Abstracts - 19.2 Learning Communities: Students at the Center
Learning Communities: Foundations for Student Learning and Engagement
Frank E. Ross and Scott E. Evenbeck
Implementation of First-Year Seminars, the Summer Academy Bridge Program, and Themed Learning Communities
Lauren P. Chism, Sarah S. Baker, Michele J. Hansen, Gayle Williams
Many colleges offer a summer bridge program and even more offer learning communities for first-year students. Few, however, link these initiatives. This article will offer brief descriptions of IUPUI's successful bridge, learning community, and themed learning community (TLC) initiatives; examine the links between them; and share assessment data, concentrating on students who are involved in all three initiatives.
At the Boundaries, in the Trenches: Curriculum Development and Implementation in Learning Communities at an Urban Commuter College
Ellen R. Belton and Tracey F. Lander
One of the greatest difficulties facing learning community programs at urban non-residential colleges and universities is the challenge of promoting communication and collaboration among faculty from different disciplines. In this article, the authors, a learning communities coordinator and a learning communities faculty team member, describe and reflect on the outcomes of a semester-long faculty development seminar designed to facilitate the exploration of common learning goals and the development of integrative learning activities and assignments.
The First Year College Village: How Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Works Together
Dr. John Ambrose, Karen Hauschild, and Kathleen Ruppe
This article will highlight the partnership between First Year College and University Housing at North Carolina State. We will address how an academic college has evolved into a living and learning community including information about our Resident Mentor position, First Year Inquiry (FYI) courses and our linked-course program, the Student Affairs/Academic Affairs partnership, the Village Advisory Council, our faculty involvement through the Faculty Fellows Program, and our assessment to date.
Developmental Reading Learning Communities in the First-Year Experience
Ann Gabbert, Corrine Peschka, and Jackie Spradley
The University of Texas at El Paso offers over seventy learning communities to first-year students from extremely diverse socioeconomic and educational backgrounds. Ninety percent are Hispanic, 54 percent are first-generation college students, and 59 percent must participate in developmental classes before moving forward with college-level courses. The following article offers a descriptive snapshot of the successes and foibles of developmental reading learning communities at an urban commuter university with a nontraditional student body.
New Directions for Learning Community Assessment and Research
Juan Carlos Huerta
At the 12th Annual National Learning Communities Conference in November 2007, Juan Carlos Huerta, Gale Stuart, Lauren Chism, and Michele Hansen participated in a panel discussion about new directions in learning communities assessment and research. The intent of the panel discussion was to hear from those involved in learning community assessment, research, and administration about what they believe future research and assessment needs to address. What follows is a summary of each panelist's presentation.
