Learning Communities
A recent trend in university education involves the creation of Learning
Communities that link students in various ways: by major, by related general
education courses, by residence hall, etc. Learning Communities are so popular,
in part, because research suggests that students in such communities are
more likely to stay in college. Likewise, students grades are often higher
in these communities and the students are less likely to engage in high-risk
behaviors. The links below offer the basics of what Learning Communities
are, the more theoretical/research-based work that led to using LCs at college,
and links to Learning Communities at other universities.
About Learning Communities
- Dynamic Learning
Communities (Brent Wilson & Martin Ryder)
- Wilson & Ryder suggest learning communities as an alternative to
more traditional instructional paradigms; they explain the positives and
negatives, as well.
- Learning
Communities: Getting Started (Geri Rasmussen & Elizabeth Skinner)
- An extensive examination of how two community colleges started using
learning communities; the authors also offer explanations of student-needs-based
and common-skills-based learning communities.
Theories of Learning Communities
- Communities
of Practice: Learning as a Social System (Etienne Wenger)
- Wenger contends that even in large organizations, individuals "learn
through their participation in more specific communities made up of people
with whom they interact on a regular basis."
- Learning
Communities + Technology = Connectedness? (Labyrinth)
- An issue of Labyrinth devoted to the role of technologies in learning
communities.
- Organizational
Learning & Communities-of-Practice (John S. Brown & Paul
Duguid)
- An investigation of how groups actually function in organizations, suggesting
that college learning communities that function in similar ways might be
more productive for helping students prepare for possible futures as collaborative
workers.
- Professional
Learning Communities: What Are They and Why Are They Important (Southwest
Ed. Development Lab)
Learning Communities at Other Universities
- Iowa State
- Purdue University
- Temple University
- U of Illinois
- U of Nebraska
- U of South Florida
Other Resources
- Annotated
Bibliography on Learning Communities
- Building Learning Communities
- Creating Learning
Communities
- Developing Faculty Learning
Communities (M. Cox)
- Global Learning
Communities
- Learning Communities Network
- National Learning Communities
Project Online
