Engaging First-Year Students in Team-Oriented Research: The Terrascope Learning Community

2013 ◽  
pp. 223-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. A. Bowring ◽  
A. W. Epstein ◽  
C. F. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Oriented Research

scholarly journals Cloaking as a Community: Re-imagining the White Coat Ceremony With a Medical School Learning Community

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 238212051983037
Author(s):  
Robert Tamai ◽  
Neel Koyawala ◽  
Barbara Dietrick ◽  
Debanjan Pain ◽  
Robert Shochet
Keyword(s):  
Medical School ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Student Leadership ◽  
Student Leaders ◽  
White Coat ◽  
First Year ◽  
Community Members ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Shared Goal ◽  
School Learning

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine’s Learning Community–White Coat Ceremony (LC-WCC) is held each spring as a learning community (LC) event. Learning communities (LCs) connect people to learn and work across boundaries to achieve a shared goal. The LC-WCC invites first-year students to collaborate with school leaders, define the class professional values, and innovate with community members. Class-elected student leaders recruit peers to join committees to plan and lead several aspects of the ceremony, including a class-nominated speaker, a personal statements presentation, a patient inclusion presentation, a class-authored statement of values, and artistic performances. Student cloaking is performed by LC advisors in their LC small groups. A 2015 post-LC-WCC survey asking students to compare experiences of a traditional Stethoscope Ceremony (SC) with the LC-WCC found that the latter significantly increased students’ sense of accomplishment (38% vs 68%, P < .001), sense of connection to the school (59% vs 82%, P < .001), to classmates (71% vs 93%, P < .001), and to the event (42% vs 76%, P < .001). Cloaking as a community is an effective way for a medical school LC to instill a greater sense of community and student leadership in this milestone celebration of humanistic values in medicine.

scholarly journals Students’ Identities and its Relationships with their Engagement in an Online Learning Community

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (05) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Fariza Khalid
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Social Learning Theory ◽  
Online Community ◽  
First Year ◽  
Online Learning Community ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Personal Skills

Abstract—Communities of practice’ approaches have been proven to be effective in enhancing students’ learning as well as helping them to cultivate inter-personal skills, especially within the higher education system. An important development in relation to participation in communities of practice is members’ identities. This study was conducted with the aim of understanding students’ identities in relation to their participation in an online community and how the dimensions of their identities correlated to each other. The research par-ticipants were 123 first-year students who were involved in collaborative sharing activities via an online community, using Weebly. Data was collected using a set of questionnaires that discussed four main dimen-sions of identities: personal, professional, as learners, and as members of communities. Data was analysed using SPSS version 22. The overall findings offer a detailed description of students’ identities. A high posi-tive correlation was found between students’ prior knowledge and their motivation, commitment and beliefs with regard to the benefits of online communities. The only dimension of students’ identities that lacked cor-relation with other dimensions was students’ openness. The findings highlight the importance of understand-ing different aspects of identities and how this helps to enhance engagement in online communities. The findings are significant in terms of establishing a deeper understanding on learning process within a social learning theory.

The Relationship Between First-Year Learning Communities and Academic Performance in Introductory Psychology and Sociology

2021 ◽  
pp. 009862832110184
Author(s):  
Christine Ma-Kellams ◽  
Roy Kwon
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Introductory Psychology ◽  
First Year ◽  
Introductory Courses ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

Objective: How do learning communities influence academic performance in Introductory Psychology? Method: The present research examines the relationship between participation in first-year students learning communities and academic performance across a variety of course requirements (midterms, finals, papers, and class participation) in introductory psychology and, for comparison, sociology courses. Results: Students who took Introductory Psychology as part of a first-year-student learning community outperformed their peers (who took the same course without a learning community) on the first exam of the semester and were less likely to miss assignments but otherwise showed no significant differences on the other course assignments; introductory sociology students part of these communities showed even greater differences in performance that lasted through the end of the semester. Conclusion: First-year students learning communities offers significant albeit limited benefits for student performance in introductory courses in the social sciences. Teaching Implications: Short of institutional efforts to enact programming for first-year learning communities, introductory psychology instructors can attempt to simulate the experience of such communities by promoting a sense of belonging via extra-curricular service or discipline-related activities.

scholarly journals 165 Learning Communities in Horticulture Enhance Student Learning

HortScience ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 470E-470
Author(s):  
Gail R. Nonnecke
Keyword(s):  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Supplemental Instruction ◽  
Undergraduate Teaching ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Academic Assistance ◽  
Composition Course ◽  
Students First

A learning community was developed for first-year students majoring in horticulture at Iowa State Univ. in 1998. Learning communities are a curriculum design that schedules courses for both students and faculty to encourage community and connections among students, between students and faculty, and among faculty. Learning communities can offer students more opportunities for interactions among each other, academic assistance through supplemental instruction and/or group study sessions, and planned horticulture-related activities, all of which are important for success and retention of first-year students. First-year students in the horticulture learning community enrolled in the same courses and sections of five courses. The first-year English composition course was linked to the second-year principles of horticulture course that requires writing-across-the-curriculum activities. Faculty mentoring was provided through local field trips to horticultural sites of keen interest to the students. Academic environment survey results showed students rated their expectations highly for developing a network of other students as a resource group and for learning cooperatively in groups. Iowa State Univ. supports learning communities by providing faculty development and facilitating course registration, peer mentoring, supplemental instruction for challenging core courses, and academic and student services, to strengthen undergraduate teaching programs within and outside of the classroom.

