One Community, Many Lenses: Comparing Behavioral Health Students’ Perceptions of an HBCU Learning Community

Reviewed by: Building Community: Stories and Strategies for Future Learning Community Faculty and Professionals Kirsten Kennedy Building Community: Stories and Strategies for Future Learning Community Faculty and Professionals. Terra Peckskamp & Carrie McLaughlin (Editors). The Graduate School Press Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 123 pages, $19.95 (softcover) With more institutions creating, sustaining, deepening, and broadening their learning community efforts, Building Community seeks to share stories of success and challenge that will assist colleges and universities create a learning community program that “has positive impacts on students, engages faculty, and is well coordinated” (p. 2). Editors Terra Peckskamp and Carrie McLaughlin from Syracuse University utilize local contributors for their stories. Certainly Syracuse has a strong history of learning communities, consistently ranked as one of the top learning community schools by US News and World Report. The book is separated into two major sections: the first provides a foundation of the history, structure and assessment of learning communities; the second is a series of 12 essays by Syracuse University graduate students, staff and a sprinkling of faculty about their experiences teaching and learning in a learning community. The text begins with a brief and recent history of learning community concepts by Dianna Winslow. Heather Strine Patton follows with a primer on the variety in structural configurations of learning communities. The next two chapters focus on qualitative assessment of learning communities, with jared halter and Camila Lertora Nardozzi providing tips and strategies for qualitative learning community assessment, and W. Leslie Burleson and Michele Tarnow revealing challenges and recommendations from faculty and staff involved in learning communities. The second section of the book includes a dozen reflective essays about Syracuse University learning communities. Eileen Strempel describes her experience integrating her art course with a writing course. Based on his experience in the Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship learning community, Eric M. Alderman provides a how-to guide on creating a new learning community. Silvio Torres-Saillant and James Duah-Agyeman share their knowledge about a Multicultural [End Page 484] Living Learning Community. Paul Buckley wrestles with the difficulties of rebuilding an existing but floundering learning community, while at the same time establishing structures that ensure continuity in the program. In her essay, Jamie Kathleen Portillo relays effective teaching strategies and classroom management techniques for teaching assistants assigned to courses embedded within learning communities. Braden Smith and Rachel Smith make separate cases that teaching assistants are the lynchpin in effective learning communities. Maria J. Lopez describes a nonresidential learning community for graduate students participating in a Higher Education Learning Community. Continuing in the graduate student vein, Chris Calvert-Martin examines successful elements of undergraduate learning communities that could contribute to more successful graduate learning communities. Elizabeth Occhino and Jennifer Kellington share their lessons learned specific to service learning and community service learning communities. For students who are high achieving, but come from underrepresented and marginalized groups, Larry Thomas and Nicole Zervas Adsitt describe a learning community for these students who plan to enter medical school and pre-health careers. Jennah K. Jones and Joshua Lawrie draw upon their separate learning community experiences to make recommendations for good practice that align with Chickering and Gamson’s (1994)Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Lastly, Terra Peckskamp documents the resources critical for educating campus stakeholders involved in learning communities. Staying true to their intended purpose, the editors provided descriptive stories filled with tips to assist and pitfalls to avoid, based on the authors’ Syracuse University learning community experiences. For those just entering the world of learning communities, Building Community provides a solid primer filled with creative ideas from one institution. Reflections on learning community experiences have appeared in About Campus, including Robert A. Rhoads (2009) contemplative essay on his 9-year faculty in residence position and Thomas Klein’s (2000) article on his transition from teaching in the classroom to teaching in a learning community, among others. Other anecdotal narratives from Syracuse University appeared in Building and Sustaining Learning Communities (Hurd & Federman, 2004). Most previous works on learning communities are research-based, not story-based. For those interested in scholarly works on learning communities, more academic pieces have been written on how to engage faculty in learning...

Eight semesters of qualitative data, collected over four academic years, are presented from a project that resulted from the development of a student professional learning community of highachieving, low-income engineering, and engineering technology student veterans.In the context of this project, student veterans received academic, professional, and financial support that helped them succeed academically and prepare them for a career in the STEM workforce.As adult learners, students in this learning community were a vital part of the curriculum development which resulted in increasing the students' interest and buy-in.Typically, adult learners have lower levels of engagement than traditional-aged students.However, by engaging students in the development of a seminar course which served as the foundation for the student learning community, the course curriculum addressed student needs while being built on faculty expertise.Focus groups were conducted at the end of each semester to determine if students perceived the course as an effective professional development intervention.The course was comprised of various guest speakers who addressed different topics related to engineering, and the course also addressed other topics of professional development.In addition to hearing from various guest speakers, students also learned critical professional skills including how to search for an internship and/or permanent position; how to develop a cover letter, resume, and followup letter; how to prepare for and respond to questions during interviews; how to present themselves, how to dress, eat and hold a professional conversation at a formal meal during an interview; and how to network and follow-up after meeting people professionally.The guest speakers, veterans themselves, were excited to present to these highly motivated student veterans and to share their stories, and in the process, they inspired this next generation of engineers and engineering technologists.

