"InQuiry"
"Let Your Voice Be Heard!"
UTRGV's First Year Compostion Magazine
Day 1 Compocon: Held in the Ballroom of the University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley in Edinburg Texas.
Helpful instructions for newcomers displayed on a PowerPoint in the Ballroom.
Posters on windows help answer student's questions about their research.
Day 1 Compocon: Held in the Ballroom of the University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley in Edinburg Texas.
By: Stevens Hopkins and Alfredo Garza
Compocon is an experimental technique that is used to encourage utrgv students taking 1302 to utilize the university library resources. This program has been working since 2012, and it has been gaining momentum, approximately 1500 students from the university are involved. This program introduces students to the library databases, sources, and all kinds of helpful tools to get more information for any kind of research. In this case I am going to talk about the compocon conferences called wp. first year writing program held on february 23-24-2016. This conference was for students who need help doing research projects or any kind of writing projects. The purpose of this conference was to find an expert to help you with your writing. Each expert's name plate had colors that corresponded to their areas of expertise. experts helped students how to get their research paper started, how to make the question perfect. They also helped students finding their sources whether they were primary or secondary. We also discussed some anxieties when beginning the project, what are the differences between primary and secondary sources, trying to find the correct way to express and explain what it is that I am trying to say in my research, what makes writing good, what is it we do when we write, and how to find the best sources for your project. This conference was a real helpful activity because you get to share some of your research topics and point of views with many students, you get to meet experts that will be very helpful in the future of your career.
CompoCon's theSPARK Photo Review
March 27, 2015
COMPOCON 2: The Spark
CompoCon’s main screen with a brief description of what CompoCon is and how its meant to help students with their research questions.
Students write notes from information they have gathered about writing research and social learning.
CompoCon’s main screen with a brief description of what CompoCon is and how its meant to help students with their research questions.
By Yazmine Beltran and Alan Gonzalez
The English Department at the University of Texas Pan American has provided insightful conferences known as CompoCon in which they intend to help First Year Composition Students with questions regarding reading, writing and research. CompoCon is a unique conference that no other University has and was created by the faculty three years ago to help students gain confidence in writing. This previous two-day CompoCon session was known as the SPARK, which was established to help students create and develop a research question. This session consisted of one on one interactions between students and the professors, which included Bonnie Garcia, Colin Charlton and Aaron Baldwin.
If you did not know what it was you wanted to research, they would ask you what you were interests in knowing, whether there was something that was happening and you wanted to know why which would ultimately lead to your research question. Having a variety of professors specializing in topics such as cultural and writing studies, sports, creative writing, religion, research, interdisciplinary studies, design, revising, rhetoric and pretty much anything, all students are able to receive help regarding their topic of interests.
As professor Andrew mentioned, “the thing that creates knowledge is conversation, that is what CompoCon is all about. Conversation between students and professors.” These professors helped students understand their own interests and helped in developing a research tool that is more useful for their topic. For example a student asked “how is imagination important?” this immediately would trigger the professor and he would state that was too broad of a question and it needed to be specified and that a writing example would be the best method to prove what it was they wanted to say. At the end of the day, students left CompoCon with more knowledge and understanding and with a more structured research question.
CompoCon's theNETWORK Photo Review
February 25, 2015
COMPOCON 1: ALL ABOUT DEVELOPING RESEARCH
First COMPOCON. It's Much more than one event. It is a series of sessions to help you through research.
COMPOCON Day One: “Ask a Librarian-English”
COMPOCON summed up in a single sentence: successfully helping students develop research question.
First COMPOCON. It's Much more than one event. It is a series of sessions to help you through research.
By Omar Hinojosa and Kiara Wing
The experience at CompoCon was an eye opener for students. It was an event aiming to help students see the library, not as a place just to study, but as a source for doing research. It is important to realize that the librarians are here to help students take advantage of the resources that in the library.
The workshops offered during this event were important for students, not only for their research, but also for their future experiences with composition as they continue college. An important issue tackled during CompoCon was students’ belief that their research was going to be a boring process. This myth was debunked in the “Developing a Question” workshops, which helped students work on their research question. During these workshops students learned about the importance of choosing a research topic that they had an interest in. This keeps the research exciting and encourages students to work on it.
In retrospect, CompoCon helped students truly engage with the library and the different sources it offers. Students learned how to come up with ideas, and learned that they should not to be afraid to ask for guidance and advice from librarians. Students can use the knowledge they gained at CompoCon in the future and, more importantly, begin to develop their research.