English class students get hands-on in support of campus units

Instead of delivering weeks of garden-variety lectures to her English 131 students, a Purdue University Fort Wayne instructor decided to give her freshmen a more hands-on introduction to college life. Their assignment was to learn how to help campus units by using writing skills to promote the services offered.

That may sound like an easy challenge, but the students gained a broader understanding of what the PFW university community offers, how its specific units work, and why they needed the help. The students also learned quite a bit about themselves.

The goal is to encourage classmates to become more engaged, intellectually curious, and professional students who appreciate learning in various formats, said Mary Encabo Bischoff, clinical assistant professor of linguistics.

"I want them to see their time in college as meaningful, not just because of a degree, but because of the friendships they cultivate in and out of the classroom-and their involvement through service activities," Bischoff said.

She does that by mixing the 20-plus students into groups and assigning them a project. Most had never met their teammates or knew much about the topics.

Though all engineering majors, a group including Danna Alquran, Gabriel DeSantos, Carson Riehm, and Tyler Sparks was assigned to work with the Writing Center at Helmke Library.

"It kind of made our perspective of other majors and things they use every day a little more understandable," Sparks said.

The Writing Center asked for help finding out why more students don't take advantage of the services, why more instructors don't encourage students to use it, and how the center might attract workers. The group is tabulating results from two surveys.

"We're seeing that a lot of people don't know we have a Writing Center," Alquran said. "It's tucked away, and most people didn't know it was in the library. Many people don't feel they need to use it because they are focused on math and engineering."

Brady Rice, Megan Lothamer, Steve Edds, Kemonte Evans, Oh Mai Da, and Emmanuel-Jason Oketona received the assignment of helping Eric Manor, associate chief of campus and community well-being. Specifically, they were to find ways to highlight the FRIENDS of the University Pantry and share insights from a student perspective on how well-being can be enhanced across campus.

"I've learned of the need to sometimes take action, seeing what things are and going from there, because people aren't always going to tell you what to do all the time," Lothamer said.

Through the process, members of Lothamer's group and others have become friends and realized some of their ideas may not have a chance to be implemented until further down the road.

"In our first meeting, he told us to not be afraid to dream big," Rice said. "We may not see what we dream to completion, but he wanted big ideas."

Thabo Asemota, Domingo Flores, Kevin Garcia, Omar Abugosh, Makhi McGee, and Ben Savina had a similar experience helping Nick Brand and Sebastien Wilson in Well-being and Recreation. They tagged along to help set up three events before taking over the presentation for a fourth. quickly understanding the time listed on the event usually includes at least two hours of set-up beforehand, two hours for tearing down and storing the equipment, and then the paperwork.

"We've learned that we need more involvement in the events because there weren't that many people at most of them," Savina said. "Something needs to change so more people take part."

Why?

"It would be more fun if more people showed up," Abugosh said.

And in a nutshell, the group quickly learned that sometimes putting on events takes most of the available manpower, leaving little energy for recruiting participants. Providing more incentives to show up or more social media posts also requires resources.

A positive that came from the group helping Well-being and Recreation was that eight students from different high schools could bond and enjoy working together even outside the classroom.

"I am more interested in observing students' reflections on their experiences and maturity when faced with challenges than a fully polished project, especially at the intro level," Encabo Bischoff said. "I think real-life situations are part of their foundational training as young professionals. In the process, they practice their writing, reading, and research skills, which is the point of the Gen Ed A1 category."

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