This case study tracks the application of project-based learning (PBL) during four separate college terms at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Each term follows a different learning community of first-term college students enrolled in a program of developmental education (DE), reading, writing, math, and college survival and success (CSS) courses. The study documents the journey from a pilot PBL model to the improved model used today, focuses on each term's PBL goal of increasing student success, and outlines how the PBL succeeded or failed based on student demonstration of their learning community's intended core outcomes. Whereas the initial two terms’ projects were unsuccessful, the framing of a new question and the addition of service learning in the next two terms’ projects made a significant improvement in student self-motivation and helped students achieve intended core outcomes by their own agency. Such active learning and self reliance increased students’ confidence as it challenged them to use their new course skills to create a project they were proud to present to a wide audience. This study then explores the challenges and benefits of integrating the two curricular frameworks, learning communities and PBL, within interdisciplinary courses that include service learning. Considering the already established literature on the success of learning communities and the continually growing literature on the implementation of PBL, this study ultimately demonstrates how to arrive at a project that invigorates a learning community of students, whether the learning community is in one course or spread throughout several interdisciplinary courses.

A Crash Course in Learning Communities for the Political Scientist

Learning Communities for Students in Developmental English: Impact Studies at Merced College and the Community College of Baltimore County

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to describe the successful collaboration between faculty in Eastern Kentucky University Libraries and the University's Occupational Therapy Department in supporting a graduate student learning community, and the benefits of stepping outside of typical liaison activities to play an active role in this new educational paradigm.Design/methodology/approachIn 2006, graduate students and faculty in Occupational Therapy at Eastern Kentucky University, with a librarian and with the support of a national professional organization, facilitated the completion of a graduate thesis through the use of a topic‐based learning community. This team completed an in‐depth, evidence‐based review of occupational therapy journal articles in the context of a regional university environment. This article focuses on the collaboration between faculty and librarian as they facilitated this new learning paradigm, the enhancement of the liaison partnership, and the results of the project especially in terms of student learning outcomes.FindingsCollaborating with faculty to support a student learning community, and supporting students in atypical ways, contribute in valuable ways to strengthening the relationship with academic departments, increasing the perceived value of library services, and promoting student success.Practical implicationsLibrary liaison programs benefit from innovative partnerships with faculty, and from seeking opportunities to participate in new educational models.Originality/valueThis paper addresses the benefits of participating in student learning communities.

To investigate what is meant by learning community in medical education and to identify the most important features of current medical education learning communities. After a literature review, the authors surveyed academic deans of all U.S. and Canadian medical schools and colleges (N=124) to identify those that had implemented a learning community. Those with student learning communities (N=18) answered a series of questions about the goals, structure, function, benefits, and challenges of their communities. The most common primary goals included fostering communication among students and faculty; promoting caring, trust, and teamwork; helping students establish academic support networks; and helping students establish social support networks. Most deans said that students remained in the same community for all four years of medical school and that communities were linked to specific faculty and/or peer advisors. For most schools, communities included students from many class years, and participation was mandatory. Curricular purposes included professionalism training, leadership development, and service learning. Almost all schools had social functions related to their communities, and most provided career planning, group mentoring, and personal counseling. Learning communities in medical education demonstrate diverse approaches to achieving the general goal of enhanced student learning. Medical school leaders considering learning communities should determine the goals they want to accomplish and be open to adopting different approaches based on local needs. Evaluation and effective monitoring of evolution are needed to determine the best approaches for different needs and to assess impact on students and faculty.

Learning Communities for Students in Developmental Math: Impact Studies at Queensborough and Houston Community Colleges

Learning communities for college students have been shown to improve first-year student outcomes and narrow equity gaps, but longer-term data to evaluate whether these benefits persist through multi-year retention and graduation are rare. This is especially important for students in science, technology, engineering and math, who often confront gateway courses and challenging academic cultures in their second and subsequent years. Here, we report on the second, third, and fourth year academic outcomes of three cohorts of a first-year placed-based learning community. Relative to a reference group, participants in the learning community generally showed similar grade acquisition in second- and third-year STEM courses, and initially higher GPAs for learning community participants later diminished to be statistically indistinguishable from the reference group. Nonetheless, units completed after one, two, and three years were slightly higher for learning community participants than for the reference group, and with narrower equity gaps. The learning community also increased and narrowed equity gaps in second- and third-year retention at the institution and in STEM specifically (+6 to +17%). Four-year graduation rates from the institution and in STEM specifically also increased (+8 to +17%), but equity gaps were only narrowed slightly. These results suggest that while benefits of first-year learning communities on grades decline over time, benefits for retention and graduation can persist, though they are insufficient to erase equity gaps. Future work should examine how scaffolding practices in students’ second and third years can better sustain and even magnify inclusive success improvements initiated by first year learning communities.

