Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Barton, Michelle
Area of Concentration
Psychology
Abstract
According to Rebecca Day Babcock (2015) the most commonly reported disabilities in college students are psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety and depression, but much of the research within writing centers is on hearing impairments and learning disabilities. Babcock recognized that there’s a large discrepancy between the research and the disabilities that peer tutors are most likely to encounter. Using psychological methods, this thesis aimed to take a step toward closing this gap and explore if an appointment with a peer tutor reduces anxiety. It was hypothesized that peer tutors would reduce students’ anxiety levels, due to providing peer support to students. Sotardi’s (2018) Multimodal Trait/State Evaluation Anxiety Scale, created for general academic contexts, was used in order to observe students paired pre- and post- state evaluation anxiety levels. The results supported the hypothesis showing that participants had significantly lower state anxiety levels after their appointment with a peer tutor. It was also found that overall, 2020 graduates (seniors) had higher anxiety than students from other graduation years, and all students found their appointments beneficial. It was concluded that peer tutors are able to help students emotionally.
Recommended Citation
Van Aken, B., "APPOINTMENTS WITH PEER TUTORS IN THE WRITING CENTER REDUCE EVALUATION ANXIETY IN STUDENTS" (2020). Theses & ETDs. 5895.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5895