Learning Communities Give Community College Students Crucial Advantages

Madison, Wis.—July 16, 2008 — In the community college setting, it all hinges on initial student success. So said Dr. John Fallon of Rhodes State College on Wednesday, July 16th, in a live web seminar that presented a simple but effective system that can dramatically increase first year success rates—the learning community.

Fallon defined the learning community, at its simplest, as paired courses taught to a cohort group of students. That means that a certain part of the curriculum is common to the two courses, and the teaching of that part of the two courses is taught in common. He gave the example of an engineering 101 course and a technical writing course. A portion of the students in each course have signed up to take a portion of the other course. The subject matter of each course complements and strengthens the other, while a sense of community is built among the students in the two courses.

“Learning communities start with the idea that integrated learning matters,” said Fallon. Students in learning communities form relationships with instructors and other students that aid them in their efforts to persist toward an associate degree or transfer to a four-year college. He cited research that has shown retention after one quarter to be significantly higher for students in paired classes as opposed to students in traditional class arrangements. Fallon’s research also showed a comparable impact on grades—grades of “C” or better were 90 percent after the first quarter in a learning community, versus 78 percent in traditional class structures.

But, said Fallon, the most significant benefit of a learning community is relationship-building. “Building relationships early in the student’s academic career has value especially at non-residential campuses,” said Fallon. He noted that students in learning communities become bonded to each other, frequently assisting each other through hard patches in their academic career.

Fallon acknowledged that creating learning communities had some unique challenges, like careful co-planning of syllabi to exploit fruitful linkages between paired courses. He also offered assistance to listeners with two handouts, one on the basics of setting up learning communities, and another dealing with special challenges in planning and maintaining learning communities.

If you missed the live event, you can order the program in CD or print transcript format, both of which include the presenter's handouts.

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