For over 2 decades, the Learning Community Program has impacted students at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC), with its emphasis on critical thinking, community, belonging, and student success. Faculty teaching this high-impact practice (HIP) not only implement an integrated curriculum in 2 paired courses representing different disciplines, but also strive to build community among the students and teachers, setting up activities and an atmosphere so that students of diverse backgrounds can build relationships and understanding. At CCBC, we typically have general education learning communities for first year students in the general college population, as well as ESOL learning communities that link ESOL classes with a general education requirement and allow preacademic ESOL students to earn credit. In 2019, our Learning Community Program reached new heights, as a Mellon Foundation Humanities for All grant paved the way for summer travel themed learning communities to Atlanta, Montgomery, Birmingham, and later New Orleans, as well as taking a deeper look at our own Baltimore during the pandemic. In these settings and with the support of their learning community faculty, students explored culturally relevant themes, formed a community bond as they journeyed together throughout the country, and gained both academic success and a life-changing experience.

A learning community was developed to enhance the teamwork and communication components of a freshman design course. The learning community was comprised of students from a freshman design course, a freshman graphics course, and a high school technology course. Design teams were formed by combining three to four students from each of these courses. These teams were required to research, design, build, and test a specified product. The high school and university students communicated only using e‐mails and Internet conferencing. This paper outlines how the learning community is implemented, describes three design projects, and presents the assessment methods. Assessment reveals that university students who participate in the learning community have a better understanding and confidence in the technical aspects of the design project than the students who do not participate in the learning community. It also reveals that high school participants display notable interest in the engineering design process.

This mixed-methods descriptive case study explored diversity awareness of college freshman enrolled in learning communities by examining the dynamic interplay between existing institutional forces associated with diversity awareness and perceptional awareness of full-time community college students from a Northeastern institution. Gidden's Structuration theory (1984) was utilized as the theoretical lens to uncover the institutional forces, college freshman's diversity awareness, and the dynamic interplay as perceived by college freshman enrolled in learning community seminar. The theory highlights the dynamic interactions between the institutional forces and the actor-freshman, as well as allowing exploration of the extent to which domination, signification, or legitimization impact perceptional development. The research was conducted using an inductive design with mix-methods, that occurred over three phases of data collection. These phases were review of university documents and learning community program design associated with expressing diversity awareness policies and practices (Phase I), administration of IAT survey to full-time community college freshman enrolled in learning community seminar (Phase II), and small group semi-structured interview with full-time community college freshman to ascertain their perceptions of about diversity awareness, institutional forces informing that perception, and the role of the learning community for shaping their perception awareness (Phase III). Data analysis occurred at the end of each data collection piece to allow insights and informed progress towards the subsequent phase. The key findings from this experiment suggest that critical thinking, connectivity, and diversity awareness are vital components of Learning Communities courses. Participants showed perception and knowledge around diversity awareness as an ideal, and within the course and the college as well. Participants also showed criticism of institutional ideals versus practical application of diversity awareness ideals. This suggested a parallel between key themes of diversity awareness in terms of student perception and Learning Community enrollment, participation, and engagement. The study recommends diversity awareness applications in terms of the broader Higher Education framework and pedagogy, as well as for professional development training outside academia.

The recognition of the importance of learning communities for postgraduate students has been on the rise in recent times. As a result, many postgraduate students may wish to establish a learning community (lc) with peers and/or faculty members as a way of benefiting from the support lc s offer. This study undertakes a conceptual analysis of some key features required for organising and sustaining lc s and utilises the comparative institutional analysis (cia) approach in order to model a variety of coordination types that can exist between faculty members and masters’ course students or doctoral students undertaking lc activities. This paper endeavours to conceptually depict the typologies of two lc s with respect to cia principles, and to draw conclusions about their respective cost-efficiency and sustainability, as well as outline implications for further research.

Faculty learning communities (FLCs) play an increasing and important role in enhancing student learning and engagement in classrooms and institutions at the higher education level. Research on Black men professors in FLCs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is lacking, especially in teaching Black male collegians. This chapter shares the professional experiences of an interdisciplinary group of Black men with different faculty positions and roles planning, leading, and teaching in an academic learning community designed to expose first-semester Black male collegians to majors and careers in education during the coronavirus pandemic. This collaborative autoethnography study utilized African American Male Theory and Scholar Identity Model to design the faculty and student learning communities and conduct research. This manuscript will examine the FLC utilized to advance and enhance student learning, engagement, and the relationships between students, faculty, and staff. This chapter will share the study findings through two themes that describe how the Black men’s philosophy, pedagogy, student relationships, and interactions shaped the FLC and impacted student learning and engagement during the pandemic.

This chapter describes professional learning communities, an educator practice, brought to K-20 classrooms as a pivotal practice for talented youth as student learning communities (SLCs). Several research-based models are used as the theoretical framework, including professional learning communities, culturally relevant intentional literacy communities, and learner centered classrooms. The SLC model is composed of three levels; the first two parts lay the groundwork of the learning environment (community space and place) and curriculum (progress-based learning goals with relevant content) for the successful implementation of the SLCs in the third level. The chapter concludes with examples of operationalizing the pivotal practice.