Learning Communities

Our efforts to develop learning communities were started in the mid-90s at the grass-roots level by faculty and staff who desired to improve undergraduate teaching and the learning experience for their students. From the beginning, emphasis was placed on building strong partnerships between Academic and Student Affairs. Faculty and staff were encouraged to be creative and develop a sustainable plan for learning communities that would generate an academic and social support system while fostering a sense of membership in the campus community. A cross section of motivated faculty and staff from Academic and Student Affairs worked diligently to create the following vision for Learning Communities at Iowa State: "To support Iowa State University’s commitment to student learning, the Learning Community initiative seeks to enhance our undergraduates’ experience by providing all interested students dynamic, focused communities in which students, staff, and faculty can learn and grow together."

Learning communities are small groups of students who enroll for at least a semester in two or more of the same courses, and who may live in the same residence hall. At Iowa State, about one-third of learning communities have a residential component; members of learning communities often share social as well as academic experiences. Some learning communities are focused on a specific academic discipline while others include people from many different majors. An important aspect of nearly every learning community is a peer mentor. Peer mentors are upper division students, often former members of the learning community, who organize study groups, arrange for extracurricular activities, provide academic and personal support, and sometimes assist with teaching. Learning communities often introduce new students to University services, assist with career exploration, and sometimes engage in community service and service learning projects.

The program was launched in 1995 with 12 learning communities; about 19% of entering first-year students participated. In 1998, former Iowa State President Martin Jischke dedicated $1.5 million to a three-year initiative to further develop learning communities; learning communities become a permanent budget line item in 2001. They have grown rapidly in type and participation. In 2005, 57 learning communities were active, with 51% of entering first-year students participating in them.

In 2005-2006, 2468 students are participating in a learning community: 1903 first-year students and 565 upper division students. Learning community students persist at higher rates at Iowa State University. One-year retention rates are nearly 8% higher for learning community students compared to non-learning community students. The six-year graduation rates for learning community students are nearly 14% higher than their non-learning community peers.

A Learning Communities Advisory Committee includes representatives from colleges and departments, the Dean of Students’ Office, residence life, and the Registrar’s Office. Standing subcommittees work on assessment, peer mentoring, curricular development, and marketing, as well as the annual Learning Communities Institute. Since 1999, this Institute has offered faculty and staff opportunities to learn about plans and innovations that could be adapted for their learning communities.

The Institute is an example of our ongoing effort to share best practices, assessment results, and develop strategies for continuous improvement of the program. Over 150 faculty, academic and student affairs staff, and graduate students participate in this annual professional development experience. National learning community experts such as Vince Tinto and Jean MacGregor have been part of the Institute, providing valuable assistance for the expansion of this dynamic initiative. The Institute also provides the means for further exploration of collaborations between academic affairs and student affairs, which is a strong foundation for the overall program. See an archive http://www.lc.iastate.edu/institute.html fof past institutes.

Iowa State’s national leadership in learning communities was recognized in 2003 by US News and World Report, who ranked Iowa State’s learning communities in the top 5 nationally. The University was one of 10 sites in the Midwest and South to host an open house in spring 2004 for the National Learning Communities Project. In addition, more than 140 articles, presentations, and graduate theses have been based on Iowa State’s learning communities.

The learning community program has been highly successful. Students in Iowa State learning communities:

• Report greater satisfaction with the overall quality of instruction, overall quality of classmates, and overall experience at Iowa State

• Earn significantly higher first-term GPAs than non-learning community students,

• Have greater retention rates than non-learning community students after one, two, and three years at Iowa State

• Have higher graduation rates than non-learning community students after four, five, and six years

• Report greater satisfaction with support, encouragement, or advice from faculty, as well as more opportunities to interact closely with faculty, work collaboratively with other students, and develop or participate in study groups.

From the outset, assessment of individual learning communities and of the overall initiative has been a priority. Assessment has been a key component in guiding the development of Learning Communities at Iowa State. Initially, assessment efforts focused on accountability. Positive retention, academic achievement, and student satisfaction studies helped to establish permanent base funding (institutionalization) for the Learning Communities program. Due to the diverse nature of our learning communities, assessment efforts are now emphasizing improvement by strengthening assessment in individual learning communities. We will utilize these findings to further refine and improve our learning communities.

