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What Are Learning Communities and How Might They Contribute to More Effective Learning and InstructionWhat are learning communities? Learning communities are not a new concept. In fact, the concept of learning in a community or small group setting can be found as far back as the days of Plato and Quintilian. A plethora of literature exists about learning communities and all of their seemingly limitless variations and applications. The most often referenced definition of learning communities can be found in Gabelnick, MacGregor, Matthews and Smith’s “Learning Communities: Creating Connections Among Students, Faculty, and Disciplines”: “Learning communities purposefully restructure the curriculum to link together courses or course work so that students find greater coherence in what they are learning as well as increased intellectual interaction with faculty and fellow students…[L]earning communities are also usually associated with collaborative and active approaches to learning, some form of team teaching, and interdisciplinary themes” (5). This general definition serves as a starting point for the many variations of LCs. “Anne Goodsell Love and Kenneth Tokuno describe…three models as (1) student cohorts in larger classes, (2) paired or clustered classes, and (3) team-taught programs” (Wiley 18–19). These three models again serve as general descriptions of the various manifestations of LCs that may be found at hundreds of colleges and universities across the country, which include cohorts of students, fully integrated instruction, interdisciplinary instruction, theme-based cohorts, linked courses and coordinated studies programs, among others. In addition to the myriad types of LCs, there are many methods of student placement into LCs, including student self-placement, scores on standardized tests, and institutional requirement based on conditional enrollment (see Heaney, Goen). The Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education at The Evergreen State College in Washington provides a large amount of material regarding learning communities. They focus a great deal on successful development and implementation of learning communities, and they offer support and training for faculty and instructors creating LCs. Gillies Malnarich and Emily Decker-Lardner of the Washington Center assert that, “The most powerful learning communities have some sort of conceptual framework that guides their overall shape” (2). This component is a central part of any LC situation, since a guiding philosophy and clear outcomes will help both instructors and students benefit from taking part in a learning community. Why learning communities? Learning communities are developed at post-secondary institutions for many reasons, including easing the transition from high school to college, increasing student retention and graduation rates, and supporting students labeled “developmental,” “remedial” or “conditionally enrolled.” LCs can be found on campuses of all types and sizes, and a fair amount of literature exists about their success at community colleges and commuter campuses. This is notable because students on commuter campuses often feel disconnected from their institutions. As Mark Wiley explains, these students“…only hang out long enough to attend classes. They thus never feel part of the university, they don’t participate in its culture, and they remain ‘strangers’ both to faculty and to one another” (Wiley 25). Learning communities serve as one way to help students at any institution become part of the campus community and to discover that the relationships they form with other students and with instructors are beneficial to learning. Vincent Tinto, a noted retention scholar in the area of LCs, explains that learning communities have three things in common: shared knowledge, shared knowing, and shared responsibility (“Learning Better” 2). He also promotes LCs as an important retention tool for first-year students. One way to increase retention is to create a positive first-year experience for students. For instance, Tinto says that in LCs, “…the entering students form their own self-supporting associations to give each other academic and social support…Not surprisingly the students in these new learning communities tend to report themselves more satisfied with their first year experiences in college” (“Rethinking” 6). Students who have positive experiences during their first year of college are more likely to stay in school and pursue a degree. Learning communities and writing instruction Strong connections exist between learning communities and composition instruction; however, according to Mark Wiley, “…little has been published about the impact of learning communities on writing programs and particularly basic writers” (3). This is possibly due to the fact that “…basic writing has become institutionalized [so] administrators of such programs may understandably be more concerned about protecting turf than investigating curricular alternatives…” (Wiley 1). It may also be that the concept of LCs is not new or unheard of, as many first-year composition courses already utilize many of the practices that LCs encourage. Additionally, Wiley suggests that the lack of composition scholarship focused on learning communities is ironic considering the “…many casual references in that [composition] literature to community building and community-like elements that apparently contribute to successful learning in the writing class” (17). Linking courses in an LC around a composition course seems like a natural method of implementation, in part because most colleges require some sort of composition credits to be completed for graduation and/or for passage to higher-level coursework. Additionally, depending on the level of integration, students in LCs centered around a composition course, whether it is a BW course or not, have an increased opportunity to experience the connections between writing and other disciplines such as reading, history or psychology. While these opportunities and apparent benefits exist, it is always important to remember that different manifestations of learning communities reflect different pedagogies, assumptions and understandings about their implementations, goals and students. These should all be carefully considered in any discussion of composition-centered LCs, especially those focused on basic writing students. Unanswered questions While learning communities offer many opportunities for students, there are still many questions that warrant further investigation. Some of the questions listed below pertain directly to specific students, such as basic writers, but suggest areas of inquiry pertaining to all students:
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