Education Commons^™

Toward A Pedagogy Of Cooperative Learning. A Review Of Education And Democratic Participation: The Making Of Learning Communities, Xiuying Cai

Democracy and Education

No abstract provided.

“Our Stories”: First-Year Learning Communities Students Reflections On The Transition To College, Karen Goodlad, Sandra Cheng, Jennifer Sears, Mery Diaz, Ashwin Satyanarayana, Phil Freniske

Publications and Research

Analysis of diverse first-year and first-generation learning communities students’ reflective narratives shows this population of students at an urban commuter college of technology face significant challenges in the transition into college. Designed to assist in this transition, the “Our Stories” digital writing project incorporates reflective writing in the long established, yet recently revitalized, learning communities program. Through analysis of the “Our Stories” project, we examine how the structure of our learning communities program, together with writing on an open digital platform, builds community and has the potential to positively influence students as they identify, and begin to make sense, of …

Measuring The Effects Of Problem-Based Learning On The Development Of Postformal Thinking Skills And Engagement Of First-Year Learning Community Students, Charles T. Wynn Sr., Richard S. Mosholder, Carolee A. Larsen

Charles Wynn

This article presents an instructional model for teaching a gateway history course that affects students by: 1) improving their ability to think at higher levels; 2) increasing engagement; and, 3) enhancing their perception of the relevancy of the course material in comparison to traditional lecture and discussion. The model includes problem-based learning, a metacognitive reflection inducing approach to discussion, and integration into a learning community (PBL LC). The researchers conducted an evaluation of the outcomes of PBL LC and compared them to the outcomes of the same course taught by model methods without the learning community (PBL History) and by …

Perceptions Of The Conference System At A Technology-Focused High School, Victoria Phipps

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

John Jay High School used a form of the house system called the Conference System. The goal of the study was to understand the student and teacher perceptions of the Conference System. The study also tried to find if there was a difference in perceptions between students who were new to the Conference System and those who had been a part of the system for a few years. For this study, the author conducted student and teacher interviews and collected student responses to a survey. The author used the constant comparative method to find emerging themes from the student surveys …

Professional Learning Communities Supporting Teacher Collaboration And Student Achievement: A Program Evaluation, Chundra Evens

Dissertations

In 2013, an initiative was implemented throughout a school district to address years of declining student assessment scores. With a directive for engagement in collaboration, this study was conducted to determine what a school was doing well in their Professional Learning Communities, areas for growth during the process, and the extent that the initiative was implemented with fidelity. By analyzing the targeted school’s quantitative and qualitative data, this study identified themes regarding overall effectiveness of the initiative and areas for recommended enhancements to facilitate student learning. The evaluation of this process shaped the foundation for development of change recommendations to …

The Efficacy Of Residential Learning Communities On First Generation, First-Year College Students' Success At A Rural Regional University, April Dannielle Barnes

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of residential learning communities on the success of first-generation first-year students. Using the theoretical framework of Tinto’s Conceptual Schema this study looked at the social and academic integration factors of living in a residential learning community through fall-to-fall retention rates and EKU GPA. A large institutional database was used to identify the first-generation first-year students in the study as well as their demographic differences. When controlling for gender, race, Pell Grant eligibility, high school GPA, and composite ACT scores, results showed participation in residential learning communities did not make a significant difference in the fall-to-fall …

The Impact Of A Learning Community On The Perceived Wellness Of First Year Doctor Of Physical Therapy Students, Angela Mae Holland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare education guides students in obtaining skills to promote health in others. In working towards this goal, graduate students in healthcare programs potentially suffer from increased stress while undergoing the rigor of a medically based academic program. The purpose of this study was to determine if the addition of a learning community program had an effect on the perceived wellness of first year doctor of physical therapy students. A repeated measures quasi-experimental design was used to answer the three research questions, which guided the investigation. Three groups of participants completed the study, one serving as the experimental group with the …

Experiences Of Male Learning Community Participants At A Private Historically Black University, Ryan Lamar Griffin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many U.S. colleges and universities have created programs to improve retention and graduation rates of Black male students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the lived experiences of Black male learning community participants and discover what faculty and staff perceive to be major influences on the retention of this population. The conceptual framework was rooted in Tinto's student integration model and Swail's geometric model of student persistence and achievement. The research questions within this study examined what faculty/staff perceive to be a major influence on the retention of minority male learning community participants. The questions also …

The Impact Of Learning Communities On Student And Faculty Engagement: The Case For Linking College Success And Basic Skills English Courses At "A" Community College, Mary Beth Boylan

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this action research study were to: examine the (a) impact of linking basic skills English and College Success courses on the engagement and satisfaction of students and faculty at a branch campus of a large community college, (b) chronicle changes in scheduling, registration, and assignment of faculty as the initiatives are grown, and (c) examine my espoused servant leadership and social justice orientation, as I lead the project using Kotter's (1996) eight-step process for creating major change.

