"We are all in this together": Learning community case studies

“WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER”: LEARNING COMMUNITY CASE STUDIES

Jean M. Henscheid, Richie Gebauer, Jeff P. Godowski, Shannon B. Lundeen, Julia Metzker, Mimi Benjamin, Janine Graziano, Rita Sperry, and Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas

Editor’s Note

This is the second article in a two-part series laying out the operating principles of learning communities as an alternative to standard practices in undergraduate education. This article offers case studies from institutions of various sizes, missions, and locations employing learning communities as a strategy for facilitating learning and building connections between and among students, faculty, and staff.

What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and its grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.

— John Lewis (1940-2020), United States Congressman and Civil Rights Leader

One critical lesson of the COVID-19 era is that high-quality connections are essential and profoundly missed when absent (University of California San Francisco Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral

Sciences, 2020). Developing and nurturing these kinds of connections has been the central work of learning communities for the past 120 years(1) (Smith et al., 2004). Within learning communities, there is a sense that “we’re all in this together,” a notion that has become a mantra of the pandemic landscape. With so much practice building and maintaining connections, learning communities, as an alternative to traditional education, still have much to teach the rest of higher education.

Following are case studies that illustrate how learning communities (virtual and face-to-face) are co-created by faculty, staff, and students as interdisciplinary, crossdivisional spaces for members to share responsibility for the learning, growth, and well-being of others. Contact information has been provided so readers can reach out to the learning community leaders at each institution.

1) Residential learning communities (i.e., living–learning communities) claim American Colonial-era residential colleges as their antecedents (Chaddock, 2008).

Cabrini University

Founded in Fall 2007, Cabrini University’s learning community program administers more than a dozen living–learning communities and non-residential learning communities involving 75%-80% of first-year students. The program is housed in the Center for Student Success in the Division of Academic Affairs. Each community has a unique identity and enrolls a cohort of 14-20 students who are engaged in a two-semester experience that spans 10-14 course credits. Every learning community is comprised of a leadership team of two to three faculty and/or staff, each of whom teach at least one course in the community. One member of this leadership team also serves as the firstyear advisor to the learning community students. Integrative learning is the foundation of the program, and all communities share three measurable learning outcomes aligned with the language conveyed in the Association of American College and Universities’ (AAC&U, n.d.) Integrative Learning VALUE Rubric: (a) reflection and self-assessment, (b) connections to experience, and (c) connections to discipline.

Cornell University

Established in 2004, the West Campus House System (WCHS) brings students and faculty together around a shared interest in inquiry and active citizenship. Each house of approximately 400 students is overseen by a house professor-dean, a tenured faculty member who guides and directs the house’s educational program, and a house assistant dean, a student affairs professional who directs all house functions and shares responsibility with the house professor-dean for realizing the house mission. Each house is supported by 25 faculty and community fellows, five to six graduate resident fellows from various fields of study, a peer mentor group of undergraduate resident fellows, administrative services staff, dining hall staff, and facilities staff. The WCHS emphasizes informal interaction with faculty members, self-governance, social and cultural programming, and independence. Each semester, the houses offer a variety of small, seminar-style “Learning Where You Live” courses. Participants engage in collegiality, civility, and responsible stewardship through the Active Citizen, House Council, and Service Scholars programs.

Elon University

Elon University is home to 24 living–learning communities (LLCs) ranging in size from 8 to 70 students. Each community involves at least one faculty and/or staff advisor who works closely with the provost’s office and the Office of Residence Life, as well as with student leaders and peer mentors, to design and implement cocurricular programming and experiential learning opportunities to complement Elon’s core curriculum. Each LLC is designed around a topic of shared interest from a particular passion to an academic area of study. Elon hosts first-year LLCs, mixed-year LLCs, and upper-class LLCs. Every LLC co-locates its members in adjacent rooms or apartments. The LLC participants are involved in a wide variety of creative, innovative, academic, and community focused activities.

The Evergreen State College

The Evergreen State College, founded in 1967, strives to fulfill its founding challenge to “unshackle…educational thinking from traditional patterns” (Clabaugh, 1970, p. 3). Evergreen is shaped by the fundamental structural move of all learning communities to “link related enterprises and to make structural changes which release, for faculties and students, the powers of human association” (Hill, 1985, p. 4). Every facet of its curriculum is shaped as coordinated studies. As an example: In 2016 a chemistry professor and a dance professor team taught Dancing Molecules, Dancing Bodies. Students studied with these faculty members full-time over the course of the entire academic year as they explored the connections between the motion of molecules and bodies. Throughout the year, students learned chemical principles (e.g., biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology) while simultaneously observing and performing dances from a broad cultural perspective. This coordinated studies program emphasized drawing connections between science and performance art using the theme of dance and motion.

