Debahuti Chatterjee and Swati Rendon, Purdue University Northwest and McNeese State University
Enter here: Zoom Breakout Room #1 Meeting ID: 890 3941 9744
This presentation will focus on the experiential learning component of structured interviews as used in the First-Year Writing Program at Purdue University Northwest. Instructors Chatterjee and Rendon will share how this genre is effective in removing the barrier between students, non-specialists, and subject matter experts; and enhances student confidence in eliciting responses that contribute to their research. The interview allows a direct engagement with their community, leading to purposeful reflection and analysis as they propose solutions for community-specific problems. Since John Dewey's introduction of the student experience outside the classroom in his 1938 work Experience and Education, experiential learning has been incorporated into educational settings. The interview strategy is adaptable in both the synchronous online environment and physical classrooms. As a process, from inception to execution, it is sufficiently less time-consuming that allows the instructor to integrate it into their curriculum for research or writing projects. Chatterjee and Rendon will share this element with student examples from their classrooms in both pre-and post-Covid scenarios, and from both virtual and physical classrooms. They will also advocate for the practice of structured interviews in general education classes that are taught largely by adjunct faculty.