Residential Learning Community Research Articles

A Residential Learning Community for Enhancing STEM Education: Program Design and Lessons Learned

A Residential Learning Community for Enhancing STEM Education: Program Design and Lessons Learned

Belongingness, connectedness & engagement: The impacts of an LGBTQ + residential learning community

University housing can play a significant role in undergraduate students’ college experiences. Unfortunately, many LGBTQ + students face a myriad of harmful experiences on campus, including in campus housing that can negatively impact their belonging and well-being. To address this issue and foster LGBTQ + students’ overall belongingness on campus and well-being, many universities offer LGBTQ + inclusive housing initiatives, including some offering residential learning communities (RLCs). There is a dearth of research on LGBTQ + RLCs’ effectiveness. Through qualitative interviews (n = 9), we examine the inaugural year of an LGBTQ + RLC at large state university in the southern United States. Based on existing literature on the importance of collegiate housing, including research on RLCs highlighting their benefits for students’ belongingness, connectedness, and engagement, we used a directed qualitative content analysis approach to explore the impacts of the LGBTQ + RLC. Consistent with the existing literature about RLCs in general, our findings suggest that the first year of the RLC fostered students’ belongingness, connectedness, and engagement across multiple levels. The RLC did this by offering students opportunities to explore their LGBTQ + identities and build community via programming with one another, which allowed students to feel safe and be their authentic selves.

Mental Toughness: Yes, Please

Liz Hathaway, Ph.D., MPH, is a UC Foundation associate professor in Health and Human Performance (HHP) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, TN. She teaches Health Behavior Change and Psychology of Sport & Exercise in the Exercise and Health Sciences undergraduate program and serves as the program coordinator for the Healthy Eating and Active Living Through HHP Residential Learning Community for HHP freshmen. Beginning Fall 2022, she decided to do the unthinkable and moved into a freshmen residence hall to serve as a faculty-in-residence. Her interests include learning how to best motivate individuals, especially college students, to make lasting positive behavior change. Her dislikes include 2 a.m. blaring fire alarms. Ashton Shields, B.S., graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in May 2022 with a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science. She played Division I soccer for the UTC women's soccer team as their goalkeeper. She plans to use her degree to become a soccer coach with hopes of making a positive impact on the player through the sport. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, turning life situations into humor, and having good banter. Disclosure:The authors declare no conflict of interest and do not have any financial disclosures.

Snudgers

Liz Hathaway, Ph.D., MPH,is a UC Foundation associate professor in Health and Human Performance (HHP) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, TN. She teaches Health Behavior Change and Psychology of Sport & Exercise in the Exercise and Health Sciences undergraduate program and serves as the program coordinator for the Healthy Eating and Active Living Through HHP Residential Learning Community for HHP freshmen. Beginning fall 2022, she decided to do the unthinkable and moved into a freshmen residence hall to serve as a faculty-in-residence. Her interests include learning how to best motivate individuals, especially college students, to make lasting positive behavior change. Her dislikes include 2 a.m. blaring fire alarms. Becca O'Shields, MATS, LCSW,is a graduate of the University of Georgia's School of Social Work in Athens, Georgia. She currently serves as the integrated care clinical lead for Advantage Behavioral Health Systems of Athens, Georgia, where one of her duties includes helping clients engage in long-term positive behavior change. Her interests include spending time with her daughter, son, husband, and two dogs. Disclosure:The authors declare no conflict of interest and do not have any financial disclosures.

Understanding and Engaging Generation Z

Liz Hathaway, Ph.D., MPH, is a UC Foundation assistant professor in Health and Human Performance at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She teaches Health Behavior Change and Psychology of Sport and Exercise in the Exercise and Health Sciences undergraduate program and serves as the program coordinator for the Healthy Eating and Active Living Through HHP Residential Learning Community for HHP freshmen. Her interests include learning how to best motivate individuals to make lasting, positive behavior change. She loves coffee, life chats, awkward encounters, and banter. Becca O'Shields, MATS, LCSW, is a graduate of the University of Georgia's School of Social Work of Athens, Georgia. She currently serves as the integrated care clinical lead for Advantage Behavioral Health Systems of Athens, Georgia, where one of her duties includes helping clients engage in long-term positive behavior change. Her interests include spending time with her daughter, son, husband, and two dogs. Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest and do not have any financial disclosures.

The Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Health-Themed Residential Learning Community for Undergraduate Students.

College students face significant health concerns. In recent years, there has been an emergence of health-related residential learning communities (RLCs) at institutions of higher education, which endeavor to improve students' academic and health outcomes by offering a communal living environment and programming. However, there is negligible literature describing health-related RLCs as a health promotion intervention, the kind of experience residents have, or the impact that health-related RLCs have on student outcomes. To begin to fill this gap, this article describes a health-themed RLC named HealthWave that was created at a private Southern university and the diverse stakeholders involved. It also summarizes results from a multimethod evaluation that included focus groups, an experience survey, and a quasi-experimental study with non-HealthWave students in the same residence hall as the comparison group. HealthWave was a feasible intervention to implement and residents provided very positive feedback about their experience, although the impact of HealthWave on students' health behavior is unclear. Lessons learned from implementing and evaluating HealthWave are shared in order to inform health promotion professionals' future programmatic and evaluation efforts.

New literacy practice in a facebook group: The case of a residential learning community

To explore how an online platform provides opportunities for new literacy practices to members of a learning community to connect and collaborate with one another within a participatory culture in supporting the learning experience in the physical space of a dormitory, we used the six-year Facebook (FB) public group data of a university residential program as an open laboratory. A total of 7396 postings by 764 authors were retrieved using a computational approach (a total of 1572 members participated in these posts). For the purposes of this study, the “Likes” received by each posting were considered an indication of the level of approval of others' viewpoints or appreciation for the information shared by other participants. The 311 posts (4%) that received more than 41 Likes represented 19,451 Likes (21.6%) expressed by the group members. We selected and examined them in depth using qualitative content analysis and discourse analysis. Finally, the 122 authors of the 311 entries were clustered into three profiles and analyzed to determine the patterns of “magnet” participants or opinion leaders. Overall, this study provided a vehicle to determine the ways by which the characteristics of new literacy practices, especially “collective intelligence,” “appropriation,” and “fun,” are applied in the context of a FB group, which functions as an informal learning environment in a formal learning setting. The study also identified the content, format, peer interactions, and student-teacher interactions of a student-managed and residential teacher-facilitated, technology-enhanced learning environment in support of the mission of the residential program. The study's findings demonstrate how an online platform played a significant role in supporting the learning experience occurring in a dormitory and the face-to-face activities of the participants. Such a platform has the advantages of involving more people and supplementing the college students' process of striving for social and intellectual development by allowing them to state opinions, negotiate meanings, address confrontation, articulate reasoning, and consider options. The platform also facilitates the equally important process of emotional development, as it provides the students with a sense of belonging, allows them to enjoy shared moments, and enhances their perceptions of being able to contribute to a common goal.

The Residential Learning Community as a Platform for High-Impact Educational Practices Aimed at At-Risk Student Success

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.

The Undergraduate Learning Community: A Bridge to Understanding Why

This chapter considers the role an academic residential learning community can play in helping new undergraduates examine their motives for attending college.

Integration of Ethics across the Curriculum: From First Year through Senior Seminar.

The Fisher College of Science and Mathematics (FCSM) at Towson University (TU) has integrated authentic research experiences throughout the curriculum from first year STEM courses through advanced upper-level classes and independent research. Our observation is that training in both responsible conduct of research (RCR) and bioethics throughout the curriculum was an effective strategy to advance the cognitive and psychosocial development of the students. As students enter TU they generally lack the experience and tools to assess their own competence, to apply ethical debates, to investigate scientific topics from an ethical perspective, or to integrate ethics into final conclusions. Student behavior and development follow cognitive models such as described in the theories put forth by Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erikson, both for initial learning and for how concepts are understood and adopted. Three examples of this ethics training integration are described, including a cohort-based course for first year students in the STEM Residential Learning Community, a cohort-based course for community college students that are involved in an NIH-funded Bridges to the Baccalaureate program, and a senior seminar in Bioethics in the Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics Program. All three focus on different aspects of RCR and bioethics training, providing opportunities for students to learn about the principles of effective decision-making, critical and analytical thinking, problem solving, and communication with increasing degrees of complexity as they move through the curriculum.

