integrated into the WriteAway response procedures in Spring 2021 and fully launched in Summer 2021. This feature helps the service track the submission status of each tutor-student interaction. In addition to providing insights into the number of students who are benefitting from our option to revise-and-resubmit up to three times, we are also able to use this data to inform other operational areas. When an interaction is tagged with the analytics feature, we are provided with more accurate statistics regarding the number of responses a staff member has replied to and we're also able to gain insights into how the service is meeting the needs of students. A Step-by-step Guide follows below:
Step-by-step Guide
The "Add to Analytics" option is set to "Tutor Writing Responses" by default:
In the "Submission Status" pulldown menu, select the most applicable category:
The different categories are:
| First Draft | The first submission of an assignment |
| Second Draft | The second submission of an assignment (where you are the second tutor responding) |
| Third Draft | The third submission of an assignment (where you are the third, and final, tutor responding) |
| File Submission Issue | A student has submitted an incorrect file type, a blank file, no file, or there is another issue with with the uploaded file. See Tutor Scripts. Include a brief "Internal Note" specifying the issue. |
| Outside Scope of WriteAway | A student has submitted work that is outside the scope of what a tutor can reply to. See Tutor Scripts. Include a brief "Internal Note" specifying the issue. |
| Student Acknowledges Feedback | A student acknowledges receiving feedback or sends thanks. No new draft is included. |
If you try to "Submit Reply as Closed" without selecting a submission status, this message will appear:
Once you have clicked "Submit Reply as Closed" the submission's status at the top of the page will show "Closed":
After closing the submission, return to the queue and set-up the queue by clicking "Updated" and pointing the arrow up:
Working with a second or third submission
A submission’s “Status” in the queue tells you if it is first or subsequent submission:
- If a submission is “New” it’s the first time the assignment has been submitted
- A “New” submission does not have an “Owner":
If a submission is “Open” it is a second or third submission
- The “Owner” of the ticket is the tutor who responded previously:
As with a first submission, you can preview the resubmission by clicking the eye icon to determine if you have time on your shift to respond to the student.
When previewing a second or third submission you will see the student's reply at the top of the preview pop-up:
On the ticket page for a second or third submission you will see a red band telling you the previous tutor who responded to the submission - the tutor will be identified by name: "This question is claimed by: Tutor X"
Check that you are the only one viewing the ticket page (see "Collision avoidance")
If you are the only tutor on the ticket page, respond to the student's submissions. Files are arranged from oldest, at the top, to newest, at the bottom:
Start by scanning the previous tutor response to ensure that the student has acted on his/her advice. If the student has not utilized the advice, respond with the script “New Draft Submitted Without Making Changes Suggested by Previous Tutor.”
As with first drafts, prioritize Higher Order Concerns (HOCs) over Lower Order Concerns (LOCs), as appropriate to the writing submission. It might be that most HOCs were addressed in previous drafts; in this case present your feedback on LOCs. You may notice that a student has made little progress even after incorporating the previous tutor’s feedback. If you feel that the student could continue to revise the HOCs addressed be the previous tutor, you can expand on the last tutor's discussion and response.
Student sends thanks or a complaint
A student may reply to their emailed feedback with comments - either positive or critical.
When previewing a student submission you can see the text of the student's reply at the top of the preview pop-up:
If a student expresses thanks, use or adapt the script to reply to the student and "Submit as Closed."
If a student expresses critical feedback or a complaint, follow these three steps:
1) Use the script to respond to the student
2) Notify the WriteAway Administrative Centre by including the WriteAway Administrative Centre in the "CC Answer to" field - begin typing "WriteAway Administrative Centre" and then select the email address
More than three submissions
If you find that the student has already submitted three drafts of a paper, please respond to the student and let them know that they've already received the maximum amount of help for that paper (See Scripts).
Responding to long Writing Assignments
Submissions longer than 8 pages are considered long submissions. A response guide for long submissions is available on the Tutor Resources page.
No file submission with a Writing Assignment
A student may accidentally submit a Writing Assingment without a file for you to review. If this happens, follow the steps below, using the script:
Non-standard file submission
Tutors may only repond to .doc, .docx, .rtf, or .txt files. If student uploads a file that is not one of these four files types, return the submission and use the script to respond to the student.
Can't open a student file
Occasionally a student paper cannot be opened when symbols (e.g. *%#) are used in the title of the paper. Ask the student to rename his/her document and resubmit the paper by attaching it to their reply email. (See Scripts). *See also “Student Unable to Open a Tutor’s Response” in the Scripts.
Collision avoidance - multiple tutors claiming a submission
If you see a blue notification in the bottom right-hand corner of your browser once you've claimed a submission, another tutor is already working with that submission:
If the notification is present, return to the Dashboard and set-up the queue by clicking the "Updated" arrow so that it points up.
Collision Avoidance Guide
Review the Collision Avoidance Guide here for more information on messaging your tutor colleauges in the event that two tutors claim the same submission
Student submission history
To review previous submissions by a student, select "User History" from the grey box at the top of the page:
Tutor response archive
To review previous responses that you have sent to students, filter the dashboard to show "Closed Assignments" and select "Me" from the "Owned by" drop down menu:
Select "Filter" to return your closed submissions.
Duplicate submissions
Sometimes a student will submit the same assignment within minutes, at other times the student might submit the same paper after a few days if they haven’t received feedback – this occurs on occasion when the turnaround time is long.
It is always helpful to be on the lookout for duplicate submissions, especially when the queue is long. If you see two papers in the queue with the same title and by the same student, they are likely duplicate submissions. Preview both submissions and, if they are indeed the same, claim both. Provide feedback on the earliest of the submissions and upload your version of the assignment with feedback; in the email message section of your response let the student know that two duplicate papers were received and that the version attached contains the feedback (see Scripts: Duplicate Papers). Next respond to the second submission but without uploading anything, and again indicate in the email message section that this assignment is a duplicate submission and your comments have been provided in the first submission.
If the two papers you have picked up are NOT duplicate papers, and you are able to respond to both, do so. If you do not have time to respond to both, please notify the WriteAway Administrative Centre as soon as possible.
Responding past an assignment due date
Tutors should give feedback even if it appears that the student’s assignment due date has passed. It could be that the assignment due date has been extended or a student has permission to resubmit to their instructor. In addition, feedback is intended to help students grow as writers; the advice tutors give can be applied to future assignments. A script is available to use if you think the assignment is past its due date.
Picking up eQuestions
eQuestions are specific grammar or writing questions that should take between 5-15 minutes for tutors to answer. If, for example, you have about 10 minutes before your shift ends - it makes sense to respond to an eQuestion at that time, rather than picking up a new Writing Assignment that you won’t likely be able to finish. You can search for eQuestions by filtering the queue and selecting "eQuestion" as the submission type. See "Filter submissions by type." Remember to set-up the queue by clicking the "Updated" arrow so that it points up. As with Writing Assignments, you can preview eQuestions before claiming them.
Student complaints
If a student provides negative feedback about their WriteAway experience (e.g. through an eQuestion or as a second or third submission of a Writing Assignment), please forward the complaint immediately to the WriteAway Administrative Centre.
Unable to respond to submission
If you have picked up a submission that you cannot answer, for any reason, please email the WriteAway Administrative Centre, explaining why you are not able to respond (cc your institutional coordinator on the message).
The WriteAway Administrative Centre will either:
a) Return the paper to the queue for another tutor to pick up, or
b) Refer the student to their institution’s writing centre and notify the student’s institutional coordinator (if the paper would be better served by assistance from someone at that institution).
