Are Learning Communities Effective?
Student outcomes
- Student retention, achievement
- Student involvement, motivation
- Time to degree, degree completion
- Intellectual development
Faculty outcomes
- Faculty development in terms of expanded repertoire of teaching approaches, revised course content, and new scholarly interests.
- Faculty mentoring
- Faculty engagement with beginning students, with general education offerings.
Institutional outcomes
- Learning communities as “skunk works,” i.e., R&D sites for curriculum development, and the strengthening of teaching and learning