The Writing Center is a Surprise Asset for STEM Students

Shortly after I wrote an article encouraging STEM students to take more writing classes, the Writing Center here at MSU reached out to talk about the myriad resources they have to offer science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students. 

I spoke with two current students on Oct. 25 and a recent graduate on Oct. 28 who all stressed that the Writing Center is one of the most underrated resources for STEM students on campus. From utilizing the writing guides found on their website to signing up for help sessions, the value of opportunities they offer STEM students is unbeatable. 

Many students are required by their teachers to attend sessions at the Writing Center but STEM students in particular often don’t utilize the resource as frequently as other majors or engage with it outside of required appointments. 

Gabriella Hecker, a business major who does marketing and research work for the Writing Center, said that STEM students often don’t believe the Writing Center will be able to improve or even understand their writing — even though 30% of tutors at the center are STEM majors themselves.

“When professors assign students to come in here, they [STEM majors] don’t take it seriously. They think oh my gosh, my professor just wants me to do something for them. When actually, we aren’t just graders — we’re peer tutors. So we actually work with one another,” Hecker said. “Being able to communicate certain things, such as complicated theories that are involved in STEM majors, is very important to different audiences. And when we interact with those students, with different levels and different knowledge and different backgrounds, writing can become more than what it is.”

STEM students might feel like they’re too busy to spend an hour or two editing work, that is understandable. Most STEM students I’ve met have the busiest course loads I’ve ever seen. 

However, by consistently working with peer tutors — whether they’re studying a similar or vastly different major to one’s own — students stand to gain a lot more than just a better grade on a lab report. 

For one, spending more time working on writing skills now will make the task a great deal quicker and easier in the future. Writing skills also strengthen communication and collaboration skills, and critical thinking. Peer tutors also spend a great deal of time and effort helping students work on lifelong writing skills. 

“It’s not just us talking over something with them. We give them resources that they can use and write out session notes to summarize what we say. That way, they can remember and use that for future assignments,” Hecker said.

For many, college is the best chance to work on those lifelong writing and communication skills in a supportive environment. It’s an opportunity that anyone who wants to thrive in their career should make the most of, but far too many students are skipping it altogether. 

I chatted with Bridget Warrenfeltz, a fifth-year conservation biology and ecology student who works at the Writing Center as a peer tutor. Warrenfeltz said that as a STEM major, her peers who choose not to take any work to the Writing Center are missing the opportunity to build those foundational skills. 

She’s worked at the Writing Center for three semesters and believes the experience has given her many skills that will prove invaluable in her career — skills she might not have the same chance to work on in the future.

“Once you're outside of school, I find it hard to believe that people are getting a ton of super in-depth feedback on their writing, " she said. “This is an opportunity to get that really detailed feedback in a space where it's expected that you are still learning and that you're trying to improve. It’s not expected that you’re already coming in with a specific set of knowledge. It's understood that you're trying to build that knowledge,” Warrenfeltz said.

A dual organismal biology and philosophy major who graduated last spring Landon Shipley said that he learned invaluable skills in contextualization, communication and writing skills during his time at the Writing Center. Landon worked as a peer tutor for almost his entire school career. He now teaches at the local community college in his hometown. He said that the skills he learned help him with everyday tasks in his career, like writing assignment prompts, communicating assignments and expectations to his students. 

When asked what he’d say to STEM students at MSU who think they don’t need to take their work to the Writing Center, Shipley said, “Writing and communication is going to be something that you're constantly going to be doing it no matter what field you’re in —- but especially if you're in STEM, especially science and engineering. It doesn't matter whether it's for you and another specialist or you in a public or non-specialist audience.”

 “You’re going to have to be doing some amount of communication. You're going to need practice because the ability to do that doesn’t just come quickly. The Writing Center is a perfect place to get that kind of practice,” he said.

To check out the Writing Center, visit montana.mywconline.com.

To check out Writing Center resources, visit www.montana.edu/writingcenter/writing_resources.