What will you do before you graduate? That is one of the questions posed to incoming first-year Bobcats as part of OHIO wonderwall, a new and unique project designed to engage and inspire students as they prepare for and begin college.
Ohio University’s Undergraduate Experiential Learning office collaborated with the First-Year and Student Transitions Office, the Ohio Valley Center for Collaborative Arts, University Libraries, University Communications and Marketing, and Regional Higher Education to engage incoming students in the OHIO wonderwall project, a digital and analog space for students to actively engage with the University, each other, and their own reflections.
Once students completed their Bobcat Student Orientation program or enrolled at regional campuses, they received a kit that included book-making supplies that they will use to engage with periodic reflection prompts in the coming weeks.
“While all our students have been profoundly impacted by COVID-19, this year’s incoming class perhaps feels it in unique ways. They’ve missed major milestones and rites of passage in their senior year of high school and they’re adjusting to the dissonance between their expectations of college and the new realities of virtual orientation and instruction,” said Director of Undergraduate Experiential Learning Dr. Lindsey Rudibaugh. “We wanted to create a space for this group to individually and collectively reflect on this shared experience. We’re tremendously grateful for the contributions of our campus partners who helped design and implement this new project.”
Students were introduced to the OHIO wonderwall project during Bobcat Student Orientation and through post-BSO modules in Blackboard. They are invited to respond to reflection prompts shared via BSO social media using the #OHIOwonderwall hashtag and to share their own reflections in the form of text, photos, or videos using that hashtag. Student responses will be recreated in public spaces in our campus communities, bringing students to Ohio University through the proxy of their own words.
Once classes begin in the fall, students will continue to engage with this project through discussion and interaction in their Learning Communities. Learn more and connect with the OHIO wonderwall project by searching for the hashtag on social media or by visiting the First-Year and Student Transitions website.