The academic resource that I used was an open lab for Fundamentals of Engineering. It was held in Hitchcock Hall room 308. I was struggling to write an assignment that I was given in that class so I decided to go to get after class help. My TA had told me about this opportunity while in class earlier in the day. I went and did my work while TA’s walked around and helped whoever needed it. Seeking this help was not hard at all. All that I had to do was show up and ask questions. I felt that there was no stigma related to utilizing this resource, and I actually saw a couple people that I knew. I feel like stigma isn’t a problem with seeking out help at OSU. I have never had to seek out academic help before so this experience was new to me. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got there so I came ready to do whatever they asked me. It turned out to be based on what I wanted or needed to do at the time. I felt like this had a large impact on the assignment that I turned in and the help that I was given definitely helped me be successful on that assignment. I think that, in general, help-seeking positively impacts students success. I have a much better understanding of writing lab memos after going to this help session. I also learned how to look at feedback given on graded assignments. During this open lab I was given resources to complete an assignment that was given in class to do as homework. Then as we worked we could ask the TA’s questions when we had them. My questions ranged from how to format the assignment to how to calculate the Young’s modulus. It was really helpful to bounce our ideas off the TA’s. They were also very knowledgeable about what is expected as they are the people grading this assignment. This let us both get our graded work done and learn more about writing lab memos, which is what the assignment was. I do like this method of receiving help because we get all the information we need and none that we don’t but I do see where there could be a problem. If someone was timid and didn’t want to ask a lot of questions then they could lose out on information that they needed. I went to this help session with a friend who was also struggling with this assignment, and both of us were benefited by going. I think that I could be a tutor. I know that the best way to solidify a subject that you understand is to teach it to somebody who doesn’t so not only would this help the person that I tutor but it would also help me solidify concepts. After going to this resource I will certainly continue to use resources on this campus to help with my learning. I expect that this would help with my grades tremendously as well as my learning.
“Hitchcock Hall.” Osu.edu, Ohio State University, Columbus, www.osu.edu/map/buildingImg.php?id=274&size=campusmap.