I teach English, and one way I have found to engage students from each bank is to create meaningful classroom activities, which require them to experience both sides of the river. By far, the best activities involve collaboration with instructors from the technical programs.

Introduction to Technical Writing

Introduction to Technical Writing (English 110) naturally lends itself to collaboration. It follows freshman composition in a two-course writing curriculum. Students have a wide variety of writing skills and very eclectic goals. The first half of the semester is spent writing basic memos, business letters, reports, and polishing their writing styles to create clear, effective documents. During the second half of the semester, we take on a "class project" during which each student conducts research and develops text and illustrations for a "chunk" that will ultimately become part of a larger whole. Depending on the scope and content of our project, students may work individually, in pairs, or in small groups. However, even when working individually, each writer constantly communicates with other class members to maintain unity in style and format of the class project.

How Student Projects Work

A few of the class projects we have accomplished in the past include:

Instructional booklets describing safety procedures for laboratory tools and equipment for the Automotive Service Technology program.

Aircraft checklists describing engine start-up and shut-down procedures for our college Aviation Maintenance Technology program.

Instructional charts demonstrating the use of exercise equipment for our college physical education department.

Automotive Service Technology Safety Instruction Booklets

• Automotive Technology instructors, Dennis Palmer and Russell Knodle, brainstormed a list of tools and equipment with inadequate written safety instructions and provided instructional booklets and videotapes so that students had relevant research materials.
• Students selected their own topics - everything from air ratchets to welding torches to electric hoists and familiarized themselves with basic terminology and procedures ahead of time.
• During class time, we met at the Automotive Department Lab where the instructors demonstrated each piece of equipment - and encouraged student participation - while the students took notes or even videotaped the procedures.
• Students had one week to develop clear, written drafts which the Automotive Instructors and I reviewed carefully, making suggestions and corrections, and praising the good parts.
• I gave the students one week from the time I returned the reviewed drafts to them to complete the revisions. The students corresponded with the Automotive Technology instructors by phone or e-mail as necessary for clarification and questions.
• When they submitted their final booklets one student said, "It's kinda cool that we got to write something that someone's going to really use. Plus I learned about my car!"

• On their own time, Aircraft Maintenance instructors, Brian Black and Mike Merriman, demonstrated the start-up and shut-down procedures for each of their aircraft engines.
• The class divided into teams of three or four students and met at the local airport where the college hangar is located.
• One student, an aeronautical engineer at a local company, remarked, "I guess now I have a little more awareness of what mechanics have to go through to work on these planes we design."
• The Aircraft Maintenance instructors skillfully reviewed each draft, making corrections and positive comments on student papers.
• Team members then used the suggestions to create clear, useful checklists for aviation students to use in class.

• Physical Education instructors, Stephanie Raach and Norm Matzl, requested that the class develop clear, written instructions to accompany simple diagrams for each piece of exercise equipment, to help senior citizens in an upcoming fitness course designed specifically for that age group.
• Students worked in pairs for this project. One team member, aided by an instructor, actually used the piece of equipment, while his or her teammate (often suppressing laughter) took notes. Then, to be fair, they switched places.
• As with the other projects, the teams developed rough drafts.
• The following week we returned to the gym where, again under instructors' supervision, the teams exchanged their drafts of written procedures, to proofread and verify the instructions to a piece of equipment different from the one they had written about. While one team member read the instructions out loud, the other attempted to use the device strictly according to what he or she heard.
• The Physical Education instructors made suggestions for revisions, along with explanations of what muscles each machine enhanced. They also provided the students with basic diagrams to be turned into accompanying illustrations for their revised written procedures.

Faculty Collaboration

None of these projects could have been effective without collaboration with faculty from the respective technical departments. For each project, the basic organizational plan was the same:

1. The two biggest factors, not surprisingly, were: (1) how much time will be necessary for students to do the research, write and review drafts, make revisions, and deliver final materials to the department; and (2) how to schedule the demonstration of equipment for students and faculty to avoid conflicts with other classes and commitments. Once we all sit down with a calendar, the meeting usually takes less than an hour.
2. An informal initial conference between myself and the other instructional staff determined very specific goals and time frames. I usually followed up with them to clarify details.
3. Instructors checked to see what kind of supplementary materials they could provide to the students to help them develop professional looking documents.
4. I decided whether the students would be working individually or in teams.
5. The other instructors gave me phone numbers and e-mail addresses students could use to contact them with questions.
6. We created a detailed timetable for demonstrations of equipment, submission and return of first drafts, and delivery of final materials.
7. I provided the other instructors with a class list of students and which piece of equipment each student or team would be writing about.

In addition, I reciprocate by visiting other instructors' classes, teaching short units on such topics as basic writing/proofreading fundamentals, research techniques, or letter/resume development. You never know which students in a technical course might be persuaded to take a "dreaded English class" (or any other liberal arts course) as a result of spending part of a class period with you in their own "safe" area. They might discover that faculty from "the other side of the river" are not so bad after all.

Make no mistake. Collaborative activities, large or small, if done effectively, are a lot of extra work. And they are not for everyone. Do not be surprised, hurt, or discouraged if you ask another instructor to collaborate with you and get turned down. Keep asking. All it takes is one success story to create that bridge. But fair warning: once you start becoming a bridge builder, it is tough to stop.