By engaging in activities outside of the classroom, students have the opportunity to experience the engineering discourse community. For students to become cohesive members of their chosen field, they must first “learn to use the common language of engineers (Winsor 8).” If a student acquires the academic knowledge necessary for engineering, but is deficient in the language of engineering, his or her “say-do-be-evaluate-believe combination” is inconsistent (Gee 28). According to James Paul Gee, mastery of a discourse occurs through “enculturation in social practices…and sustained interaction with people who already master the discourse (29).” Proving that if a student just attends a class without participating in real-world applications of engineering, they know how to design, but they cannot be an engineer. Students will learn that “the majority of what they learn in class does not matter until they apply it outside [the classroom] (Akpabio, Ini). » Since “discourse communities share assumptions about what objects are appropriate for examination and discussion,” participation in clubs will allow students to develop direct experience with projects that engineers are currently working on (Porter 82 ). Be an active member in engineering