Innovative Educators Presents Creating Learning Communities to Enhance Student Success Dr. Jodi Levine Laufgraben Temple University

Focus for this Webinar Things to consider when… Developing – Overview of models and definitions – Implementation issues Sustaining – Benefits – Maintenance issues Assessing – Methods – Outcomes Learning Communities.

Outcomes After this webinar, participants will be able to: Identify the goals and purposes of implementing learning communities on their campus Describe the basic definitions and models of learning communities Imagine a learning community offering List the implementation and sustainability issues facing their campus’ efforts Consider ways of assessing learning communities

Background: Knowledge Probe Before we start, take a few moments to answer the following questions: A learning community is… “Our Campus” is implementing learning communities to… Evidence of success will include… Background Knowledge Probe is a classroom assessment technique that can be found in Angelo and Cross (1993) Classroom Assessment Techniques. Jossey-Bass.

Your responses With your colleagues, share your response to the question: “Our Campus is implementing learning communities to…”..And me (Q&A feature) some of your answers for the group discussion.

Part I: Develop

Aims/Goals of Learning Communities It begins with goals… Increase curricular coherence Promote deep learning Connect skill and content areas Build community Revitalize faculty Revitalize the institution Promote diversity Enhance student engagement Increase retention Enhance student achievement

What is a Learning Community? A variety of approaches that link or cluster classes during a given term, often around an interdisciplinary theme, that enroll a common cohort of students. This represents an intentional restructuring of students’ time, credit and learning experiences to foster more explicit intellectual connections between students, between students and their faculty, and between disciplines. Source: Gabelnick, MacGregor, Matthews, and Smith (1990) Learning Communities: Creating Connections Among Students, Faculty and Disciplines. Jossey-Bass. Curricular Learning Communities

Dimensions of LCs Student collaboration Faculty collaboration Curricular coordination Shared setting Interactive pedagogy Where is your campus on each dimension? Low………Mid……….High Love, A.G. and Tokuno, K.A. (1999) Learning communities models. In J. Levine (Ed.) Learning Communities: New Structures, New Partnerships for Learning. Columbia, South Carolina: National Center for the Freshman Year Experience and Students in Transition Monograph Series.

“Learning” and “Community” as both means and end COMMUNITY as a strategy to strengthen LEARNING and… LEARNING to work and to understand more deeply the value and challenges of COMMUNITY Slide provided by Jean MacGregor, National Learning Communities Project, The Evergreen State College

Programs in which a small cohort of students enrolls in larger classes that faculty DO NOT coordinate. Intellectual connections and community- building often take place in an additional integrative seminar. Programs of two or more classes linked thematically or by content, which a cohort of students takes together. The faculty DO plan the program collaboratively. Programs of coursework that faculty members team-teach. The course work is embedded in an integrated program of study. shading represents the student cohort Learning Communities can be structured as: +

Goal: The creation of small effective academic learning communities in a large college setting. “F.I.G.’s” - Freshman Interest Groups Vehicle: Triads of courses offered around an area of interest, an interdisciplinary topic, or courses related to a specific major. Each F.I.G. has a peer advisor, a more advanced student who convenes the group weekly to form study groups, to learn about campus resources, and to plan social gatherings. Pre-Law F.I.G. American Government + Intro. to Philosophy: Ethics + Fundamentals of Public Speaking + F.I.G. Discussion Group

Goal: Curricular coherence and integrating skill and content teaching Two courses for which students co-register. Generally, faculty work to coordinate syllabi and assignments, but teach their classes separately. Often, a writing or speech course is linked to a lecture-centered course, or a mathematics course is linked to a science course. Linked or Paired Courses

Some Examples American Political Systems College Composition College Math Introduction to Psychology General Chemistry Calculus First-Year Writing Introduction to Philosophy Theater Humanities

Two, three or more courses fully team-taught as an integrated program. Goals: More intensive student immersion in interrelated topics, a theme or question Faculty participating as learners as well as teachers The blurring of boundaries between disciplines or courses in favor of a larger whole The faculty development that emerges from collaboratively planning, delivering and reflecting on a coordinated program Team Taught Coordinated Studies

Problems Without Solutions? A year-long program at The Evergreen State College Coordinated Studies Sample Schedule

Successful Learning Community Implementation Successful Learning Community implementation requires extensive cross-unit coordination: Assessment Evaluation Program Delivery Registrar Registration Publicity Student Recruitment Involvement of Academic Advisors Goals for the LC Effort Faculty Recruitment Faculty Development Support LC Offerings Models Planning Calendar Scheduling - Time - Rooms Locus of Learning Community Leadership

