About Writing and Academic Skills

Welcome to the Writing and Academic Skills collection of LibGuides. We are educators and navigators with the Student Success Centre at McMaster who focus on supporting students throughout the writing process and with the development of skills necessary for academic and professional success.

Learn more about the core principles of our support model below, or browse the rest of this guide for a comprehensive list of programs and services for students, as well as information for faculty members.

Writing and academic skills programs and services are here to support your development in key areas such as reading, writing, and studying. We support students at any level of their journey and in any discipline at McMaster. Using research and best practices, we help students who want to aim higher.

• Academic coaches employ appreciative advising, which uses positive, open-ended questions to define students’ goals and teach critical strategies for academic success.
• Writing advisors use student-centred pedagogy for both graduate and undergraduate students. We apply instructional tasks, Socratic questioning, and concept teaching to help you with your writing.
• The Undergrad Peer Tutoring Network provides students with course-specific content support from freelance student tutors who have achieved an A- or higher in the courses they support.
• Workshops involve small group learning. Practical tools are provided to build academic skills, such as critical reading, note-taking, writing and more.

Continue to the "Programs and Services" section of this guide for a comprehensive menu of our current offerings along with links and other details.