Living Learning Communities
Overview
Jerry Olson
Director of Residence Life
Andrew Beckett
Assistant Dean of Students
July 18, 2006
Outline
What are Living Learning Communities
(LLC’s)?
 Origins and Philosophical Foundations
 History at Miami
 Benefits
 Challenges
 Reflection Questions

What are Living Learning
Communities?
Structures

Curricular
– Coordinated Studies (Evergreen St.)
– FIGs (U of Oregon) & Linked Courses (Iowa
St.)
– Federated/Block Courses (Seattle Comm. Coll)
– FYE (USC)
Structures

Residential
– Theme housing (e.g. Substance Free Floors)
– Academic (Interdisciplinary or major focused)
– Student Created (Miami University)

Residential & Curricular
– Residential colleges (Rice, Harvard, MSU)
– FIGs (Iowa State)
– Connections (Ball St.)
Philosophical underpinnings
Holistic/integrated approach
 Peer to peer interaction
 Faculty-student interaction
 Highly differentiated environments
(a.k.a. commonality of purpose)
 Involvement

Core Practices
Community
 Diversity
 Integration
 Active Learning
 Reflection and Assessment

– Smith, B., et. al. (2004). Learning Communities: Reforming
undergraduate education.
Origins

Meiklejohn
– Experimental College
– UW Madison 1927-32
Harvard Houses (1929) and Yale Colleges (1931);
Edward Harkness
 Tussman

– Experiment at Berkeley
– Berkeley 1965-69
Evergreen State (early 70s)
 University of Oregon FIGs (1982)
 Adopted by many institutions in the early nineties

Student Learning Imperative
(ACPA, 1993)
“The concepts of ‘learning,’ ‘personal
development’ and ‘student development’
are inextricably intertwined and
inseparable. Higher education traditionally
has organized its activities into ‘academic’
affairs (cognitive development) and
‘student affairs’ (affective or personal
development).
However this dichotomy has little relevance
to post-college life, where the quality of
one’s job performance, family life and
community activities are all highly
dependent on cognitive and affective
skills.”
History at Miami
1929 — Live-in faculty begin to conduct academic advising in the residence halls
1974 — The Western College Program was established
1983 — The beginning of Focused Learning Communities (FLC), precursor to Theme
Learning Communities, in conjunction with the Honors Department
1983-1992 — International Living Learning Center and Health Enhancement & Lifestyle
Management Programs were established
1993 — German Language Floor, Residential Service Learning, Academic Excellence
Floor (precursor to the Scholastic Enhancement Program), Fine Arts Interest Floor
(precursor to the Celebrate the Arts Program), Cooperative Living/Learning Center
(no longer in existence), and the Business Floor (no longer in existence), were all
established
1995 — Women in Math, Science, & Engineering was established
1996 — Scholar Leader Program and Leadership, Excellence, & Community were
established
History at Miami
1997 — Mosaic: Individuality and Diversity was established in conjunction with the
College of Arts and Science
1998 — Celebrate the Arts was established in conjunction with the School of Fine Arts
1999 — Courses in Common was established (first known as Federated Learning
Community)
2001 — Record 53% of first-year students and 12% of upperclass students chose to
participate in Theme Learning Communities
2001 — Addition of the French Language Floors
2003 — Addition of the Environmental Awareness Program and the Technology and
Society Program
2004 — Addition of the Chinese Language Floors
2006– Addition of the Spanish Language Floors
Miami University—Context
of LLCs





Public, residential institution with a strong academic reputation
Approximately 16,000 students on Oxford campus
Undergraduate liberal arts focus on principles of: thinking critically,
understanding contexts, engaging with other learners, and reflecting
and acting (Miami Plan Principles)
Six divisions—Arts & Science, Business, Education & Allied
Professions, Engineering & Applied Science, Fine Arts,
Interdisciplinary Studies
Mission of LLCs at Miami
– create and extend student learning opportunities outside of the
classroom
– integrate curricular with co-curricular experiences
– foster faculty and resident interaction
– enhance both intellectual and personal growth of the residents
Miami’s LLCs 2006-2007




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
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Celebrate the Arts
Chinese Language Floors
Communities of Inquiry (Honors and
Scholars)
Environmental Awareness Program
French Language Floors
German Language Floors
Health Enhancement & Lifestyle
Management (HELM)
International Living Learning Community
Miami’s LLCs 2006-2007








Leadership, Excellence & Community
Mosaic
Scholastic Enhancement Program
Spanish Language Floors
Student Created Programming
Technology and Society
Western College Program
Women in Science Disciplines,
Engineering, and Mathematics (WiSDEM)
Why LLCs?

Who benefits and how?
LLC Benefits for Faculty/Staff

Offers a means for professional rejuvenation

Provides an opportunity for faculty development
(content and pedagogy)

Creates mentoring opportunities

Helps faculty/staff better understand students via
interactions
Source: Goodsell Love, A. (1999). What are learning communities? In J. Levine, (Ed.), Learning communities: New structures, new
partnerships for learning (pp. 1-8). Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition,
University of South Carolina.
LLC Benefits for Students

Deepens learning through active approach—
collaborative learning, reflection (explicitly making
links among disciplines), service and experiential
learning, interdisciplinary inquiry

Raises expectations for learning
 Assists
students in making connections to the
campus and surrounding community
 Aids
in student transition to college and retention

Increases interaction between students and
faculty
Source: Goodsell Love, A. (1999). What are learning communities? In J. Levine, (Ed.), Learning communities: New structures, new
partnerships for learning (pp. 1-8). Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in
Transition, University of South Carolina.
LLC Benefits for Institution

Helps institution make a paradigm shift (move from
teacher-centered to learning-centered; strengthens
teaching)

Sparks greater intellectual interaction between
students and instructor and between/among instructors

Provides alternative to traditional approaches to
general education

Is generally cost effective
 Aids
student retention, motivation, and progress
toward degree
Source: Goodsell Love, A. (1999). What are learning communities? In J. Levine, (Ed.), Learning communities: New structures, new
partnerships for learning (pp. 1-8). Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition,
University of South Carolina.
Challenges
Partnerships (giving up some control of
decision-making)
 Motivating staff (programming won’t
always be “fun”; community is viewed as a
process and not an outcome)
 Facility limitations
 Priorities of faculty and student affairs
 Sense of accomplishment

– How do you know you were successful?
How do our halls become Living
Learning Communities?
How would a visitor know that your hall is
an LLC?
 What opportunities will students have to
learn and grow in their LLC?
 How are these opportunities different from
students living in a “traditional” residence
hall?

What makes a LLC

How would a visitor know that your hall is an
LLC?
– Visual Indicators
 Door decs, bulletin boards, etc.
– Students
 Who are they?
 What are they doing?
– Staff
 What are they/you doing?

What opportunities will students have to learn
and grow in your LLC? How are these
opportunities different from students living in a
traditional residence hall?