Dr. David O'Neil is an Assistant Professor of English. His research interests include historical linguistics, applied linguistics, medieval studies, and the history of English.
Dr. O'Neil incorporates Service Learning in his ENG 310: Writing in the Secondary Schools. This course is designed for English Teaching majors to learn how to teach writing in grades 5-12, including writing as a process, assigning and evaluating student writing, and portfolio assessment.
Students in ENG 310 work with Dream Center Evansville, an organization that provides after-school care, summer day camps and neighborhood revitalization for the Jacobsville neighborhood of Evansville.
All students in ENG 310 must spend three hours at the Dream Center, which is a community center that provides after-school programming for middle school students in a diverse, lower-income neighborhood. The main task of the volunteers is to tutor the students in English language arts; some volunteers may also lead full-group lessons. This community partnership benefits ENG 310 and USI by providing opportunities for prospective teachers to work with a student population they may not encounter in their primary field experiences. The partnership benefits the students at the Dream Center by providing them additional educational experience, as well as the chance to interact with college students and learn about post-secondary education.
One student wrote this in her reflection paper on her tutoring experience at Dream Center: "There was a lot from this experience that I can apply in my own classroom in the future. First, you never know what a student has going on at home and this is important when speaking to them. Second, these children wanted to be spoken to like human adults. They did not want to be babied or treated as if I pitied them. Third, each [child] learns differently, and it is crucial to consider each learning style when creating a lesson plan for your classroom. [Fourth], there are certain things in a classroom that might distract, or even trigger, certain students. I want my classroom to feel like a safe space for my students, so this is also necessary to consider."
(Above: ENG 310 student Savannah Staples tutoring
students at Dream Center in Evansville)
