Southeast Technical Institute
January 3, 2012
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 Mission:
To educate individuals for
employment opportunities, professional
growth and life long learning.
 Vision:
Creating workforce excellence
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 Promote
student success
 Leverage
 Foster
resources
collaborative relationships
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 How
do you define student success at
SETI?
 How
do you know if a student is successful
or not?
 Do
faculty, staff and students define
success differently?
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 Student-to-student
interaction
 Student-to-faculty interaction
 Student-oriented faculty
 Discussing racial/ethnic issues with other
students
 Hours studying
 Tutoring other students
 Socializing with diverse students
 Faculty positive about general education
From: Astin, A. W.
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 Hours
spent watching television/playing
video games
 Institutional size
 Use of teaching assistants
 Full-time employment
 Lack of community among students
 Living at home
 Peers oriented toward materialism
Astin, A. W.
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 Student
and learning centered approach
 Inclusion
 Multi-disciplinary perspectives
 Variety of ways to construct and
demonstrate meaning and understanding
 Collaborative learning environments
 Active and collaborative learning
 Civic and service components in
educational agenda
 Access, affordability
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Largest enrollment in SETI history:
Fall 2011 at 2507
 Gender:
49% male (1218) and 51% female (1289)
 Ethnicity:
92% White; 2% Black; 2% Hispanic;
1.6% American Indian; 1% Asian/Pacific
Islander; 1.4% two or more races
 Age:
almost 70% 17-25 years of age; 11% 26-29;
13.2% 30-39
 Transfer:
35-40% from another college or university

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Students persist in their studies if the learning they
experience is meaningful, deeply engaging, and
relevant to their lives.
How can we use learning communities to support
this goal?
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 Theoretical/philosophical foundation
 John Dewey- “Meet students where they are at”;
student-centered learning; active learning models
 Paulo Freire-both teachers and students have
experiences and knowledge to share
 Communities of practice-Jean Lave and Etienne
Wenger
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 Alexander Meikeljohn (Brown University;
Amherst College; University of Wisconsin)started the experimental college at UW in 1927;
started LCs to focus on helping students
develop skills in “how to think, instead of what
to think” through integrated learning
 The Evergreen State College and the
Washington Center for Improving the Quality of
Undergraduate Education (early 80s)
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
Learning Communities
• A method to deliver curricula to students and forge
closer bonds between students, among students,
and faculty and between students and the institution
(Price, 2005)
• Strategies for enrolling cohort groups of students in
a common set of classes (Learning Communities
Monograph Series)
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
Small sub-groups of students…characterized by a
common sense of purpose…that can be used to build a
strong sense of group identity, cohesiveness, and
uniqueness that encourage continuity and the integration
of diverse curricular and co-curricular experiences (Astin,
1985, 1994)

A variety of approaches that link or cluster classes during
a given term that enroll a common cohort of students.
This represents an intentional restructuring of students’
time, credit and learning experiences to build community,
and to foster more explicit connections among students,
their teachers and among disciplines (content).
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A
set of separate courses in (seemingly)
unrelated fragments.
 Instructors
teach separate courses to
different and separate groups of students.
Learning communities – pair/cluster courses
into a more coherent and enriched teaching
and learning environment.
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
Linked or paired courses-simplest form; each course is
taught separately, but there may be joint assignments,
projects, discussions

First-Year Interest Groups (FIG)-a cohort of the first-year
students enrolls in a small group in three, in-place
topically related courses; no faculty co-planning; student
in the FIG met regularly with a peer advisor.

Learning Clusters-a cluster of 2-4 courses linked by
common themes, historical periods , issues or problems;
extent of co-planning varies; some common
assignments/projects; students co-enroll in the courses,
but there are other students in the courses who are not
co-enrolled.
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
Federated Learning Communities (FLC)-a cohort of
students and a “Master Learner” enroll in three
“federated”, in-place courses; also participate in a
content-synthesizing seminar.

Coordinated Studies Programs-considered the most
seamless of all of the LC models; a multidisciplinary
program of study involving a cohort of students and
faculty drawn from different disciplines; faculty plan and
participate in all parts of the program; courses are
integrated around a central theme.
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
Community:

