Learning Communities Research and Practice (LCRP - E-Journal, Washington Center at The Evergreen State College Research)
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Joining “Us”; Creating and Maintaining a Discipline-based Learning Community
Get PDFThe article describes the development of a disciplinary living/learning community in political science; the authors, two faculty members, started the community in the fall of 2012. The faculty leaders describe the various practices used to integrate political science courses in two subfields: American politics and international politics. In particular, the authors consider how, over the past five semesters, they have adapted their teaching practices to provide members of the LLC with a more holistic understanding of political processes, methods, and outcomes. They argue that their model would be applicable to a wide array of disciplines
The Right Time: Building the Learning Community Movement
Get PDFThe author argues that the current conjuncture is a kairotic moment for their own learning community program as well as the national movement to support the development of learning communities in universities and colleges and the array of pedagogical approaches associated with them. With Barbara Leigh Smith (2013), they recognize a link between the social justice movements of the 1960s and the learning community movement both in their commitments to democracy and their organizing strategies. Through relating the story of their own experience as co-directors of the LIU Brooklyn Learning Community program, specifying different inventions, audiences, and purposes driving that initiative, they further suggest that learning communities have the potential not only to reinvigorate teaching and learning but also to contribute to struggles for a more democratic, compassionate society
Review of Writing American Cultures: Stories of Identity, Community, and Place
Get PDFReview of Writing American Culture: Stories of Identity, Community & Place. Sam Schrager, Ed. Olympia, WA: The Evergreen State College Press, 2013, 251 pp. This collection of ethnographic essays was produced by students in the 2011-2012 Writing American Cultures Program at the Evergreen State College. Each contribution shows how advanced interdisciplinary work, pursued in a learning community, can result in powerful, critically astute writing and analysis by undergraduates
Inventing and Implementing LLCs at an HBCU in One Year: Lessons Learned
Get PDFLiving-Learning Communities (LLCs) have proven to be a successful high impact practice at institutions across the nation. Norfolk State University (NSU), a Historically Black University, recently established a formal LLC program as a part of the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). Through a strong partnership with Academic and Student Affairs, NSU implemented and invented LLCs all within one academic year. Similar to the collaborative nature of LLCs, this paper examines the lessons learned from various perspectives (LLC director, teaching dean, faculty liaison, faculty) during the rapid inventing and implementing of LLCs
Recommendations from the Field: Creating an LGBTQ Learning Community
Get PDFThis article details the creation of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) learning community. Created because of research that indicates chilly campus climates (Rankin, 2005), as well as particular needs of LGBTQ students in the classroom, this learning community focused upon LGBTQ topics in and out of the classroom. While overall the learning community was successful, recommendations of increasing partnerships with other campus offices is detailed. In addition, critical questions of reframing learning communities as being essential for identity are outlined
Exploring Living Learning Community: Aiding Undecided Students\u27 Decision Making or Simply a Residence Hall Option?
Get PDFThis research explored first year undecided college student experiences with a Living Learning Community (LLC) designed to aid them in major and career decision making process. The study took place at a public high research Midwestern university. Twelve students who were undeclared majors when they began college participated in the study. The LLC’s provides specific programming and academic advising for undecided students. The study examined student experiences with both the programmatic and advising components of the LLC.
The project was conducted using grounded theory techniques, phenomenological perspective, and semi-structured interviewing technique. At the time of interview, some students had declared majors, while others had not. Themes emerged from the data, categorized into one of the four S’s of Schlossberg’s transition theory. The study provided insight into how students made meaning of their experiences which can aid professional practice for supporting this unique populations and creating effective Living Learning Communities with similar learning outcomes
Broadening Participation in Research Focused, Upper-Division Learning Communities
Get PDFWe address several challenges faced by those who wish to increase the number of faculty participating in upper-division learning communities that feature a student research experience. Using illustrations from our own learning community, we describe three strategies for success that focus on providing low cost incentives and other means to promote and sustain faculty cooperation
Marketing Learning Communities to Generation Z: The importance of face-to-face interaction in a digitally driven world
Get PDFThis article aims to identify the marketing strategies utilized by Learning Community (LC) administrators at two large, public, four-year research universities in the Midwest. The use of digital media coupled with face-to-face interaction is identified as an effective method of marketing LCs to the newest population of incoming college students, referred to as Generation Z. The students who fall into the Generation Z population are identified as technologically savvy and highly attuned to the variety of digital platforms available to share, gather, and exchange information. They expect to receive information through digital media. Findings on LC marketing success indicate that LC administrators should utilize current trends of conveying information through digital marketing strategies which serve to reinforce face-to-face interactions in order to recruit Generation Z students into LC programs
Learning Communities: Foundations for First-Year Students’ Development of Pluralistic Outcomes
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to investigate the associations between first-year undergraduates’ (n = 1,701) participation in learning communities and their development of leadership and multicultural competence. The sample included first-year students who were enrolled at six large, public research universities in 2012 and completed the Student Experience in the Research University (SERU) survey. The results of hierarchical regression analyses suggest students who participated in learning communities reported significantly higher development of leadership and multicultural competence controlling for demographic variables, perceptions of leadership and multicultural competence when they started college, participation in other high-impact educational practices (i.e., first-year seminars, common book reading programs, and learning communities), academic engagement, sense of belonging, faculty interactions, and perceptions of campus climate
Informed Faith and Reason: A Perspective on Learning Community Pedagogy
Get PDFThe curriculum of each learning community at Duquesne University is integrated around a shared theme. The integrated classes equip students to articulate their biases in reference to the theme. The residual effect of the thematic communities is a byproduct of pedagogy informed by theory and embodied in service. The learning communities at Duquesne invite students into an intellectual community guided by questions, not answers, where their perspectives are valued. In this perspective, I outline three theoretical frameworks – constructive hermeneutic, faith and reason, and the Duquesne mission – that informed my own pedagogy in Duquesne’s Justitia learning community