Learning Communities Research and Practice (LCRP - E-Journal, Washington Center at The Evergreen State College Research)
Not a member yet
134 research outputs found
Sort by
Students Teaching Students: A Method for Collaborative Learning
Get PDFThe Student Small Group Presentation (SSGP) model, a student-centered approach, is introduced and applied to learning communities. Similar to the jigsaw classroom, small groups of students in learning communities are responsible for teaching material to their peers. Unlike other jigsaw techniques, presentation groups in the SSGP teach an entire lesson based on collaborative work conducted outside of class. Presenters are responsible for thorough analysis of course material as they lead a discussion among a small group of peers. Students meet with the same small group throughout the semester, creating a feeling of intimate community within the larger learning community. By challenging students to become well versed on a section of course material, SSGPs promote student confidence, enhance critical thinking skills, and provide the opportunity to work as a member of a team.
Jean Halley is an Associate Professor of Sociology at College of Staten Island, CUNY, in Staten Island, NY. Her most recent book is The Parallel Lives of Women and Cows: Meat Markets (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).
Amy Eshleman is a Professor of Psychology at Wagner College in Staten Island, NY
Attitudinal Outcomes of a Multicultural Learning Community Experience: A Qualitative Analysis
Get PDFResearch investigating the long-term effects of learning communities on students is scarce. This qualitative study focuses on the results of 24 in-depth interviews with students three years after participating in a first year learning community at a private, selective Midwestern university. Interview questions were designed to probe students’ shifts in personal biases and stereotypes, factors related to their decisions to become involved with the learning community, self-reported levels of satisfaction with the learning community, and suggestions for improving future learning communities. Results of the interviews were positive, and also suggested the value of explicit communication about the purpose of the learning community. The authors point out the value of ongoing continuous improvement efforts
Grading the Group: QUANTA 2.0 and the Peer Review
Get PDFCan students assess their peers on collaboration, a key practice in learning communities? The QUANTA program is a team-taught, two-semester coordinated studies program that is over 25 years old. The central governing ideas for the program are a belief in the social construction of knowledge, and recognition of the value of active, collaborative learning. Explicit instruction in and assessment of collaborative learning has always been part of the program. When new faculty took over QUANTA in its 24th year, they experimented with “The Peer Review,” a tool developed by Michaelsen, Knight and Fink (2004) in which students rate other members of their group but not themselves. They discovered that students could assess collaboration; ironically, as part of their collaborative work, students also found ways to subvert the tool and turn it to their own purpose
Academic Development of First-Year Living-Learning Program Students before and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005
Get PDFPrevious research suggests that the far-reaching impacts of hurricanes include the academic performance of students. In an examination of such impacts, we found a trend toward self-perceived decline in some performance indicators relative to students at peer universities. However, few longitudinal impacts were found, perhaps because of the sense of community offered by the living-learning program. These results may inform administrators and faculty of areas for emphasis in mitigating future impacts.
Robert V. Rohli is a Professor of Geography and Faculty Director of the Residential Colleges Program at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA.
Kurt J. Keppler is Vice Chancellor for Student Life & Enrollment at Louisiana State University.
Daniel L. Winkler is a Graduate Assistant at Louisiana State University
Applying TLC (a Targeted Learning Community) to Transform Teaching and Learning in Science
Get PDFThis article describes the development of a Targeted Learning Community (TLC) that supports first-year science students enrolled in a General Chemistry course. Drawing on student feedback and knowledge and expertise in their respective disciplines, four faculty members from two colleges at Kennesaw State University came together to develop a learning community that would prevent early attrition in the science majors and increase student metacognition. In this paper, the design of the TLC is presented, and the effect it had on faculty vitality is discussed.
Ruth A. Goldfine is Chair of the Department of First-Year and Transition Studies at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, GA.
Hillary H. Steiner (Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology) and Stephanie M. Foote (Associate Professor of Education and Director of the Master of Science in First Year Studies) are also members of the Department of First-Year and Transition Studies at Kennesaw State University.
Michelle L. Dean is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Kennesaw State University
When the Students We Have Are Not the Students We Want: The Transformative Power of Learning Communities
Get PDFWithin a 25-year period, the dramatic changes from college education as a “private good” that serves a predominantly white male student population to college education as a “public good”—where almost 90% of high school students of all racial and ethnic backgrounds aspire to attend college—has forced higher education to face a new complex reality: the students present are not the ones we know how to teach. Faced with a series of problems associated with student persistence, retention, and graduation, the challenge for learning community practitioners is to provide evidence to campus leaders that “the magic ingredient” of most successful learning communities—the collaboration between student affairs and academic affairs—does make a difference in student engagement and success. Without evidence and proof, though, learning community programs will not be allocated needed resources. This transcript of a 2007 keynote was given at the 12th Annual National Learning Communities Conference by the statewide director of the P-20 alignment work at the University System of Maryland
Building Community Partnerships with Adults with Disabilities: A Case Study Using Narrative Literacy as a Conduit for Shared Learning
Get PDFBuilding relationships between traditional college students and adults with disabilities is an important yet little understood aspect of civic engagement. The case study presented in this paper built one such relationship by utilizing a shared narrative project to construct an equitable collaborative experience between a set of students from Wagner College and some adults with intellectual disabilities from a community organization, Lifestyles for the Disabled. We also discuss learning outcomes of this project, which included a deeper understanding and connection between people who learn differently.
David S. Gordon is Assistant Professor of Education at Wagner College in Staten Island, NY.
Cyril Ghosh is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Affairs at Wagner College
Improving the Success of Transfer Students: Responding to Risk Factors
Get PDFHow can learning communities be designed to reduce transfer student stress and enhance their learning? This study was designed to investigate the impact of the Criminal Justice Transfer Learning Community experience on its participants’ level of identified stressors over time and their means of coping with those stressors. The Criminal Justice Transfer Learning Community extended for two terms, and was designed to facilitate students’ integration into the university and the criminal justice community. Students in the learning community were asked on multiple occasions to identify stressors and rate their intensity. According to the students, the largest impact on stress reduction was the feeling of belonging to their learning community cohort and the university community
Assessing the Effectiveness of a Learning Community Course Design to Improve the Math Performance of First-Year Students
Get PDFNational attention is focused on the persistent high failure rates for students enrolled in math courses, and the search for strategies to change these outcomes is on. This study used a mixed-method research design to assess the effectiveness of a learning community course designed to improve the math performance levels of first-year students. Results suggested that investing resources into learning community programs that help students meet collegiate-level math course demands helps promote academic success in math courses and eases students’ college transitions. Participants in the math learning communities reported significantly higher rates of using academic supports, engaging in campus activities, and understanding general education learning outcomes compared to a quasi-control group of students enrolled in the same math courses. Math learning community participants enrolled in introductory algebra courses had higher levels of math performance compared to nonparticipants
Using Faculty Learning Communities to Link FYE and High-Risk Core Courses: A Pilot Study
Get PDFCan success rates in a gateway course be improved by linking it to a college success course? This article describes the results of a pilot study that linked a first-year biology course that had a high drop-out and failure rate to a college success course that included study skills. The proposal to link courses came from the work of a faculty learning community aimed at sharing strategies for increasing engagement in first year courses. Faculty involved in the link worked closely together. The college success course used biology content to provide hands-on study skills applications for students. The results illustrate that students in the pilot program did significantly better in the biology course as well as in their overall fall GPA than students in the same biology course who were not in the learning community