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Abstract
This paper reports and analyzes the findings of a residential learning community (RLC) project for academically at-risk students piloted in academic year 2013-14 at Indiana University Southeast. Consisting of an array of high-impact practices, and using both student self- reporting measures of our own design and a rubric-based assessment of academic performance, the cohort was retained at a higher rate and performed better on both content outcomes and analytical abilities than their non-RLC peers. These students also expressed a high degree of connectedness to their peers and instructors as well as greater engagement with the university.
Highlights
This paper examines a pilot residential learning community (RLC) project at Indiana University Southeast
The administration at IU Southeast has made clear that improving retention and on-time persistence is a top priority
The 2014 ICHE (2013-15) metric for performance funding contains financial incentives for 30 hour completion ($750 per student), 45 hour completion ($1,210 per student), 60 hour completion ($1,530 per student), at-risk (Pell-Grant eligible) degree completion ($5,503 per student), overall degree completion ($7,795 per student), and on-time graduation ($22,921 per student). Improvement in these areas is increasingly important since the percentage of state appropriations tied to performance funding is set to increase in future years
Summary
During academic year 2013-2014, Indiana University Southeast (IU Southeast) ran a pilot residential learning community (RLC) that targeted first-year students highly at-risk of dropping out of college. Brownell and Swaner (2010) have provided an endorsement of learning communities as one among many HIPs that have a positive relationship to student GPA and retention They distinguish between the RLC and non-residential learning communities, noting that the former are more likely to foster faculty interaction, as well as peer-to-peer friendship and support, thereby enhancing greater engagement for students. Tinto and Goodsell-Love’s (1993) study of three institutions’ learning communities that employed linked courses, common experience curricula, and supplemental instruction each showed higher persistence rates and even higher cumulative GPA for participants in comparison to non-participants When it comes to supplemental instruction Sorcinelli (2012) has reported that working with a supplemental instructor enhances student success for first-generation students. The final section makes recommendations intended to help others planning RLC projects for their own institutions
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