Residential learning communities centered within a discipline: The Psychology Early Awareness Program

AbstractThis chapter describes the Psychology Early Awareness Program (PEAP) at Loyola Marymount University, a residential learning community centered within a discipline. We discuss the theory that supports the value of living‐learning communities, describe how this guided the development of PEAP, and summarize the benefits of this approach.

The Home of the Brave

Whereas some faculty members at the end of their careers choose the tidy comfort of the stand-alone classroom, Thomas Klein chose the rich and raw life of a residential learning community teacher. Poignant moments from his experience may offer inspiration to other courageous educators.

The zen of unit one: Residential learning communities can foster liberal learning at large universities

AbstractA residential learning community that melds academic affairs and student affairs concerns can address the whole student through fostering liberal learning experiences. Students can explore innovative and controversial ideas and activities designed to challenge their personal and intellectual growth in a community of faculty and student affairs staff who encourage, value, and support open exchange.

Residential Learning Communities Positively Affect College Binge Drinking

Recent surveys demonstrate that college students "binge drink" or engage in high-risk episodic drinking at high rates across the country. This drinking pattern has been associated with most of the serious health, legal, and academic problems faced by students and colleges. This study explored how living in a residential learning community affects drinking behaviors. Students living in three different residential learning communities at a large, midwestern public university were found to binge drink at significantly lower rates than did matched comparison groups who lived in another university residence hall. Further, learning community residents also suffered fewer problems arising from either their own drinking or that of others. We interpret these results as suggesting that new social norms—peer expectations about acceptable behavior— are created within the learning communities that positively affect binge drinking and its associated problems. These preliminary findings are promising indicators that student housing deliberately structured to promote community and academic involvement can reduce problem drinking behaviors, even when no explicit alcohol programming is involved.

Residential Learning Communities Positively Affect College Binge Drinking

Recent surveys demonstrate that college students "binge drink" or engage in high-risk episodic drinking at high rates across the country. This drinking pattern has been associated with most of the serious health, legal, and academic problems faced by students and colleges. This study explored how living in a residential learning community affects drinking behaviors. Students living in three different residential learning communities at a large, midwestern public university were found to binge drink at significantly lower rates than did matched comparison groups who lived in another university residence hall. Further, learning community residents also suffered fewer problems arising from either their own drinking or that of others. We interpret these results as suggesting that new social norms—peer expectations about acceptable behavior— are created within the learning communities that positively affect binge drinking and its associated problems. These preliminary findings are promising indicators that student housing deliberately structured to promote community and academic involvement can reduce problem drinking behaviors, even when no explicit alcohol programming is involved.

An Evaluation of Adventure Education Components in a Residential Learning Community

The intent of this research project was to assess the impact of the out-of-class experiential components in a residential Learning Community Program. More specifically, the purpose of the study was to gain information from the students' perceptions of the impact that participation in an adventure education program (high or low ropes course) had on their in-class learning and their overall experience at the university. Qualitative data indicated that participation on the ropes course impacted the Learning Community students' in-class learning in the following ways: enhancing a connection to other students, faculty and the university; promoting increased self-learning and transferable skill development; and developing a support network for academic learning. The qualitative data also indicated that Learning Community students' overall experience at the university was affected largely by the connection developed with other students, faculty and the university.

The Effects of Membership in Residential Learning Communities

Do you believe in magic? In witchcraft and wizardry? Are you fascinated by the supernatural powers of broomsticks and wooden wands? In the fictional world of Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry Potter and other students of similar interests and talents gather to live and learn. They exist together in “houses” or residence halls where they study the secrets of the wizard world, while at the same time, develop as young men and women. Here, students with special interests can reap the academic and social benefits of being a part of a residential learning community – one that did not exist for them in the larger, non-magical world (or the Muggle world). Similarly, there has been a significant amount of attention paid in recent years to the impact that residential learning environments have on college students. Research has found that resident students spend approximately 70% of their time within their residence halls (Schroeder & Jackson, 1987). Therefore, the residence hall is a crucial environment for the academic and social development of many students. The basic premise that has emerged from this research is that residential environments can become learning communities, designed to enhance and foster student development for students, particularly in terms of academic achievement and the development of values, morals, ethics, and civic understanding. This is significant, as students who experience academic success and social adjustment early in their college years are more likely to persist through to graduation (Astin, 1993). Therefore it is imperative that college and university educators and administrators have a clear understanding of how to best foster a climate that will most likely maximize student success.