First Year Learning Communities as Key Strategy for First-Generation Student Success

1. First Year Learning Communities as Key Strategy for First-Generation Student Success Scott Evenbeck, Ph.D. IUPUI July, 2009 IHEP Summer Academy Ft. Lauderdale, FL

2. Contact Scott E. Evenbeck IUPUI University College 815 West Michigan Street Indianapolis, IN 46202 Phone: (317) 274-5032 Fax: (317) 278-2216 evenbeck@iupui.edu http://uc.iupui.edu

3. Learning Communities: Contexts for Student Success Learning communities have been transformational for higher education.  As faculty, advisors, and others have come together across departments and across campus, learning communities have been the platform not only for transforming the first year of study but also for campuses to forge new partnerships and strategies for enhancing student success.  Student success begins in the classroom, and learning communities provide the contexts for entering students to connect with one another and with their learning in ways that serve them well. 

4. Think Back… Can you remember your first semester in college? Why did you stay or why did you leave?

5. Outline The National Picture Bringing It To Campus – What Can We Do? The Results Going Back To My Question – How Can We Provide A Context For Student Success? Discussion

6. The National Picture Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) of Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU)

7. Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) Source: Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2007). College Learning for the New Century. • The Essential Learning Outcomes • The Principles of Excellence

8. Essential Learning Outcomes Beginning in school, and continuing at successively higher levels across their college studies, students should prepare for twenty-first century challenges by gaining:

9. Essential Learning Outcomes Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World • Through study in the science and mathematics, social sciences, humanities, histories, languages, and the arts

10. Essential Learning Outcomes Intellectual and Practical Skills • Inquiry and analysis • Critical and creative thinking • Written and oral communication • Quantitative literacy • Information literacy • Teamwork and problem solving

11. Essential Learning Outcomes Personal and Social Responsibility • Civic knowledge and engagement —local and global • Intercultural knowledge and competence • Ethical reasoning and action • Foundations and skills for lifelong learning

12. Essential Learning Outcomes Integrative Learning • Synthesis and advanced accomplishment across general and specialized studies

13. Principles of Excellence Principle One: Aim High and Make Excellence Inclusive • Make the Essential Learning Outcomes a framework for the entire educational experience, connecting school, college, work, and life

14. Principles of Excellence Principle Two: Give Students a Compass • Focus each student’s plan of study on achieving the Essential Learning Outcomes and assess progress

15. Principles of Excellence Principle Three: Teach the Arts of Inquiry and Innovation • Immerse all students in analysis, discovery, problem solving, and communication, beginning in school and advancing in college

16. Principles of Excellence Principle Four: Engage the Big Questions • Teach through the curriculum to far-reaching issues—contemporary and enduring—in science and society, cultures and values, global interdependence, the changing economy, and human dignity and freedom

17. Principles of Excellence Principle Five: Connect Knowledge with Choices and Action • Prepare students for citizenship and work through engaged and guided learning on “real-world” problems

18. Principles of Excellence Principle Six: Foster Civic, Intercultural, and Ethical Learning • Emphasize personal and social responsibility, in every field of study

19. Principles of Excellence Principle Seven: Assess Students’ Ability to Apply Learning to Complex Problems • Use assessment to deepen learning and to establish a culture of shared purpose and continuous improvement

20. Bringing It To Campus – What Can We Do? First Year Seminars Learning Communities Themed Learning Communities (TLC) Bridge Bridge + TLC

21. First Year Seminars

22. Instructional Team Faculty Academic Advisor Student Mentor Librarian

23. Learning Outcomes Students will begin to develop a comprehensive perspective on higher education.

24. Learning Outcomes Students will have the opportunity to experience a safe, supportive, and positive university learning experience, which includes the establishment of a network of staff, faculty, and other students.

25. Learning Outcomes Students will understand and begin to practice basic communication skills appropriate to the academic setting.

26. Learning Outcomes Students will begin the process of understanding critical thinking in the university context.

27. Learning Outcomes Students should begin to develop a knowledge of their own abilities, skills, and life demands so that they can develop these more effectively in pursuit of their academic goals.

28. Learning Outcomes Students should understand the role and make full use of IUPUI resources and services which support their learning and campus connections.

29. Learning Communities A wide variety of educational programs have the “learning community” label. In general, most learning communities consist of a cohort of students who take one or more courses together. Frequently, the courses are organized around a common theme and many learning communities require students to be involved in out-of-class activities. Some learning communities include a residential component. Even though they may be different features, participating in a learning community has generally been consistently linked to higher levels of student achievement, learning, and success (Taylor, Moore, MacGregor & Lindblad, 2003).

