Neha Milind Ms Rebecca Agosta 10th November 2013 ENGL-1101-019

Engineering Learning Community as Discourse Community

Being part of this learning community has most definitely shaped my college experience. I came to a school on the other side of the country from where I grew up, and knew absolutely no one. Living in close proximity with so many of my classmates and so many people that had common interests as me made up for the differences in our backgrounds and gave me a sense of belonging. I do not think that I would have made as many friends if I didn't have constant interaction with the same group of people for such a long period of time, said Lexie (Resident Advisor) of Hawthorn Learning Community. Talking to a previous person living in the community made me realize that living in such a discourse community is the real deal and it would help me shape my future. The Engineering Freshmen Learning Community ( FLC) is one of the learning communities who live together and learn together. Being an insider to this community for more than four months has changed my perspective. Living, eating and talking to students and peers of the learning community helped me grow as a person. Working on

groups together, speaking and learning the same kind of stuff gave me some better knowledge about engineering as a whole.

Engineering is field which requires a vast knowledge in intrapersonal skills as well as team work which can be accomplished by living together, are the words of my advisor Mr Blackmon. Everyone believes that living in a community can help develop a students personality. One of the activities we do as a group is meet on every Tuesday as a group of two hundred and fifty students to learn about a common major in engineering. The guest speaker enlightens us with current information to learn about in this ever changing world. The main way we communicate is usually by talking about it after class or by interactive questions. These questions brings together main ideas and concepts of engineering. The professors or guest speakers are usually very well educated and well-rounded personals helping the upcoming freshmen to choose a good career path. All the information about the class and the guest speaker is posted under a common webpage named Moodle. It is a great way to communicate between teachers and students. Everyone knows each others email address as well as other information which makes it easier to communicate.

One of the things I observed being part of the engineering learning community was Gender. The gender ratio of girls to guys is 1 to 20. This makes it different in terms of learning, taking classes and take each of the gender seriously. Gender definitely plays a role in this community. Engineering is predominantly male, and the learning community is no different. Most of the males tend to act like this is an exclusively male community, or worse,

disrespect female authority. These latter people are in the minority though. The female members of the community tend to bond tighter with each other, even if they wouldn't normally get along based on interests or personality, if they want female interaction says Lexie. Being in such a male dominated major it tends to be harder to do the same things as the males do. Living in a community with only 20 girls and 200 guys obviously changes my perspective about things. As an insider living in a learning community and as a female I realized that gaining respect as a female in a filled where guys tend to take control is very hard to live with. Males are really good at science and mathematics, engineering and problem solving is one of the statements I tend to hear all the time at the learning community. This makes me realize the most wrong perceived notion about engineering and female/male dominance in this field.

One thing that amazed me was that girls tend to get better grades in engineering than guys. Girls attitude tends to be more oriented towards working hard and trying to get things done better and a more organized way. As a discourse community girls tend to stick together and work together. Being in an Engineering class as the only girl makes it kind of hard not to realize that it is a guy dominated class. Observing my seminar class helped me get to terms that job market is freer and anticipated for girls. Guest speakers coming to the seminar explain the pitfalls and advantages of being an engineer. This motivates us to become a better and hardworking engineer. Living in a community helps each other to decide on a major, on a job and share each others experiences. Am I really fit for being an engineer? I am so bad at chemistry, will t affect my job prospects? Does engineering require mathematics in day to day

life? ;all these questions are pertaining in my and two hundred minds in the learning community. The six resident advisors, instructor and dean of engineering help to answer some of the questions.

The thing that most ties together this discourse community is the desire to succeed in this profession. Engineering can be a very stressful and time consuming profession which needs help from a big group. The people who can run the race and keep in par with the flow can survive. To get into the learning community we had to write an essay to get in. The expectation of the community was to try to become an emerging leader and bring together all the people s ideas together to form bonds with each other.

The things we do as a part of a community is ENGR 0600 Seminar Course for FLC members with weekly guest speakers, Field trip to the US Whitewater Rafting Center with the Dean of the College of Engineering, Women's Life Takes Engineering with Strong Women's Luncheon hosted by URS at the FLC ,Library Research Workshop with Alison Bradley, University Center for Academic Excellence workshop on study skills, Utilizing a Job Fair workshop hosted by the University Career Center, Gingerbread House Competition, judged by Alumni Dress for Success with a local tailor, Over 30 hours per week of tutoring etc. (uncc website). All these activities are specifically addressed for students who are part of the learning community. Going to such events makes it easier to understand the purpose for the major and gain experience in this field.

Another way of communication as a discourse community is discussed by Lexie; As an RA, I rely on advertisements ("pub" to RAs) to get word out for programs, meetings, the like. Facebook groups have worked in the past, and word of mouth works to extent. However, and we don't have a unique or different form of communication here. This makes me realize that every community, people need some way of interacting with each other. All the Resident Advisors in the building seemed to have formed their own discourse community. Being part of different sub groups in the learning community is also something I considered. People with similar type of personalities tend to stay together. Different hobbies, different way of learning also affects the community.

Work Cited: Lexie, Personal Interview. 10 November 2013 Mr Blackmon, Quote. 6 November 2013 Uncc webpage, 6 November 2013