The goals of the Writing Lab are to offer assistance, tutoring, and support for all levels of English composition courses; to assist students in preparation for end-of-term English and reading exit tests; and to provide assistance with advanced writing tasks for all subject areas throughout the college.
The Writing Lab offers assistance and tutoring for all levels of English composition courses, preparation for end-of-term English and Reading College Placement Exams, and assistance with advanced writing tasks for all subjects throughout the college (including assistance with literature reviews, research/term papers, reports, documentation, and bibliography/reference citations).
In addition, the Writing Lab has software programs to help students prepare for end-of-term exit exams for Developmental English and Developmental Reading. The Writing Lab also has a variety of software programs including Writer's Resources, Glencoe Interactive Grammar, Preparing for Placement and Exit Tests (Reading and English), Building Basic Composition Skills (for students who need help with writing and editing topic sentences; with paragraph support, unity, and coherence; with audience and purpose; and with diction, style, and sentence structure) and Building English Language Skills (for students who want to improve their understanding of standard English grammar and usage). In addition, the Writing Lab computers have practice COMPASS English and reading tests.
Hours for Fall Semester 2008
Beginning Thursday, August 21, 2008
Monday:
8:00-12:15 p.m., 1:30-5:15 p.m.
Tuesday: 8:00-3:00 p.m., 3:30-7:00 p.m.
Wednesday: 8:00-12:15 p.m., 1:30-3:00, 4:30-7:00 p.m.
Thursday: 8:00-2:45 pm, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Friday: 8:00-10:00 a.m., 10:45 - 11:45 am
Note: The Writing Lab closes on the last day of classes each term.
Practice English/Writing COMPASS Exam
**NOTICE: Requires at least Microsoft .Net Framework 1.1.
Download now (23.7 MB)**
This link will take you to four interactive COMPASS practice passages. The best approach to these COMPASS practice passages is to click on every sentence--even if you think there are no errors. Then, look at the response choices to see whether the choices can help you find a possible mistake. When you have finished correcting the entire passage, reread the passage keeping verb tense shifts in mind. Once you are satisfied that you have found all of the mistakes, click on "I am finished; show my score." Your goal is to achieve at least a 70%. If you would like additional help with these practice passages or if you would like to see the "correct" responses, please come to the Writing Lab. https://web.gsc.edu/fs/mhorton/LSEnglish/
Gainesville State College
Online Interactive COMPASS English Practice
This link will take you to Gainesville State's interactive COMPASS writing practice tests.
If the link does not work, try going directly to the Gainesville State College
Learning Support Web page: http://www.gsc.edu/admin/learningsupport/
More COMPASS English Practice
This link takes you to Georgia College 411 and its downloadable practice English
and reading COMPASS materials.
Practice ACT English Exercises (Houghton Mifflin)
Offers a variety of practice tests that are scored online and can be emailed to the instructor. Site also includes links to other writing resources available online. (Added April 24, 2007)
List of Writing Lab Practice Exercises for English Classes
This link will take you to a list of practice exercises for grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and usage. All practice exercises are linked to answer keys, and some are interactive. There are currently over 40 different practice exercises available.
Additional Practice Exercises for English Classes
The Additional Practice Exercises link will take you to a listing of 172 interactive quizzes that cover most of our Type I, Type II, and Type III errors. The site is maintained by Webster.Commnet.
Writing Lab Practice Exercises for Reading Classes
Additional Practice for Reading Classes (click here!)
The Helpful Writing Links heading will provide you entry into the Modern Language Association's web page with its guide to citing electronic media, the American Psychological Association's web page with its guide to electronic citations, and the Regents' Testing Program web page with its practice tests and listing of essay topics.
This link will lead you to sample student essays written by students at Dalton State College.
Writing Lab Assistance Guidelines
Last Modified: October 1, 2008.