Iowa State University

The International Adventure Learning Community (IALC) at Iowa State began in Fall 2020 to connect students in 20 countries with each other and with the institution during a time when they were not able to be on the Ames campus. A total of 58 students are participating from China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Ethiopia, Egypt, Slovakia, and other countries. Students enroll in the asynchronous course University Studies 123X: Introduction to Iowa State University, which focuses on connecting the students to campus support services and making academic plans. Participants also connect through various virtual activities like career fairs and orientation. Early on, welcome videos were provided to participants by the university president and representatives from each academic college. Two live sessions per semester with each undergraduate college enable students to develop relationships with academic advisors, faculty, and students on campus; these sessions are recorded for students who cannot watch them live. Peer mentors support and establish connections with students by managing group chats and conducting individual video meetings. Additionally, participants interview students on campus to learn about their experiences and make connections for when they do arrive on campus.

Kingsborough Community College

At Kingsborough Community College, first-year learning communities co-enroll students in at least three courses including a first-year seminar taught by the students’ academic advisor. This model places the advisor at the center of the learning community team, which meets regularly to monitor student progress and integrate the learning community’s academic theme across courses. This model allows advisement to connect to the student’s first-hand learning experiences and offers students opportunities to develop closer relationships with their advisors. Advisors stay with their learning community students beyond the first semester to provide students with ongoing support and connections to the institution. Maintaining close connections and supporting Kingsborough’s students has become particularly important during the pandemic. Recently, for example, the college joined a national network to provide emergency coaching to students facing a range of challenges related to COVID-19. These specially trained coaches supplement the support learning community students receive from their advisors.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

Full-time, first-year students at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi are required to participate in learning communities during their first two semesters. Cohorts of 20-25 students in the First-Year Learning Communities Program (FYLCP) are enrolled in two to four courses including a first-year seminar course. The primary role of the first-year seminar professor is to help students practice lifelong learning and integrate ideas from other courses. FYLCP faculty plan their courses together to integrate their materials around major themes or big questions, and the semester typically culminates in students completing a project around those topics. Faculty expect students to consider diverse perspectives and devote considerable time and effort to their academic work. They also provide support and connections to campus resources.

University of Virginia

Hereford Residential College at the University of Virginia serves 200 undergraduates from all four class years. Its faculty principal and director of studies live in-residence, working with a program coordinator, graduate intern, senior resident, and six resident assistants. More than 20 faculty and administrative fellows volunteer to share their talents and interests with participants. Students are self-governed through the Hereford Student Senate, which includes some 40 members and two co-consuls. Hereford College emphasizes overall well-being by (a) seeking to develop students’ sense of themselves and their general welfare through mindfulness and reflection, (b) endeavoring to support students’ social awareness through sustained dialogue on the values and beliefs that reflect of commonalities and differences, and (c) working to protect our natural environment through sustainability and learning about how to care for our earth responsibly. Supportive programming of these foci include an introductory course on Hereford College, single-credit courses led by the fellows, a topical discussion series, and guest lectures. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, this year’s programming also features Zoom movie nights and mindful midterm study breaks.

REFERENCES

AACU (n.d.). Integrative and applied learning VALUE rubric. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from https://www.aacu.org/value/rubrics/integrative-learning

Chaddock, K. E. (2008). From inventions of necessity to necessary invention: The evolution of learning in residential settings. In G. Luna & J. Gahagan (Eds.), Learning initiatives in the residential setting (Monogragh No. 48, pp. 7–17). University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition.

Clabaugh, D. E. (1970). Planning for The Evergreen State College: History and progress. https://www.evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/facultydevelopment/docs/PlanningfortheEvergreenStateCollegeJune1970.pdf

Hill, P. (1985, October). The rationale for learning communities and learning community models. Paper presented at the Inaugural Conference on Learning Communities of the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, Olympia Washington.

Smith, B. L., MacGregor, J., Matthews, R. S., & Gabelnick, F. (2004). Learning communities: Reforming undergraduate education. Wiley.

University of California San Francisco Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (n.d.). Emotional well-being and coping during COVID-19. Retrieved October 28, 2020, from htt ps://psychiatry.ucsf.edu/copingresources/covid19

Resource Contacts

Cabrini University: Richie Gebauer, Executive Director, First-Year Experience and Student Transitions, rdg723@cabrini.edu, www.cabrini.edu/fye

Cornell University: Jeff P. Godowski, Assistant Dean, Flora Rose House, jpg278@cornell.edu, http://florarosehouse.cornell.edu

Elon University: Shannon B. Lundeen, Director of Academic–Residential Partnerships, slundeen2@elon.edu, https://www.elon.edu/u/academics/ living-and-learning/residential-learningcommunities/

The Evergreen State College: Julia Metzker, Director, Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education, metzkerj@evergreen.edu, https://www.evergreen.edu/academics

Iowa State University: Suzanne Härle, International Student Support Adviser, sharle@iastate.edu, https://www.lc.iastate.edu/prospectivestudents/communities/las

Kingsborough Community College: Janine Graziano, Director, Kingsborough Center for Teaching and Learning, Brooklyn, NY, janinegk@gmail.com https://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/lc/index.html

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi: Rita Sperry, Associate Dean, University College, rita.sperry@tamucc.edu, http://learningcommunities.tamucc.edu

University of Virginia: Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Principal, Hereford Residential College, kki5x@virginia.edu, https://hereford.virginia.edu/