The quality of the relationship between the learning community faculty members had an impact on satisfaction for students and faculty. …

Teacher Education In Schools As Learning Communities: Transforming High-Poverty Schools Through Dialogic Learning, Rocio Garcia- Carrion, Aitor Gomez, Silvia Molina, Vladia Ionescu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: Teachers’ professional development in Schools as Learning Communities may become a key process for the sustainability and transferability of this model worldwide. Learning Communities (LC) is a community-based project that aims to transform schools through dialogic learning and involves research-grounded schools that implement Successful Educational Actions (SEAs). More than 600 such schools in Europe and South America, many of them located in high poverty areas, have shown a reduction in drop-out rates and an increase in school quality and attainment. This article analyses how teachers’ professional development is built in these schools. Following a communicative methodology approach, we analyse …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Professional Learning Communities And Their Impact On School Culture, Jerry Paul Kociuruba Jr

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are a group of educators working collaboratively to improve student achievement and expand the pedagogy of the individual as well as the group. Studies on PLCs, grounded by the social constructivism theory of Vygotsky, Bandura, and Wenger, have found that collaboration and collegiality foster a positive school climate. This case study explored the perspectives of PLC participants at a suburban high school on the impact of their PLC on the school's culture. Ten teacher participants with at least 2 years of experience at the research site were individually interviewed, and 5 observations of content PLC meetings …

First-Year Students: Investigating The Impact Of Participating In A Mathematics Learning Community, Lindsay Barrie

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate how participating in a mathematics learning community can impact a first-year students’ experience in college. The total population in the Math Learning Community (MLC) was 40, 36 of these members participated in a survey and five volunteered to participate in an interview. The survey collected demographic information and responses to statements regarding the students’ transition to college, their connectedness to Rowan, their peer interaction, faculty interaction, and their overall satisfaction at Rowan. The interview questions asked about their most and least satisfying aspects of participating in the MLC and what recommendations they …

"Together We Are Better": Professional Learning Networks For Teachers, Torrey Trust, Daniel G. Krutka, Jeffrey Paul Carpenter

College of Education Faculty Publication Series

In recent years, many educators have turned to professional learning networks (PLNs) to grow in their craft with peers who are more accessible online because of reduced temporal and spatial constraints. While educators have cultivated PLNs, there is a dearth of research about the effects of PLNs. This manuscript reports the findings of a qualitative study that investigated PLN experiences through the analysis of survey data from 732 P-12 teachers. Data analysis suggests that the anytime, anywhere availability of expansive PLNs, and their capacity to respond to educators' diverse interests and needs, appear to offer possibilities for supporting the professional …

Building Online Learning Communities Utilizing Adult Learning Andragogical Principles, Yaxin Zheng, Susan J. Barcinas

Adult Education Research Conference

This exploratory practice-based project considers how current online pedagogical practices centered on creating a learning community (Palloff & Pratt, 2007) integrate with principles of designing and implementing adult learner friendly learning experiences (Knowles, 1984) in online courses.

Raising The Bar: The Stories Of Ged Graduates Transitioning To Community College, David Weatherspoon

Theses and Dissertations

RAISING THE BAR: THE STORIES OF GED GRADUATES

TRANSITIONING TO COMMUNITY COLLEGE

David Weatherspoon

216 Pages January 2015

The purpose of this study is to examine the educational stories of GED graduates' pursuit of a college degree. The analysis captures the shared experiences of a select number of students' challenges and barriers during their transition to college. This research explores the links between the concepts of social and cultural capital and locus of control (behavior) by examining how these concepts are logically interrelated. The students were purposefully selected to participate based on their involvement in the community college GED transition …

Do Learning Communities Matter?: An Examination Of The Retention Of At-Risk African American Students At An Urban, Commuter, Research University, Cheryl Deon White