Focus on learning to learn in community
May also include participation in wider community
through engagement in community-based volunteering,
service-learning
 Collaboration
 Curricular
connections and integration of
ideas across disciplines, “connected
knowing”
 Linking theory with practice
 Reflective practice and synthesis
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 To
students
• Learn more
• Stay at the institution
• More satisfied with integrated courses than with
•
•
•
•
“traditional” courses
Enjoy a sense of community
Learn to think more critically
Able to synthesize material from different
disciplines
Interact closely with other students and learn
from them
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 To
Faculty
• Find LCs as challenging and stimulating
• Opportunity to look at the curriculum in different
ways
• Opportunity to collaborate with other faculty
• Fosters a sense of community
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 Goals
for students
• Improve retention
• Increase student learning and achievement
• Increase time on task both in and out of class
• Promote active learning and teamwork skills
• Develop student leadership
• Increase the success rate of under-represented
students
• Increase entry and completion in certain majors
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 Goals
for Faculty
• Increase experimentation within curriculum
• Broaden pedagogical repertoire of faculty
• Increase faculty engagement with one another
• Promote deeper interaction among faculty and
students
• Promote interaction between junior and senior
faculty
• Promote stronger relationships among faculty and
student affairs staff
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 Goals
for Student Affairs staff:
• Promote deeper interaction between student
affairs and faculty
• Create meaningful opportunities for student
leadership development
• Broaden pedagogical repertoire and deeper
interaction among student affairs professionals
and students.
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 Goals
for Curriculum
• Increase coherence of general education
program.
• Make curriculum more interdisciplinary
• Infuse skills such as writing and speaking across
the curriculum
• Create more engaging points of entry for certain
majors
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 Goals
for the Institution
• Enhance the quality of undergraduate education
• Foster a climate of innovation
• Increase the sense of community within the
institution
• Promote meaningful collaboration between faculty
and staff, faculty and administration
• Promote a culture of assessment, of learning
about student learning
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 For
students:
• May require a greater commitment than the student
is ready for
• Decreases flexibility in student’s schedule
• Potential for cliques to form (student-to-student
interaction)
• Group members do not contribute equally to
assignments
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 For
faculty:
• Working together is time-consuming! Many experience
loss of autonomy as decisions are shared
• Close connections to students can be draining
• Can perceive that one instructor is being played
against the other/competing for students attention
• Difficult to assure all courses are treated equally
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
Learning Communities have a broad reach in higher
education in the U.S.

Much more research is needed in the following areas:
• How do LCs effect faculty, student affairs staff, librarians, etc?
• Institutional and leadership issues related to LCs?
• Why are learning communities successful?

Most of the research reveals promising results:
• Strengthen student retention
• Strengthen academic achievement
• Learning Community experience is positive
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 History
of Block Scheduling at SDSU
• Initial charge –
Links to implementation of the
SDSU Student Success Plan
Fall 2010 - Pilot
Fall 2011 - All students
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 18
•
•
•
•
LCs in place ~ 300 students
All Pre-Pharmacy (7)*
Pre-Nursing (4)*
Pre-Vet (2)
Health Profession LLC
•
•
•
•
Ag Bio LLC (2)
AA General Studies (1)
Ag Engineering (1)
Nutrition Food Science (1)
*2 Pre-Pharm/2 Pre-Nursing included in college numbers
 Represents 15% first-year class
 6 of 7 colleges represented
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 Blocks


of 22-25 students
2 to 3 courses (6-9 credit hours)
Courses typically used:
• Introductory course in department:
•
•
•
•
•
 VET 103, PHA 101, EHS 140
BIO 151/151L – General Biology
CHEM 112/112L – General Chemistry
GS 100 – University Experience
GS 143 – Mastering Lifetime Learning Skills
SPCM 101 – Fundamentals of Speech
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Operating Guidelines
 All
FT/FT UG students at the Brookings campus
will be a member of a LC for Fall 2011
 Groups of ~25 students by academic program
(may have to combine majors)
 Link minimum 2 courses/labs with course caps
of ~25
 Try to avoid courses with placement concerns
(i.e. math, ENGL 101)
 Review conflicts with athletics, music and other
practice schedules
 Possible “opt out” for Honors programs, etc.
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104
Learning Communities
~1,800 students anticipated
Examples of # of sections used:
ENGL 101
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Composition I
GS 143
22
Mastering Lifetime Learning
SPCM 101
20
Fundamentals of Speech
GS 100
19
University Experience
CHEM 112L
19
General Chemistry I Lab
BIO 101L
12
Biology Survey I Lab
BIO 151L
8
General Biology I Lab
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College
Learning
Communities
Arts and Sciences
15
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
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Engineering
14
University College
14
Pharmacy
6
Nursing
6
Education and Human Sciences
11
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 Faculty
collaboration:
• Co-Planning—degree of co-planning will vary; link
one assignment in separate community.
• Co-Teaching—visit each others classes; swap
courses; team-teach
• Co-Assessment—grade assignments separately or
together; faculty can offer comments; all assignments
graded by all faculty
• Co-Learning
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 Linked
activities—attend a SETI event; servicelearning or volunteer activity; guest speaker
discussion on a topic which spans the 2-3
courses
 Linked assignments—projects; presentations;
written assignments
 Linked syllabi—shared student learning
outcomes
 Linked curricula—topics; skills & knowledge;
applications; coordination of calendars
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 In-Class
 Online
 Out-of-Class
 Formal
 Informal
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
Collaborative and cooperative learning – provide teams of
students the opportunity to learn actively through shared
discovery of knowledge

Peer teaching – students serve as co-instructors with
faculty. Can serve as mentors or tutors as well.

