Students in Professor William Ruhf’s forensic science class thought they were showing up for a lecture, but were instead tasked with investigating a crime scene.
The Michigan State Police showed up to Professor William Ruhf’s classroom at Davenport University, telling the professor and students that a crime had been committed on campus and that their help was needed to figure out what happened.
It was, of course, not a real crime scene, but Ruhf intended to make the situation feel as authentic as possible for his students.
In an article on Davenport University's website, Ruhf discussed the intention behind surprising his students in this way, saying, “We wanted the scenario to play out as it would in real life, with no advance notice. When you work in forensics, calls come at all times of the day and night, so you always have to be ready to respond.”
Ruhf has connections to the crime lab at the Michigan State Police department, which made pulling off this kind of event simple. He has worked in their forensic lab for the past 34 years.
Students arrived at the scene of crime, which depicted evidence of shots being fired and a body being dragged into a swap. The students were divided up to accomplish different tasks to solve the crime. Some students analyzed bullet casings, DNA samples, and footprints, and others took photographs and collected evidence.
They treated the scenario as if it were a real crime scene and submitted a report about their findings at the end of class. It was a great exercise for the students to be able to get hands-on experience and really get a look at what it would be like to work in forensic science in the future.
Student Riley Schroeder said, “It was refreshing to be able to learn the material in this format versus just talking in class about how a crime scene would be handled. What I enjoyed most is that it was like solving a puzzle and it got the whole class to work together.”
For more information about Davenport University, visit the school’s website.