Comm Lab ready to help with writing tasks

The Communications Lab will offer four writing workshops as well as four ESL conversation group meetings through April — all free to students, said Lynette Leidner, Communications Lab supervisor.

Leidner said the next workshop available is called “MLA Style: A Royal Pain.”

It will be from 11 a.m. until noon on Monday, Feb. 24, in CU1. The workshop will focus on helping students with in-text citations, research paper formatting, and works cited pages, she said.

The workshop also will be offered from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25, in the Visual and Performing Arts Center, room number 146.

“Critical Thinking” will be offered to help students become better critical thinkers and writers from 11 a.m. until noon Monday, March 3, in CU1 and again from 6 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, in the VPAC building, room 146.

“Learning to Compromise the Rogerian Way” will be offered from 11 a.m. until noon Monday, March 31 in CU1 and from 6 until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, in the VPAC building, room 146. In this workshop, Leidner said, students will be taught Rogerian traits, how to approach Rogerian assignments and tone.

Rogerian arguments are built around the strategy of acknowledging and expecting different viewpoints.

“Writing Basics” engages students in hands-on activities that will help improve their essay writing, especially for those who have not written in a long time Leidner said.

The workshop will be offered from 11 p.m. until noon on Monday, April 14, in CU1 and again the next day from 6 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15, in the VPAC building, room 146.

Leidner said the Communications Lab also offers ESL conversations groups, which aim to help students who may not be as familiar with English become more comfortable speaking the language.

“… It helps these students become more comfortable speaking English, whereas, in a classroom setting, they may be somewhat intimidated, or have a little more difficulty just being able to have conversations,” she said.

The ESL conversation groups will be offered from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Monday, March 3, in CU2, and from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, in CU3.

The groups also will be offered from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Monday, April 7, in CU3 and from 12:30 to 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, in CU3.

“… It’s kind of to help [students] build confidence and put them at ease, and to familiarize them with the language,” Leidner said.

The groups also help students get to know some other people on campus and give them a feeling of belonging, she said.

Leidner said students who are first-language English speakers also are invited to attend the ESL group sessions.

Leidner said she hopes students will visit the Communications Lab to use the free services they offer.

“We’re known as the writing center but that’s not all that we do,” she said. “We do offer study skills programs… .”

Studies have shown that students who get assistance from Communications labs often have a higher GPA and higher rate of success, Leidner said. They also tend to continue their education.

“We would just love to see students coming to the Comm lab.

“ … I think there are still a lot of students out there who don’t really know who we are or what we do,” she said. “Students are more than welcome to come and use the computers to do their homework or print their papers, that type of thing.”

The Communications Lab is open from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Friday and from 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays.

“We’re also here to help [students] with wherever they’re at, with whatever they’re doing in their classes … .

“They don’t need an appointment to come and see us.”

For more information, visit www.occc.edu/comlab/workshops or call the Communications Lab at 405-682-1611, ext. 7379.

To contact Lauren Daniel, email editor@occc.edu.

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