Last semester, Samantha Velasquez, an undergraduate student at UNG, conducted a series of in-person interviews for a research project we are jointly conducting. Drawing from Students as Partners movement, we–a faculty member and student–are collaborating on assessing a university-system mandated gen ed writing redesign. Below is Sam reflecting on her interviews with students in these redesigned gen ed writing classes.
Preparing to interview first year students in English 1101 proved to be different from the experience I have had interviewing people for the many journalism assignments I have completed. The initial nervousness of talking to someone you don’t know was not there but knowing that the information obtained will be used in a research study left me feeling a different sense of discomfort.
The questions were meant to elicit responses about meaningful writing the students have completed, but what is the takeaway when a student does not feel confident about anything they have ever written? What I have learned so far is that this type of feedback can be just as valuable as the feedback from students describing their most meaningful piece of writing.
J. Michael Rifenburg 