Writing Center About

Each semester, the Writing Center hosts two-to-three "VR Game Night" events. During each event, students come together and play games, eat food, and connect as a community in our Attic space!

In 2020, the DSC Writing Center hosted the Southeastern Writing Center Association (SWCA) for two virtual conferences - SWCA of Florida Directors' Day Out on June 26, 2020 and SWCA Tutor Collaboration Day 2020 on November 13, 2020.

Teaching & Learning with AI Conference at UCF

In fall 2023, three of our full-time staff presented at the University of Central Florida’s first annual Teaching and Learning with AI conference, which hosted hundreds of higher education faculty and staff from across the nation coming together to discuss how to best use artificial intelligence to support students on their academic journeys.

Lisa Jordan, Hosanna Folmsbee, and Percy Mercer found fantastic company amongst similarly minded individuals who hope to harness the strengths of generative artificial intelligence to not only keep up with technology, but to prompt the students at our institution to raise the bar on what they consider exceptional work. 

What is our solution to skyrocket success while fostering critical thinking and the art of communication? It’s simple: we want to use generative AI as a peer, rather than a professor. 

The presentation we gave, while offering a simple idea, prompted a discussion with our listeners that allowed us to workshop exciting ideas on how to go about curating a well-formed, in-class peer review with AI that allows students to learn from the combination of professor, peer, and AI. Whether it comes in the form of using ChatGPT to correct grammar and take part in brainstorming or harnessing it to create an AI avatar students can have a discussion with, using the AI as assistive technology for students has been — at least in our experience and that of our peers — wildly successful. Opportunities like gamification of classwork through AI have only boosted these positive outcomes, which further supports the idea that embracing generative AI as addition rather than supplementation is the direction we ought to be moving in. 

Directors' Day Out

In April 2022, DSC Writing Center hosted Directors from around the state of Florida to meet and discuss issues from their centers.

"Data Visualization" - Presented by our Associate Director, Billie Jo Dunaway

SWCA of Florida Directors' Day Out & two separate

SWCA Tutor Collaboration Days

 In 2021, DSC Writing Center hosted and our Presentations include:

 “Writing with Students in Tutoring Sessions” Let’s discuss different strategies to   actively engage students in sessions Hosted by Erin Chavez

 “Drafting Methods and Session Management” Let’s discuss different methods and what they mean in Writing Center Sessions Hosted by Ray Jacobs

 “Five Minute Activities to De-stress” Let’s discuss different things we can do to lighten our load. Hosted by Billie Jo Dunaway

 "Emotional and Traumatic Narratives" Let’s discuss working with a student on emotionally charged work, and how to cope afterwards. Hosted by Samantha Rapacioli

 “Transferable Communication Skills” Let’s discuss how we build communication skills that prepare us for our future careers. Hosted by Hanna Fleming

The Challenge of Change

In November 2020, the Daytona State College Writing Center hosted SWCA Tutor Collaboration Day 2020, titled The Challenge of Change.

Among the presentations were:

"The Struggles of International Students" presented by Synthia Salam
"Cultivating Resilience: How Resilience Plays a Key Role in the Work We Do at the Writing Center" presented by Rachel Neubauer
"Emotional Labor in the Writing Center" by Ariana Porter
"Equitable Access to Essential Educational Services During the Pandemic" presented by Robin Clark
"Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in an Academic Setting" presented by Jamie Montgomery and Jerithza Quinteros Perez.

The Writing Center believes in continuous professional development to improve the operations of the Center and to show students who use our services that growth and learning are never-ending processes. We enjoy participating in conferences, hosting events, and expanding the Center's reach through community partnerships and hope to encourage others to do the same.

The "New" New Normal

At the end of June 2020, the Daytona State College Writing Center hosted SWCA of Florida Directors' Day Out, which was titled The 'New' New Normal.

Among the presentations were:

"Surveying One Writing Center’s Response to a Surge in Asynchronous Support: Tutor and Student Perspectives" presented by Laura Henning

"Social Media: How We Market and Connect with Students" presented by Ariana Porter

"We Have Lift Off! Starting a Blog in the Middle of a Pandemic" presented by Farnaz Didar and Billie Jo Dunaway.