Learning Communities Research and Practice (LCRP - E-Journal, Washington Center at The Evergreen State College Research)
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Understanding the Impact of Learning Community Support for STEM students with Low Mathematics Placement
Get PDFAs a residential college within Michigan State University that focuses on STEM fields, Lyman Briggs College developed a STEM learning community to support students with low mathematics placement test scores, the Instilling Quantitative and Integrative Reasoning program (INQUIRE). INQUIRE serves some of those students considered historically at-risk based on STEM retention and graduation rates. INQUIRE was developed as learning community using curricular design, cohort-building activities, and academic resources to assist students’ transition to college. Participating students were surveyed to understand the student experience of INQUIRE. Students’ responses indicated that the program helped them adjust to college, prepare for introductory STEM courses, collaborate with other students and faculty, and experience academic and personal growth. A few students (4%) stated that the program put them behind their peers. Quantitatively, four-year STEM retention showed an increase from 43 to 56% for students starting in college-level algebra but remained statistically unchanged for those beginning in pre-college algebra (moving from 31 to 37%). The six-year graduation rates for both groups remained unchanged. These results indicate the difficulty in improving the graduation rates of students with low mathematics placement but indicate that INQUIRE made a positive and meaningful impact on students’ experience
Acquiring Social Capital: Conclusions from a Social Science Summer Bridge Community
Get PDFIn an effort to improve performance and retention of first-year college students, a few institutions have started offering summer bridge programs. Varying from days to weeks or months, these programs offer an extended orientation to college life, teach specific academic skills and/or content, and help students form social connections with peers, faculty, and staff and increasing their social capital. While bridge programs are gaining popularity in STEM fields, there is potential value in expanding these programs to other disciplines. In this analysis, we offer both a narrative summary and findings from our summer bridge program and living learning community in the social sciences. Results include positive student perceptions of the program and mixed results regarding academic performance and retention rate. We conclude with an overview of lessons learned and future directions for summer bridge programs and living learning communities, as well as empirical research in this domain
The Impact of Learning Communities on the Experiences of Developmental Students in Community College: A Qualitative Study
Get PDFThis study explores the impact of a first-semester learning community (LC) program on the experiences of developmental students in community college. Through a series of semi-structured interviews, students shared four central benefits of beginning their college careers in an LC program, including: 1) access to a supportive social and intellectual community, 2) opportunities for interdisciplinary thinking, 3) changes in perceptions of remediation and enhanced self-efficacy, and 4) the occasion to experience a more active and engaging pedagogy. Students also articulated what they experienced as drawbacks of their LC experience, underscoring a perceived lack of opportunity to connect with the larger college community and hyperbonding among peers. I consider the implications of these findings for future research and practice in providing developmental students in community college LC programs with quality learning experiences
The Lasting Effects of Learning Communities
Get PDFA majority of the research on the impact of learning communities has focused on the positive outcomes for students in their first year of study (Andrade, 2007; Goldman, 2012; Laverick, 2018; Wathington, Pretlow, & Mitchell, 2010). Less is known about the impact of learning community involvement as students complete their enrollment and persist through their next three (or more) years of education. Recent studies have addressed learning community involvement using qualitative measures. This article adds to the literature on learning community impact by describing an investigation of how juniors and seniors characterize the influence of their first-year learning community participation. Findings from the study illuminated the importance of faculty involvement and preparation, the use of High-Impact Practices (HIPS), and ways we might attend to peer dynamics in our learning community classrooms. The practice of following students to determine the possible lasting effects of learning communities has informed our work, and we argue that this practice should be included in learning community program assessment
Transfer student success: Yet more support for learning communities
