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
