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Perhaps the most important skill a college student learns and refines is how to write. Marquis Scholar Amy Banas ’04 (Bixby, Okla.) is researching that process in a collaborative project with William Carpenter and Bianca Falbo, both assistant professors of English. They are using literacy narratives written by Writing Associates (WAs) at Lafayette to guide their research.
“Each semester, every Lafayette Writing Associate writes about his or her history as a reader and writer,” says Falbo. “Returning WAs write about how their work in the program has related to their literacy habits. We are looking at these literacy narratives by WAs in order to understand how successful students adapt to college-level reading and writing.”
Experienced and skilled writers and editors, Writing Associates assist fellow students with writing assignments. WAs are assigned a specific course and meet with each student in the class at least four times a semester in conferences of approximately 30 minutes.
Banas, an English major with a psychology minor and a WA herself, is working to answer a few key questions that arise in the literacy narratives. The research will address how new and returning WAs describe themselves as readers and writers, and to what returning WAs attribute any changes they see.
Adds Carpenter, “We’re doing a close reading and coding of these narratives to discuss WAs’ literacy habits and help ascertain their evolution as writers.”
The researchers are collaborating through Lafayette’s distinctive EXCEL Scholars program, in which students conduct research with faculty while earning a stipend. Many of the 180 students who participate each year go on to publish papers in scholarly journals and/or present their research at conferences.
“This has been an interesting project to work on,” notes Banas, “in part because of my experience as an WA. As a participant in the WA program, my idea of writing and who I am as a writer has really been flipped upside down. I can see both sides now, from the administrator’s perspective and also as a student. I can really understand the purpose of the program and how it offers students such opportunities to grow as writers.”
She adds, “I’ve grown so much and gotten so much out of this project. My mentors, Professor Carpenter and Professor Falbo, have really helped me in the research.”
A writing and reading specialist, Falbo serves as an assistant director of the College Writing Program, helping faculty implement writing into their courses, hiring WAs, and developing the program’s web site. She has collaborated with Carpenter on two journal articles relating to the research they are conducting with Banas, as well as another cooperative effort with colleague Patricia Donahue, associate professor of English and director of the College Writing Program. She says that she is very excited to continue the research that she and Carpenter began last summer with other EXCEL Scholars.
Editor of the Allyn and Bacon Sourcebook for Writing Program Administrators (2001), Carpenter is working in the areas of writing pedagogy, style, and information literacy. He is collaborating with Falbo on a book examining the literacy habits of successful college writers. For the past three years he has organized Lafayette’s on-line discussion board for first-year student orientation while also serving as an assistant director of the College Writing Program. He was integral in helping to develop the new minor in writing for the English department.
Says Carpenter, “I think Amy has seen a lot of herself in these narratives. She’s been thinking about her own writing and reading skills and really reflecting on her experiences.”
Though unsure of her future plans, Banas envisions herself “helping to teach writing somewhere down the line.”
“I think it’s great that Lafayette prepares its students so well in how to write,” she says. “No matter where you go or what career you choose, you need to know how to communicate your thoughts clearly and effectively. This project and the WA program have been wonderful opportunities.”
A graduate of New Providence High School, Banas has made Dean’s List every semester. She is a member of the track team and earned Student Athlete Honors Awards her first two years of college. She also is a member of Lafayette Christian Fellowship and participates in club sports. She recently returned from studying abroad in Australia.
As a national leader in undergraduate research, Lafayette sends one of the largest contingents to the annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research each year. Over the past five years, more than 130 Lafayette students have presented results from research conducted with faculty mentors, or under their guidance, at the conference.