Lafayette Journal and Courier

Writing lab expanding help hours
By Tanya Brown

January 21, 2006

Rishi Banerjee, an engineering student, wants to improve his English and get a good grade in his freshman composition class.

Earlier this week, he spent some time with a writing tutor at the Writing Lab in Purdue University's Heavilon Hall.

"I'm pretty sure we have to write something in engineering, so if my English is better, it will help me in any field," said Banerjee, who received pointers on writing a personal reflection for English 106.

This semester, the Writing Lab is expanding its offerings to include Monday evening tutoring in the Hicks Undergraduate Library.

While the late hours are an added bonus for Banerjee and other busy students, the location in the library's Digital Learning Collaboratory opens new opportunities in a world where an assignment may no longer mean "eight to 10 pages, double-spaced."

Tammy Conard-Salvo, assistant director of the Writing Lab, assists with all types of writing.

"It could be a traditional research paper or a Power-Point presentation," she said.

Extending that ability into the library will give tutors access to the multi-media resource center, to help students with non-traditional writing assignments such as video projects, Web sites and electronic portfolios.

"I may not have the specific background in everything they need help with, but I can help with the thinking process behind what they are doing," said Megan Hughes, a graduate student in the English department who tutors for the Writing Lab.

"One of the convenient things, since we're in the library, is there are people there who are experts on movie-making software and things like that."

Hughes said she does have students come in for multi-media assignments.

"If it's a PowerPoint for example, we'll ask, 'Why did you choose this picture?' If it's a cartoon pencil, and your audience is community leaders, we might talk about finding ways to get other illustrations."

For multi-media projects, it's important students consider their audience and present something professional, Hughes said.

"For Web sites, we'll ask 'How will the decisions you make in design and content make a difference in what people perceive?'"

Shirley Rose, an English professor, thinks instructors are becoming more accepting of multi-media responses.

"It's just a sense I have that instructors in classes are, if not asking students to do a broader range of composing, at least more likely to leave it (an assignment) open to doing that kind of thing."