Introduction:
Discussion Questions:
--Have you been part of a learning community in
the past (as teacher or student) and how did it work out?
-Are there some courses which work better linked than others?
While “learning communities” are currently proliferating
at campuses across the country, there is no universally accepted
definition of what constitutes a learning community. In essence,
any classroom that brings together students and faculty engaged
in the act of collaborative learning, constitutes a “learning
community.” However, the term has increasingly come to
refer to programs that extend the learning experience beyond
a single classroom or beyond the typical three hours per week.
Some programs involve students in volunteer work (“service
learning communities”), some connect the classroom to
residence life (“living-learning communities”),
while others involve students in cross-disciplinary programs
by creating a “community” of students registered
for two or more courses together as a group.
Western is currently developing learning communities that are
influenced by all three of these models. The primary focus of
Western’s initiative is to provide students and faculty
with an opportunity to link several general education courses
together, and to build a sense of community among the students
taking this eight credit hour “block” of classes
as a group. The courses that are currently being linked are:
Psychology 100, Communications 145, English 100, History 119
and 120, and Freshman Seminar.
Different students select different combinations of these
courses to fill out an eight hour learning community block.
In addition, some of the students will also be living together
in the newly remodeled Bates-Runner residence hall. This residential
learning community will be called the “Gateway Community.”
All together, these programs will involve approximately 180
incoming freshmen in the fall of 2003.
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