Introduction: Faculty members have little time and usually lack expertise to provide writing feedback on lab reports. Sending students to a writing center, an existing resource on virtually all college campuses, could fill that gap. However, the majority of peer writing tutors are in nontechnical majors, and little research exists on training them to provide support for engineering students. Research question: Can peer writing tutors without technical backgrounds be trained to provide effective feedback to engineering students? About the case: Previously, sending students to the writing center was ineffective. The students did not see the value and the tutors did not feel capable of providing feedback to them. To remedy this situation, an interdisciplinary training method was developed collaboratively by an engineering professor and the writing center director. Situating the case: Researchers have suggested that it is
This paper describes a scholarship and student mentoring program created to increase female enrollment and graduates in our Schools of Engineering and Science. This program was developed and administered jointly by both of the schools, and the admissions, financial aid, student life, career development, and learning resource departments. Scholarship recipients were required to participate in a mentoring program in which they met regularly with an upper-division peer mentor. Student participants also engaged in academic preparation activities to help develop study, organization, and test-taking skills for academic success. Further, social activities, such as field trips and dinners, were included to build camaraderie. A team of faculty was highly involved as academic advisors to all students in the program and as an advisory board for the grant overall. The program has been effective in increasing female enrollments and improving retention in both schools, particularly in engineering.
His research interests are in renewable energy, energy storage, power electronics and power systems.Ms. Ruth Camille Pflueger, Pennsylvania State University in Erie, the Behrend College Ruth Pflueger has been the director of the Learning Resource Center at Penn State Behrend for 15 years, where she is also an affiliate instructor of English. She has been involved in a number of federal grants, most recently in a major NSF STEM grant, as well as an EU-Atlantis grant.
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