Discussion groups and seminars – share experiences

Labs and field trips – allow students to enact the
intellectual concepts and skills learned in class.

Problem-based learning – work through real or simulated
issues related to the learning goals of a course.
Underscores the interdisciplinary nature of most
problems.
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
Demonstrations – delivered by students, peer or primary
instructors; see concepts come to life

Writing and speaking across the curriculum – ( along with
quantitative reasoning) -- help focus on the critical nature
of communication skills across the curriculum

Ongoing reflection – students examine what they have
learned, how they learned it and how that learning might
apply to other situations
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
Self-evaluation – what worked, what did not work, what
next? Also, can include portfolios of student work.

Service-learning – key component of a course plus
community service

Experiential learning – includes a variety of approaches
for allowing student opportunities outside the classroom
to apply concepts learned – internship, practicum, study
abroad, other community service, etc.
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 Pharmacy
Technology – first semester
courses
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Computer Essentials (CIS 101) – 2 credits
Basic Anatomy (HC 110) – 3 credits
Medical Terminology (HC 113) – 2 credits
Math for Pharmacy (PHRM 100) – 2 credits
Pharmacology (PHRM 110) – 3 credits
Pharmacy Principles (PHRM 113)
Pharmacy Principles (PHRM 113L)
Student Success Seminar (SSS 100) – 2 credits
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Automotive Technology
• AT 110 Manual Transmission Theory
• AT 111 Manual Transmission Theory Lab
• AT 112 Automatic Transmission Theory
• AT 113 Automatic Transmission Theory
Lab
• AT 122 Brake Systems
• AT 123 Brake Systems Lab
• ENGL 101 Composition
• SSS 100 Student Success Seminar
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A
minimum percentage of the students
will earn a 2.0+ GPA and will return to
SETI for their second semester. (92%-93%
return FA-SP each yr.)
 Survey
questions:
• Identify two benefits of collaborative learning
• Articulate a sense of belonging at SETI
• Participate in discipline-based organizations
and events
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 Comprehensive
listing of institutions with
LCs
• http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/Directory.
asp
 Amazon.com
• 453 listings for “university learning communities”
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 References
• Gabelnick, F., MacGregor, J. Matthews, R.S., & Smith, B.L. (1990).
•
•
•
•
•
Learning communities: Creating Connections among students,
faculty and disciplines. New Directions for Teaching and Learning,
41. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, Inc.
Laufgraben, J.L. and Shapiro, N.S. (2004). Sustaining and
Improving Learning Communities. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, Inc.
Price, D.V. (2005). Learning Communities and Student Success in
Postsecondary Education: A Background Paper. MDRC: New York.
Shapiro, N.S. and Levine, J.J. (1999). Creating Learning
Communities: A Practical Guide to Winning Support, Organizing
Change, and Implementing Programs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Smith, B.L. (1993). Creating Learning Communities. Liberal
Education, 32-39.
Tinto, V. (2003). Learning Better Together: The Impact of Learning
Communities on Student Success. In Promoting Student Success in
College, Higher Education Monograph Series (pp. 1-8). Syracuse,
NY: Syracuse University.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
What is your initial reaction to the idea of learning
communities for SETI?
How might learning communities fit within the SETI
environment? How might learning communities fit
with initiatives already underway or soon to be
launched? Will learning communities be seen as
furthering these other initiatives?
Who is the student audience we want to involve in
learning communities at SETI? How will we identify
these students?
What learning community approach (or model)
seems most appropriate and doable for us at SETI?
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5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Who needs to be involved with implementing learning
communities? Which administrative and support
service people should be brought together to discuss
implementing the learning communities?
Which faculty members will be involved?
What might be some of the obstacles to learning
communities?
Will the learning communities be organized by major
or by theme?
If by theme, what might be some relevant themes to
identify to provide focus for the learning
communities?
How will the learning communities be
assessed/evaluated?
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 Identify
a recorder and spokesperson for
each group.
 Be prepared to report on the highlights of
the discussion at your table.
• What did your group identify as the key positives
of the LC concept?
• What concerns were identified and how might
these be addressed?
• What are the groups initial thoughts on how to
approach LCs at SETI?
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
An impetus for change
Administrative support
A leadership team that includes both academic
and student affairs
A shared vision and comprehensive view
A strategic plan and yearly planning calendar
Inclusive planning
Student-focused goals
Faculty involvement
An evaluation and assessment plan
Information and resource networks
Budget and space
Incentives and rewards
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