Learning Communities
One increasingly popular strategy to help students with low academic skills succeed in college is to form learning communities of students who need remedial instruction. Researchers from NCPR will conduct a random assignment evaluation in which they test the effects of learning communities at six colleges or universities.
The basic learning communities model is one in which a common cohort of students enroll in two or more linked classes. Learning communities may involve classes linked thematically, by content, or by both, and in many instances they require significant faculty collaboration to design syllabi and coordinate course assignments. Proponents of learning communities suggest several reasons why this approach may be more effective than traditional models of teaching in which courses are not intentionally linked. First, linking a developmental course with courses in a student's major may make the material more engaging-'"and encourage the student to work harder-'"than when it is detached from a subject of interest. Second, students in learning communities may be challenged to view course material from different perspectives, thereby deepening their understanding and building critical thinking skills. Third, students in learning communities may have the opportunity to form closer ties with peers and faculty, and thus feel a greater sense of social support and attachment to the institution.
Much of the research on learning communities is theoretical or descriptive in nature. Researchers from NCPR conducted a random assignment evaluation in which they are testing the effects of learning communities at six community colleges. In five of the six sites, approximately 1,000 students in need of remedial English or math instruction were recruited to participate in the study and were randomly assigned to either the program group (learning communities) or the control group (regular classes and services). At the sixth site, 1,000 students who are eligible to enroll in college-level courses and have declared their major were randomly assigned. By the end of 2009, nearly 7,000 students participated and nearly 200 learning communities were operated over the course of the study. Students in the program and control groups are tracked for up to two years, and their outcomes are compared to determine whether participation in learning communities leads to significant improvements in students' completion of courses, mastery of basic English or math skills, semester-to-semester retention, transfer to other colleges or universities, and other outcomes. The evaluation included an in-depth implementation study to understand how the learning communities programs were designed and operated and to describe the classroom experience from the perspective of teachers and students in the learning communities and regular college programs. NCPR researchers also conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the learning communities in two of the sites.
For more information, please contact Dr. Mary Visher at 510-844-2247.
ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS:
Learning Communities for Students in Developmental Reading: An Impact Study at Hillsborough Community College.
By: Michael J. Weiss, Mary G. Visher, and Heather Wathington with Jed Teres and Emily Schneider (June 2010).
This report presents results from a rigorous random assignment study of a basic learning community program at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa Bay, Florida. Hillsborough is one of six community colleges participating in NCPR's Learning Communities Demonstration, whose goal is to determine whether learning communities are an effective strategy for helping students who need developmental education. Hillsborough's learning communities co-enrolled three cohorts of students (for a total of 1,071), in groups of around 20 students, into a developmental reading course and a "college success" course. Findings from this study show that overall, the learning communities program did not have a meaningful impact on students' academic success; however, the program became more comprehensive over time, and evidence suggests that it had positive impacts on the educational outcomes for the third cohort of students. >>
Download the Full Report (PDF)* |
Download the Executive Summary (PDF)*
Note: A corrected
version of this report was posted on August 5, 2010. As originally
posted, in Table 2.2 on page 17 and in the text on page 18 there was an
error in the reporting of the sample who were the first person in their
family to attend college. These numbers should have read: 31.1 percent
of the full sample, 29.6 percent of the program group, and 34.0 percent
of the control group.
Scaling Up Learning Communities: The Experience of Six Community Colleges --By: Mary Visher, Emily Schneider, Heather Wathington, and Herbert Collado (April 2010).
The Learning Communities Demonstration is a large-scale, random assignment evaluation of learning community programs at six community colleges being conducted by the National Center for Postsecondary Research and MDRC. During the first year of the demonstration, all six colleges expanded their learning community programs and, in the process, faced similar challenges in selecting courses to link, recruiting and supporting faculty, filling the learning communities with eligible students, and helping faculty use instructional strategies such as curricular integration to enhance learning. By spring 2009, the colleges operated more than 130 learning communities serving around 3,000 students. This report describes the strategies the colleges used to scale up their programs while working to improve their quality, and the many complex challenges that are likely to be faced by any community college intent on scaling up effective learning communities--including scheduling, faculty engagement with and approach to teaching, and balancing developmental courses with traditional college-level courses. >>
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The Learning Communities Demonstration: Rationale, Sites, and Research Design (An NCPR Working Paper) -- By: Mary G. Visher, Heather Wathington, Lashawn Richburg-Hayes, and Emily Schneider with Oscar Cerna, Christine Sansone, and Michelle Ware (May 2008)
Learning communities are a popular strategy that community colleges nationwide have embraced in support of developmental students. In a learning community, a cohort of students takes two or more courses linked by integrated themes and assignments that are developed through ongoing faculty collaboration. While the number of learning community programs continues to grow, rigorous studies measuring their
effectiveness are limited. To address this need for evidence, the Learning Communities demonstration, launched in 2007, uses random assignment to test models of learning communities at six community colleges. This working paper describes the study's design, including a summary of the theoretical and empirical research relevant to learning communities, descriptions of the sites and their learning community models, the random assignment procedures, and plans for data analysis. >>
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