scholarly journals Starting a Sober Dorm: Year One Challenges, Successes and Lessons Learned

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Sierra Castedo ◽  
John Harris
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
First Year ◽  
Process Selection ◽  
Application Process ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
Housing Option ◽  
Initial Cohort ◽  
Multiple Domains

This presentation is an examination of the pilot year of the Healthy Lifestyles Living Learning Community (HL LLC) substance-free housing option for incoming first year students sponsored by The Center for Students in Recovery at The University of Texas at Austin. Presenters will contextualize the history and unfulfilled need for recovery and sober student housing on the UT Austin campus, and will explore the development and implementation of a sober dorm from inception through the end of year one. Attendees will hear a candid assessment of expectations versus realities across multiple domains, including: the application process; selection of an initial cohort; the design and implementation of programming; the challenges of group cohesion and resident assistant empowerment; budget constraints; overall lessons learned; and considerations moving into year two.

Developing a Learning Community of Engineers Through an Honors First-Year Seminar

2017 ◽  
pp. 88-105
Author(s):  
Melissa L. Johnson ◽  
Kristy Spear
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Undergraduate Research ◽  
Honors Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Engineering Majors ◽  
Barriers To Success ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Global Engagement ◽  
First Year Seminar ◽  
Academic Interests

First-year engineering majors face a myriad of obstacles as they begin college. Taking challenging foundational coursework, navigating new expectations for performance and experience, and understanding the broader impact of their academic interests are just a few of those obstacles. In addition, female students sometimes face additional barriers to success, particularly as some question their own competence in the field. This chapter focuses on a first-year seminar for honors students that highlights the high impact practices (Kuh, 2008) students should participate in throughout their undergraduate career. These practices include global engagement, undergraduate research, and internships that are essential for early exposure to future career interests. By developing both formal and informal learning communities within the seminar (Johnson, Pasquini, & Rodems, 2013), first-year students are exposed to opportunities, mentoring, and support that help them make informed decisions about their major and career.

Bringing Educational Relevancy to the First-Year College Experience by Bearing Witness to Social Problems

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. Peters ◽  
Donald E. Stearns
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
The Other ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Environmental Learning ◽  
First Year College ◽  
Cancer Cluster ◽  
First Year College Students

An environmental learning community (LC) is presented as a working model that brings relevancy of higher education to first-year college students. The LC includes two primarily lecture courses—one in biology, one in economics—that have been specifically designed to focus on environmental issues from different perspectives. These courses share the same, first-year students. Each student researches an aspect of a particular environmental/health issue in Toms River, New Jersey, where there is a groundwater pollution problem that may be associated with a childhood cancer cluster found there. As part of their research, the students are taken to Toms River, Trenton, New Jersey, and Manhattan, where they listen to, and interview cancer victims, community activists, corporate officials, attorneys, developers, state and federal regulators, and others connected in some way with the Toms River environmental/human health situation. The students tour a Superfund site in Toms River, as well as a water analysis facility used by state officials in Trenton. The LC also includes a third course that is not taught using a traditional lecture format, but instead is student interactive, and allows for discussion and reflection regarding the environmental theme and the experiential component of the Toms River Project. The effectiveness of the LC with and without the Toms River Project was analyzed using the same survey questions in 1998 (without the Toms River Project), and 1999 (with the project). This LC was also compared with the other LCs presented during those years as part of the Wagner College First-Year Program. Results clearly show that the LC dramatically improved from 1998 to 1999. The 1999 environmental LC also stood out favorably when compared with the other LCs. We conclude that, when the experiential component of a learning community is relevant to the theme of the LC, is project-based, and involves faculty, the experience improves student interest, brings importance to the lecture material, stimulates critical thinking, and increases student understanding of civic responsibility.

scholarly journals A Cohort-based Learning Community Enhances Academic Success and Satisfaction with University Experience for First-Year Students

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Corey A Goldman
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
First Year ◽  
Group Model ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
Transition From High School ◽  
University Experience

Assessment of a successful cohort-based learning communities program for first-year undergraduate students shows that students in the program perform better academically and also report a higher level of satisfaction with their university experience than students who are not in the program. Students enrolled in arts and science at the University of Toronto, who take several large-enrolment courses in their first year, may optionally participate in the First-Year Learning Communities (FLC) program, designed to assist with the academic and social transition from high school to university. In this Freshman Interest Group model of learning community, the curriculum across the clustered courses is not linked. The FLC program was assessed over a five-year period, using student academic records and self-reported survey data. This paper also provides details on program design and implementation. L’évaluation d’un programme de communautés d’apprentissage fondées sur les cohortes pour les étudiants de première année du premier cycle qui a obtenu du succès montre que ceux qui sont inscrits à ce programme ont de meilleurs résultats scolaires et sont plus satisfaits de leur expérience universitaire que les autres. Les étudiants inscrits en arts et sciences à l’Université de Toronto, qui suivent plusieurs cours de première année où il y a de nombreux inscrits, peuvent participer au programme de communautés d’apprentissage la première année (CAPA) qui vise à les aider à effectuer la transition entre l’école secondaire et l’université sur le plan scolaire et social. Dans ce modèle de communautés d’apprentissage destiné au groupe d’intérêts particuliers des étudiants de première année, il n’y a pas de lien entre les programmes d’études des participants. Les chercheurs ont évalué le programme pendant cinq ans à partir des dossiers scolaires des étudiants et des données d’un sondage réalisé auprès d’eux. Le présent article fournit aussi des détails sur l’élaboration et la mise en œuvre du programme.

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