30. Learning Communities • Cohort Groups • First Year Seminar • One of the courses

31. Themed Learning Communities (TLC)

32. What is a Themed Learning Community (TLC)? • 3 or more linked courses including an integrative first year seminar connected through an interdisciplinary theme. • First year seminar is taught by an instructional team including a faculty member, academic advisor, librarian and student mentor • Faculty and instructional team members work together to integrate the curricula • Involve exciting opportunities for experiential learning (co-curricular/service learning experiences)

33. Examples of TLCs Major Specific: • School of Education • Urban Community Past and Present • (Examining Self as Teacher, History, English, First Year Seminar) • School of Nursing • So…You Say You Want to Be a Nurse • (Sociology, English Composition & Nursing Success Seminar) • Herron School of Art • Business • Engineering • Technology • Psychology • Forensic Science • SPEA • Social Work • Liberal Arts Complete listings and descriptions: http://tlc.iupui.edu/2007/index.html Non-major Specific: • For Love AND Money (English, Psychology, Math & Career Exploration Seminar) • Push it to the Limit: African American Perspectives and Expressions on Power in American Society (Sociology, Public Speaking & First Year Seminar) • Can’t We All Just Get Along? (Anthropology, Psychology, English and First Year Seminar)

34. TLC Experiential Learning Examples Themed Learning Community Students learn through: • Museums (Eiteljorg, IMA, Indiana State Museum, Freedom Center) • Plays (at the Madame Walker Theater, IRT and more) • Festivals • Service Learning (community agencies, local schools, shelters, Juvenile Detention Center) • Meeting with NCAA president • Visiting a local mosque during Ramadan • Participating in a live global discussion with Israel • Interviewing with Channel 8 News

35. Summer Academy Bridge Program • What is the Bridge Program? • A two week program designed to transition students from high school to college • Free to students • Chance to meet other students and make college friends • A way to learn skills and information to prepare for college success • Joint program with University College and academic schools

36. Summer Academy Bridge Program • “Jump-Start Academic Careers” • Sharpen skills in math, writing & communications • Prepared & ready to start first semester college • Get to know campus & resources • Form connections with faculty, academic advisors & student mentors • Create friendships

37. The Results

38. Impact of Participation in a First-Year Fall 2007 Seminar: One-Year Retention

40. GPA and First Year Retention in the TLCs Comparison group – students who participated in a freshman seminar or learning community. *adjusted to control for significant covariates including: course load, gender, ethnicity, SAT scores, high school percentile ranks, units of high school math, and first-generation students.

41. Summer Bridge (Two-Week)Student Questionnaire Results 98% of students surveyed said they would recommend the Summer Bridge program to other first-year students. 2008 = 98% 2007 = 98% 2006 = 99% 2005 = 96%, 2004 = 98%

42. 2007 Results

43. Bridge - Longer Term Impacts

44. TLCs + Bridge • 11 TLC + Bridge Sections • 33% of 2009 TLCs include Bridge • 58% of 2009 Bridge sections include a TLC

45. The Linking of Two Initiatives:--Summer Academy + TLC-- “Case Study” Communicating Today’s Health Science Culture

46. 2007 Bridge-Themed Learning Community Combination has Positive Effects

47. What Do Participants Tell Us?

48. Comments from TLC Faculty A TLC affords many opportunities for both students and faculty, and among the greatest of these is the coordination and collaboration among instructors to implement the theme across the courses such that students can acquire a deeper understanding of the theme via various modes and different perspectives. For example, our TLC theme deals with the issue of social justice, and students are able to examine social justice as it relates to education, service-learning, history, and writing. As students experience their instructors working together toward this end they come to appreciate the significance of, in this case, social justice issues and consider and reflect upon their own values as they relate to these issues. (Deborah Biss Keller, Ph.D., IU School of Education at Indianapolis/University College)

49. Comments from TLC Faculty What amazes me about my TLC students is how deeply they engage in the theme and class activities.  Months after a TLC is over, I will learn that students formed a Facebook site named after the TLC, or that groups of students revisited a field trip site together, like the art museum or a restaurant.  Often, students email articles to me or stop by my office to talk about subsequent experiences that reminded them of the TLC.  Last year, a student applied to participate in a filmmaker’s trip to Thailand after our TLC viewed a film about preventing child prostitution in that country.  The students seem to incorporate the theme, and the knowledge gained in TLC classes, into their future lives. (FranciaKissel, TLC Faculty)

50. Comments from TLC Faculty • The TLC helps students begin to see their academic work from multiple perspectives. • The integration of disciplinary concepts and assignments in the TLC allows students to take part in a more holistic learning experience.  • Students often find comfort in attending most of their classes with the same students in the TLC, which is not an easy feat on a campus of 30,000 students. (David Sabol, TLC Faculty)