Get PDFTransfer students face an array of difficulties upon entering colleges and universities. As a result, many institutions have begun creating learning communities in order to help transfer students integrate and cope with the changes that come with the transfer process associated with enrolling in college or university. This paper describes the development and examines the efficacy of learning communities for transfer students entering a university. This article presents descriptive, demographic, academic and social outcomes from data gathered from the participants in the Criminal Justice Learning Community (CJLC) at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte as well as those of non-participants over the same 10-year period. These data reveal that students who participate in learning communities have better academic outcomes—better overall grades and increased graduation rates—than their peers who did not participate in the CJLC
The Relationship between Metacognitive Reflection, PBL, and Postformal Thinking among First-Year Learning Community Students
Get PDFWynn, Mosholder, & Larsen (2014, 2016) studied the effect of problem-based learning (PBL) on the development of postformal thinking (PFT) skills among first-year learning community (LC) students and attributed the significant PFT gains, in part, to the metacognitive reflection component of their PBL method, recommending it as a way to facilitate PFT skills. The current study tested this relationship by comparing PFT growth of first-year LC students who practiced metacognitive reflection during six PBL activities in their LC course (n = 20) with PFT growth of students who completed the same PBL activities without metacognitive reflection in a control group section of the same LC course (n = 17). T-Test results showed significant pre vs post PFT gains in both sections, but no significant difference of normalized mean gain scores between groups. End of Study Questionnaire comments from students in both groups included similar descriptions regarding the extent to which their thinking skills expanded as a result of their PBL experiences. Results indicated that PFT gains among first-year LC students may be facilitated through modeling and cognitive scaffolding of PFT systems (relativistic and dialectical) during multiple PBL experiences without explicitly identifying and reflecting on the cognitive systems utilized
Notes for this Issue
Get PDFFrom the design of learning community programs to the creation of learning community assignments, being intentional—understanding who our students are and staying focused on their needs and goals—is how we do learning communities well
The Critical Nature of Intentionality When Supporting Academically Underprepared Students Through Learning Communities
Get PDFMore and more academically underprepared students enter our colleges and universities, and research suggests that traditional efforts at remediation can exacerbate the self-doubt often experienced by at-risk students. While learning communities have been shown to offer under prepared students the support they need to become active participants in their learning, the success of learning communities for this population depends upon the intentional implementation of four key features: integrative learning, collaborative classrooms, co-curricular support, and increased faculty-student interaction
Learning Community Coordinator Efforts to Address Students with Potential Psychiatric/Psychological Disabilities
Get PDFIn structuring and providing leadership for learning community programs, learning community coordinators must address myriad issues and situations in order to create an experience that aids student learning and success. All types of students participate in learning communities, including students with psychiatric/psychological disabilities; however, learning community coordinators may not proactively consider ways of addressing the needs of this particular student population. This qualitative study explored the experiences of learning community coordinators working with students with psychiatric/psychological disabilities within the specific context of the learning community and sought to identify successes, challenges, and recommendations for working with these students. Participants highlighted the value of student self-disclosure, the benefits of utilizing peer mentors, colleague challenges, successes they experienced working with students with psychiatric/psychological disabilities, and recommendations for other learning community coordinators
To Have and to Hold: Reflections of an Interim Director
Get PDFLeading a long-established LLC as an Interim Director poses particular challenges and rewards. Uncertainties abound for the program and for the individual. Professionally speaking, taking on the hybrid role of faculty/administrator can be both difficult and exciting. Ultimately, the solutions are in the details. Listening carefully to students, understanding institutional history, and looking toward the demands of the future can help an Interim Director care-take the program. In this reflection on my experience with the Russell Scholars Program at the University of Southern Maine, I seek to show how a commitment to student engagement is the bedrock for a successful interim period. From holding to stewarding to shaping, an Interim Director can support and buoy an established program. From a background in literature and creative writing, I discovered the poetry of work in the complexity of this new role. Rather than threaten to destabilize a settled environment, an interim period can provide a necessary pause for reflection and appreciation. As with other interstices, the period between permanent directorships can be rich with new energy, new ways of seeing, and new appreciation for the philosophical undergirding of the original LLC