Starting college can be overwhelming, but learning communities can help students navigate their new environment. Michael Witt, associate professor in the Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies, led a team that designed a transdisciplinary integration of three first-year courses connected to an engineering learning community.

The project, “Incorporating Data and Computation with Multimodal Composition Instruction,” resulted in shared assignments between three first-year courses: ENGL 106 (First-Year Composition Writing), ILS 103 (Introduction to Data Lifecycle Management) and ENGR 103 (Computational Methods of Data Science for Engineers).

Students manage and analyze data in ILS 103, research a related data question in ENGL 106 and apply their research in ENGR 103 by coding in Python. 

“By incorporating data and code into a writing assignment, we’re making writing more engaging for engineering students,” Witt explains. “By becoming better writers, they’ll be better engineers.”

This cross-curricular approach targets students in the Engineering in the World of Data Learning Community, housed in Shreve Hall. The project involves three out of the five classes students take as a cohort.

Fostering classroom engagement is a step toward deeper learning, Witt shares. He’s dedicated to going the extra mile to create a memorable learning environment – even if that means partnering with the Columbian Park Zoo to bring live pythons into his class when introducing the Python programming language.

Facilitating these meaningful experiences is at the heart of Witt’s teaching. A recent lunch with Purdue alumnus and NASA astronaut Drew Feustel allowed Witt’s students to tackle a problem involving the Hubble Space Telescope, receiving direct feedback from the astronaut.

Witt has also taken students to Mackey Arena to hear Matt Painter discuss the role of data science in athletics.

“It’s just for fun, but it helps build a sense of community,” Witt shares. “It helps to build connections.”

Purdue student Eyal Pery, a former member of the learning community, says the classes are cohesive and collaborative.

“Not only can they help build your resume, but they can help you find some of your best friends,” Pery remarks.

Witt hopes the classes and learning community will have a positive impact on his students’ future. The program aims to enhance code documentation, communication of complex concepts and data visualization. 

The project team included Sean Brophy, associate professor of engineering education; Bradley Dilger, professor of English and director of writing; and Bryan Austin, associate director of residential academic initiatives.

“It can be a challenge to work with people across different departments, schools or colleges,” Witt explains. “When resources like the Innovation Hub are available to help that collaboration, it makes it easy to get together and brainstorm.”

The Purdue Innovation Hub supported this project. For more information, visit the Engineering in the World of Data Learning Community website. Purdue faculty and staff are encouraged to connect with Beth Fines, Innovation Hub managing director, for funding opportunities.