Locations and Hours
We are located in the annex across the atrium from the library. Questions or comments? Call us (X4493 on campus, 240-895-4493 off-campus) or e-mail us at scmagruder (at) smcm dot edu.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I schedule an appointment?
You have several options: you can stop by during our walk-in hours, and we'll do our best to assist you; you can use our online scheduler (your login, if you've never used it before, is your school email with your last name as your password); or you can give us a call at x4493. Calling or stopping by is the best option if you can't make any of the posted hours.
What is the meaning of life?
We don't know either. But keep looking. Let us know if you figure it out; we may post your answer. Meanwhile, try typing "What is the meaning of life?" into Wolfram Alpha.
Meet the Tutors:
Danielle Doubt
Major: English
Minor: Women, Gender, and Sexuality
Writing: I am interested in rhetoric, political writing and journalism, as well as creative fiction and creative non-fiction.
Interests: feminist movements, local food movements, running, so really any kind of movement, be it social, political or physical I probably find pretty cool.
Click here to see all of our peer tutors.
Writing Portfolios
At the Writing Center, we see the tremendous diversity of writing tasks students perform from day to day and week to week, and we respect the work that faculty members do to help students reflect upon and integrate everything they learn from all this writing. That's one reason we support faculty and students in creating portfolios.
In creating portfolios, student select, revise, and reflect upon examples of their work. Many students find that the portfolio process makes them more aware of what they have learned and more ready to apply and build upon their learning in the future. And many faculty find that portfolios give them more context for better assessment.
Electronic portfolios, which are simply portfolios that are placed online, give students new opportunities to creatively arrange and visually augment their written works and to share them easily with faculty members and sometimes other audiences. As students approach graduation, electronic portfolios created for academic purposes can be converted into career portfolios, showcasing the students' skills for potential employers.
EPortfolios have become a successful assessment tool in many classes and academic programs, in many disciplines. At St. Mary's, ePortfolios have been used
- in English 101 and English 102, our introductory writing courses, to help students learn to think of writing as a process.
- in Educational Studies as multimedia evidence of teaching experience and expertise.
- by the First Year Seminars to assess improvement and proficiency in liberal arts skills among first year students as a group.
- by the Nitze Scholars to demonstrate leadership and academic excellence.
- by business executives from the Shanghai Conference to learn conversational English and document their progress through journaling
- in Physics 103 to showcase research.
Sarah Magruder,the Writing Center's Assistant Director, is available to:
- Advise faculty members on designing and assessing portfolios.
- Work one-on-one with students and teachers on the writing of ePortfolios,
- Offer training sessions for specific courses that implement ePortfolio,
Sarah's office is in Library 108 in the Writing Center. Her office hours will be posted on the hours page and on the bulletin board in the Writing Center. Contact her in the Writing Center (x4493 on-campus, (240)895-4493 off-campus) or by email at scmagruder@smcm.edu.
Interested in reading more about portfolios (especially electronic portfolios)? The National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research has prepared a bibliography.