Learning Communities

Introduction  Informal Session---- Brainstorming  Session grew out of a sense that we need to try something different if we are ever going to have Learning Communities at FSU  Learning Communities: When a group of students take a common set of courses, usually 2-3.  Lots of different models for Learning Communities, but generally a group of students is enrolled in a common set of classes that are tied together with a common set of themes, readings, assignments, etc.

Advantages of Learning Communities  Creates a sense of community among the students, which is especially attractive for 1 st year students  Enhances relationships between the students, between the faculty and the students, as well as between the faculty who are part of the Learning Community.  Enhances student engagement  Assists with student retention  Facilitates the students’ ability to make connections between the courses they are enrolled in.  Enables faculty to learn from each other.

Challenges to Creating Learning Communities  Need for Buy-In from Faculty & Administration- --- takes a real commitment  Time: Faculty have to coordinate their teaching with one another, which takes a great deal of time and effort.  Due to the additional time and effort, faculty need to be compensated --- usually with course reductions for planning and teaching the Learning Communities.

Challenges to Creating Learning Communities, Cont.  Cost: It is expensive to compensate the faculty for their involvement, Course Reductions can quickly add up, ideally there should be a Learning Communities Coordinator who helps coordinate the different Learning Communities, assesses their effectiveness, etc. That person would probably be a faculty member teaching a reduced course load.

Challenges to Creating Learning Communities, Cont.  In many models the students take 2 common courses, and then they are also in a Freshman Seminar class where they learn study skills, get oriented to the campus, and it also ties together the themes of the classes they are taking. Again, this is expensive to implement.

Learning Communities at FSU: A Brief History  LA&S Curriculum calls for Learning Communities as part of the 1 st Year Experience.  The LA&S Council actually wanted to call for a program of Learning Communities at the Junior or Senior level as well but scaled back the initiative.  Patrice Gray, John Chetro-Szivos and I attended a conference on Learning Communities

Learning Communities at FSU: A Brief History, Cont.  Two Pilot Programs with Learning Communities: a) Tried to launch a Pilot with 1 Learning Community but due to logistical glitches it didn’t get off ground. b) 2 nd Pilot: Planned to have 2 Pilot Learning Communities, one failed to get enough enrollment but one taught by Ben Lieberman, Ben Railton and I did run. It comprised Global issues, World Civ 3 and Writing 2. We had some common themes and readings but it wasn’t as developed as we’d have liked. We didn’t have much time to coordinate, some students were in the classes but not in the other classes (due to enrollment issues, administrative pressures to fill classes.)

Learning Communities at FSU: A Brief History, Cont.  There has been extensive discussion to create a 1 st Year Seminar, and possibly linking that with a Learning Community. I served on that committee for a number of years, but it is very expensive to create a seminar for every 1 st year student.

Now What?  While there are lots of benefits to be had from Learning Communities, the cost of implementing such a program seems prohibitive.  So, is there a way we could have Learning Communities but for less?

Informal Learning Communities  Without the institutional support I don’t think we can expect to implement Learning Communities at FSU.  Informal Learning Communities: Often there are classes that explore common themes that would be natural combinations in a Learning Community. For example, when I was teaching Dilemmas of Peace and War and Joe Moser was teaching Issues Surrounding War in Film, we brought our classes together once to watch a film together and then discuss it.

Informal Learning Communities, Cont.  But, our classes met at completely different times that semester so it was hard to bring our classes together. But if we had offered our classes at the same time, we could have created an informal Learning Community where the two classes met more often for discussions.  There are lots of other potential combinations of courses that could combine in an informal Learning Community, if there was a way to facilitate it---- our challenge for today’s session!

Questions to Consider  How could we create a system where a faculty member could find out what other faculty members will be teaching so they could arrange an Informal Learning Community before they submit their class schedule?  How could we create a system where faculty could find out about some potential courses to link with?

Questions to Consider  Is there a way to bring faculty together if their courses address similar themes?