In assessing the overall Learning Communities program, a cross-disciplinary team of on-campus assessment experts led the efforts by: 1) developing and administering a survey to first-year students; 2) conducting a study of academic performance; and 3) conducting retention studies, including an innovative expanded retention study to identify characteristics of community that lead to enhanced retention. In all cases, learning community participants have been compared to non-learning community participants.

In addition, an on-campus study was done comparing learning community and non-learning community students on the NSSE: “A Longitudinal Study of Iowa State University 2000-2003 National Survey of Student Engagement Data and Learning Community Participation” available at http://www.lc.iastate.edu/reports.html. The results of this analysis indicate that for first-year students, participation in a learning community is associated with higher levels of student engagement, more positive perceptions of the campus environment, and gains in practical competence (i.e., analyzing problems, acquiring work-related skills, using technology, and working effectively with others). When controlling for the influence of significant covariate variables (e.g., parent education, campus residence, enrollment status, age, and survey year), first-year students who participated in a learning community had higher adjusted mean scores for ten of twelve factors considered in this study.

Among the most recent learning communities to be formed is the Entrepreneurship Learning Community in the newly renovated Buchanan Hall. In this learning community, students from first-year through graduate level can live in the same residence hall and have access to the same resources. Learning Communities are continuing its efforts to involve more faculty and students in learning/living and coordinated-course enrollment programs.

As part of the celebrating 10 years of progress in Learning Communities, Iowa State University invited Jean MacGregor, a nationally known expert in learning community efforts, to speak at a luncheon, engage in conversations with faculty and staff, and provide insight regarding future trends in learning community efforts. The following comments from her October report provide a third-party review of the successes and challenges facing this endeavor.

• Learning Communities at Iowa State reflect a strong student affairs/academic affairs partnership, reflected in its leadership structure, advisory committee, learning community teaching teams, and assessment efforts. In my experience, few schools walk their talk with genuine collaboration in the ways that you do.

• The LC initiative involves faculty members, graduate students, student affairs professionals, academic advisors, and undergraduate students as well, and in so doing, expands the notion of who is a “teacher” at the institution.

• The LC initiative supports program development and implementation with a strong RFP/Proposal process that communicates expectations and, at the same time, encourages local flexibility in learning community curricular design and pedagogy; this RFP infrastructure invites many types of LC structures to emerge within the cultures and structures of different colleges.

• ISU LCs have made explicit links to the key units on campus that support successful LC implementation: admissions, registrar, assessment, colleges, the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, residence life.

• Significant local research on the LC program and specific offerings within it continues to emerge, thanks to the work of doctoral students in Education Leadership and Policy Studies.

• The LC chairs have an unusual degree of broad access to campus leadership (deans and associate deans, associate provosts, and associate vice presidents).

• The LC program holds a formal, annual gathering, an end-of-year LC institute, that serves as an orientation to LC newcomers as well as a chance to reflect on and celebrate good work.

• The LC program has had years of stable leadership from individuals who are widely and highly regarded within the institution.

Other notable strengths include:
• Financial support from the President
• Decentralized approach allowing for innovation and creativity
• Broad-based volunteer infrastructure in committee structure
• Peer mentor program
• Assessment documenting outstanding and consistent results of the initiative

Challenges include the following:
• Finding ways to continue innovation
• Improving individual LC assessment efforts
• Expanding financial support
• Bringing new faculty and staff into the �glearning community family�h
• Expanding programs beyond the first year
• Providing more programs for transfer and international students; although many students of color participate in a LC there are opportunities to help retention of this population beyond the first year

Opportunities for the future include:
• Using the model of academic affairs and student affairs working
together to continue to expand the program
• Developing more curricular innovations
• Working with LAS to expand offerings for open option students
• Developing cutting edge collaborations with community colleges
• Expanding to sophomore and junior level LCs
• Engaging departments and colleges more directly in the development and support of LCs
• Developing incentive funds to expand programs