Learning Communities represent a transformation in how we think about structuring teaching and learning environments. Impetus for Change Administrative Support Leadership Team Comprehensive View/Shared Vision Strategic Plan Inclusive Planning Student-Focused Goals Faculty Involvement Project Director Information Networks Resources Incentives and Rewards Source: National Learning Communities Project Critical Elements of the Change Process

Part II: Sustain

Teaching in Communities Responsibility for learning is shared with student Teacher: – Invests expertise into designing new learning tasks – Performs helping functions probing encouraging explaining – Listens to students – Evaluates and assesses student learning and tasks

Successful Teaching Practices Use information technology Allow as much time as possible for pre-semester community planning Anticipate problems Consider the community plan “bendable” Frequently debrief and adjust plan Adapted from Strommer, “Teaching and Learning in a Learning Community”

Successful Teaching Practices in LCs Emphasize active learning approaches Allow time for process Build in classroom assessment Feature a “community-defining event” early in the term – Attend a film, concert or theatrical performance – Participate in a community service project

Successful learning communities create or deepen the connections between and among students and teachers… INTERPERSONAL Students with each other Students with their teachers Faculty with each other CURRICULAR Between academic disciplines Between in-class work and homework Between theory and practice CO-CURRICULAR Academic programs and residence life Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Students with academic advising and support resources Connections

Organizational dynamics and change as a process Purposes of learning communities Integration of LCs with mission of the institution Expansion of LC leadership across campus Continued buy-in and involvement of new faculty Extent of curricular integration Sustained faculty development Availability of resources Assessment, and… New ideas, new energy, new vision! Critical Elements to Sustaining LCs Source: Love, A.G. in Levine Laufgraben & Shapiro (2004), Sustaining and Improving Learning Communities. Jossey-Bass.

The 10 minute Community Consider what courses/disciplines you might like to bring together to create a community around this theme. Discuss the type of learning community (FIG, link, …) how the theme will be addressed across the courses, assignments or learning activities for students, and teaching strategies to engage students in active and collaborative learning. Theme: A Different Angle Report out in just 10 minutes!!!

Part III: Assess

Effective Learning Communities Effective Learning Communities have a number of distinctive features: They are usually smaller than most other units on campus. They have a sense of purpose. They help overcome the isolation of faculty members from one another and from their students. They encourage faculty members to relate to one another both as specialists and as educators. (In effect this encourages the development of new faculty roles.) They encourage continuity and integration in the curriculum. They help build a sense of group identity, cohesion, and “specialness.” Source: Involvement in Learning, 1984.

Some Purposes of Learning Communities Assessment: Program description – Describing the program to others Program monitoring – Monitoring the program over time Program impact – Assessing program impact Program improvement – Evaluating program for improvement Program validation – Building support through assessment Assessment

Collaboration and Multiple Methods – Building partnerships through assessment – Understanding learning communities through multiple lenses Quantitative Methods – Comparative descriptive data – Comparative longitudinal tracking – Comparative survey data Qualitative Methods – Interviews – Focus groups – Diaries, journals, etc. – Portfolios Methods

Student outcomes – Student retention, achievement – Student involvement, motivation – Time to degree, degree completion – Intellectual development Faculty outcomes – Faculty development in terms of expanded repertoire of teaching approaches, revised course content, and new scholarly interests. – Faculty mentoring – Faculty engagement with beginning students, with general education offerings. Institutional outcomes – Learning communities as “skunk works,” i.e., R&D sites for curriculum development, and the strengthening of teaching and learning Are Learning Communities Effective?

Final Assessment On a piece of paper, list 5-7 items/issues that will be essential to the success of learning communities on your campus. Include one approach for assessing your learning community initiative. Focused Listing is a classroom assessment technique that can be found in Angelo and Cross (1993) Classroom Assessment Techniques. Jossey-Bass.

National Learning Communities Project National Learning Commons Website

Resources Shapiro, N. S., and J. H. Levine Creating Learning Communities: A Practical Guide to Winning Support, Organizing for Change, and Implementing Programs. Jossey-Bass. Smith, B. L "The Challenge of Learning Communities as a Growing National Movement." Peer Review. Association of American Colleges & Universities. 3/4, (4/1) Summer/Fall: 4-8. Laufgraben, J. L. and Shapiro N. S Sustaining and Improving Learning Communities. Jossey-Bass. Smith, B. L., J. MacGregor, R. Matthews, and F. Gabelnick Learning Communities: Reforming Undergraduate Education. Jossey-Bass.

Q & A

Final Thoughts Slides and Recording – – We will send you a link to view the recording by the end of the day on Friday – Evaluation Exit Thank You