Vol. 5, No. 1: Spring/Summer 2009
Playing Two Roles
by Jeremy Shere
Freshman Interest Groups peer instructors both teach and also serve as role models for students in theme-based residential learning communities
Three years ago, when he was a junior earning a bachelor’s degree in business marketing, Danny Weddle got an e-mail that changed the course of his college career. The message, sent university-wide to all IU upperclassmen, was a query seeking students interested in becoming peer instructors (PIs) for Freshman Interest Groups, or FIGs—a learning community that enables incoming IU freshmen to explore possible majors and other interests in small groups.
“I’d always had a fondness for teaching,” says Weddle, who had worked as a tutor the year before. “When you first come to a big university like IU it’s hard to know the path, and I liked the idea of helping freshmen get through the intricacies of the first year.”
Weddle applied for the position and got the job. He was an ideal candidate—academically successful, involved with university activities, and willing to take on the considerable responsibilities that come with being a FIGs peer instructor. PIs not only teach a one-credit seminar during the fall semester and mentor FIGs students, but also live with their students in the same residence hall.
“One of the greatest challenges for peer instructors is that they have to play two roles,” says FIGs Director Eric Jon Nichols. “They need to be teachers, presenting information, leading discussions, grading papers, and establishing authority in the classroom; but they’re also serving as role models for how to be a college student.”
For Weddle, who’s now pursuing a second B.F.A. in sculpture, the trick is to combine the roles. “My goal is to make my students happy,” he says. “I try to be in tune to what my students want from their education and gear things toward that.”
Of course, many freshmen have no idea what they want out of college. Every fall, thousands of them (more than 7,500 last year) descend upon the Bloomington campus of Indiana University and are immediately faced with a bewildering array of choices and decisions: which classes to take; which residence hall is best; how to choose among IU’s 12 undergraduate schools and more than 180 majors and 330 degree programs. Is it a good idea to get involved in clubs and organizations? What about a part-time job? How is it possible to balance going to class, studying, working, and having a social life? Even for the most mature and prepared students, the freshman experience can be overwhelming.
The Freshman Interest Groups program was designed specifically to help freshmen navigate the often-confusing transition from high school to college. “A main thrust of the program is that we want students to make connections between courses, peers, faculty, and resources on campus,” says Nichols. To that end, groups of FIGs students take classes together, live together on the same residence hall floor, and participate in community service and other extracurricular activities.
In 2008 there were 24 FIGs related to a wide range of possible majors, including College 101: Preparing for Success at IU and Beyond, Fashion and Retail Industry of Tomorrow, The Lively Art of Acting, Exploring Psychology, Teaching Young Children, So You Want to Be a Science Major, and Jewish Studies, to name only a few. Each FIG requires at least two courses—students in last year’s Sports Medicine FIG took Principles of Athletic Training and Introductory Psychology I, for example—and a one-credit seminar that includes topics common to all FIGs.
That the one-credit seminar is taught by accomplished juniors, seniors and, increasingly, graduate students, presents unique pedagogical hurdles. Although certainly more experienced than freshmen, undergraduate peer instructors are only a few years older than their students. All PIs receive substantial training during the spring and before the fall semester, and attend weekly staff meetings during the semester, but especially for first-time PIs, the slim age difference between teacher and student can be challenging.
Peer instructor Amy Bastawros, a junior majoring in biology who leads the Fashion and Retail Industry of Tomorrow FIG, has found that looking the part is important. “It’s hard to go from living with my students and being their friend to trying to build an academic atmosphere in the classroom,” she says. “But it helps if I dress up when I’m teaching because I think that way the students see me as more of an authority figure.”
For more experienced instructors, age is less a problem. When Weddle first began teaching for FIGs in 2006, he made a point of dressing formally and using a traditional seating arrangement in the classroom. “But now we sit in a circle because I’ve developed a sense of comfort as a teacher,” he says. “I try to not take a very formal teaching approach and try to be more of a discussion facilitator.”
Although the FIG theme is set by FIGs administrators—there is a focus on students’ relationship to the university and the seminars also include sessions on diversity, the meaning of a college education, and personal responsibility—peer instructors have leeway to create original lessons related directly to the theme and to develop teaching strategies. First-year instructor Carolyn Rhodebeck, assigned to the Exploring Medical Science FIG in 2008, crafted assignments and lessons related to science. To teach about the importance of diversity on campus she compared human diversity to the evolution of bacteria, stressing the fact that the diversity among the individual bacteria of a species is what allows the line to thrive. Above all, Rhodebeck says, she tries to make her class fun. “I don’t want them to sit and listen to me lecture for 50 minutes,” she says. “So I try different things to get them thinking about the seminar topic, like showing movie clips and talking about how the movie relates to their lives and to being a college student.”
Weddle’s favorite lesson involved sushi. Several of his students who had spent time in Japan agreed to demonstrate how to make sushi to the rest of the class. “The idea was to learn about different styles of learning, so one group took notes and prepared a written text on how to make sushi, another group concentrated on visual learning and made drawings,” Weddle says. “We ended up making brilliant sushi and my boss, who was observing that day, didn’t say anything the entire class. Then a few days later he sent me a report saying that he was shockingly impressed. That was one of my most inspiring teaching moments.”
FIGs instructors also learn how to think on their feet when lessons don’t go as planned. Weddle recalls a particularly difficult essay that his students had not read carefully. “It was frustrating to not be able to have a discussion because some of them hadn’t really read the piece,” he says. “So I decided that we’d discuss the essay over dinner instead, and the more relaxed atmosphere must have helped because we had a great time, and discussed what they’d missed in the reading.”
In their roles as mentors and advisors, FIGs peer instructors are often called upon to counsel students and help them through rough times. “One of my students was having trouble adjusting to being at a big university and she came to me to talk about wanting to transfer to a smaller school closer to her home,” says Bastawros. “We talked about what she’s interested in and I suggested various clubs and activities she could join, and it took some time, but now she’s decided to stay in Bloomington. That was a very rewarding experience.”
Although the academic portion of FIGs concludes at the end of the fall semester, the program continues through the spring semester with thematic, cultural, and social programming. Last spring semester Weddle organized a dinner for 10 students and four of their favorite professors from Fine Arts. “They came ready to discuss how to succeed in the world of art,” Weddle says. “It was an informal discussion and a great chance for 18-year-olds to interact with professors and learn from them in an intimate setting.”
Weddle, Bastawros, and Rhodebeck agree that the most rewarding part of being a FIGs peer instructor is getting to know their students. For Rhodebeck, this means “giving them an edge in succeeding in college and making an impact on their lives.” For Weddle, it’s seeing his students do well later on. “I love seeing where the students go,” he says. “Last year I had Fine Arts students and after our FIG they all went on to pursue the hardest track. It’s neat to see them gain confidence and realize their abilities and succeed.”
Peer instructors benefit from the experience, too. Some go on to earn plum spots in the prestigious Teach for America program. Whatever their future careers, Nichols says, PIs have gained valuable experience. “One skill that all people need is the ability to communicate,” he says. “Through their roles as teachers and mentors, our instructors have gained tremendous skills as communicators, and that will serve them well in any endeavor.”
Jeremy Shere is a freelance writer in Bloomington.