Wayne State University Dissertations

The effectiveness of learning community participation on the retention of at-risk, African American students at a public, urban, primarily commuter, research institution was the focus of this research. A nonexperimental, retrospective, descriptive, cohort research design was used with a sample of 318 first time in any college (FTIAC) African American students enrolled in the Alternative Admission Division (AAD) of Metropolitan Urban University (MUU) starting in the fall 2006 semester. The primary research hypothesis was that African American students who were admitted into the AAD at MUU in the fall 2006 semester would have greater academic outcomes (e.g. grade point average …

Effects Of Learning Communities On Community College Students' Success: A Meta-Analysis, Keith Allen Wurtz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Low graduation rates are a significant issue for colleges. The majority of higher education institutions in the United States offer learning communities (LCs), which have been found to be effective for improving course success and persisting to the next semester. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of LCs with different types of populations and different types of LCs. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to identify the most effective types of LCs. Research questions addressed the effects of different types of LCs on different student success outcomes for community colleges. The study was based on …

The Role Of Academic Factors, Self-Efficacy, Mentoring Relationships, And Learning Communities In Persistance And Academic Success Of Freshmen College Students, Stefanie Theresia Baier

Wayne State University Dissertations

Many U.S. universities are concerned with student retention. The current study surveyed 237 first time college students at a Midwestern university to determine the extent to which social-cognitive factors, such as high school GPA, ACT scores, first semester college GPA, college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship support influence freshmen's intent to persist and academic success.

Pearson Correlations, Standard Multiple Regression Analyses, PROCESS for Mediation and Moderation, and a MANOVA were performed. The study's findings show that college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship were the strongest predictors for intentions to persist past the first college semester. High school GPA was the …

The Effectiveness Of Learning Communities On Students' Knowledge Acquisition And Perceived Self-Efficacy, Andrea S. Salis

NERA Conference Proceedings 2013

Previous literature has shown that the use of learning communities in higher education enhances student academic performance, social engagement and retention. Much of the literature on learning communities has focused on students attending two or more courses that may be linked by learning goals, assignments or projects. This study examines the students’ academic performance and perceived self-efficacy in the learning community – “Get Active- Be Healthy” that links a lecture-based health course with an experiential learning, physical activity course.

The Effect Of Small Learning Communities On The High School Experience For At-Risk Students, Chelsea Tina Springer

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

From elementary schools to universities, small learning communities (SLCs) are cropping up all over the place. While SLCs sound like a good idea, there is little viable research to support their implementation at the high school level. There seems to be an inherent assumption that collaboration between teachers is good, and that a more personalized environment will enrich the learning experience. Despite the optimism of these presumptions, there is a dearth of program evaluation research to support the effectiveness of SLCs in the high school setting. In order to establish and maintain these programs, teachers, parents and administrators will rightly …

Improving Stem Education In Research: Preliminary Report On The Development Of A Computer-Assisted Student-Mentor Research Community, David A. Rios, Artem Chebotko, Christine Reilly, Ralph Carlson, Emmett Tomai, Amy A. Weimer, Nicholas Weimer, Thomas Pearson, Francis Andoh-Baidoo, Robert Winkle, David Ammons, Joanne Rampersad-Ammons

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Research education in STEM disciplines currently suffers from 1) The inability to feasibly collect highly detailed data on both the student’s and mentor’s activities; 2) The lack of tools to assist students and mentors in organizing and managing their research activities and environments; and 3) The inability to correlate a student’s assessment results with their actual research activities. Together these three problems act to impede both the improvement and educational quality of student research experiences. We propose a computer-assisted student-mentor research community as a solution to these problems. Within this community setting, students and their mentors are provided tools to …

The Impact Of Curricular Learning Communities On Furthering The Engagement And Persistence Of Academically Underprepared Students At Community Colleges, Joshua Grant Mcintosh

Higher Education - Dissertations

This study examined the impact of basic skills curricular learning communities on academically underprepared community college students to determine if participation in such programs significantly contributed to student persistence from year one to year two. The conceptual framework that informed this study was Tinto's (1993) longitudinal model of student departure. In addition, the research on student engagement (Kuh, 2003b) served as a backdrop for considering how the basic skills curricular learning community programs may have influenced students' perceptions of their institution (support and encouragement) and their experiences (preparation, engagement with instructors, engagement with classmates, and feedback) and, in turn, contributed …

Learning Communities Or Support Groups: The Use Of Student Cohorts In Doctoral Educational Leadership Programs, Christy J. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-method study explored how students in a doctoral educational leadership cohort at one university used the cohort structure as a learning community or as a method of social support. Survey data were collected from 45 past and present cohort students and qualitative data were collected from three focus groups of 15 participants total. The survey measured four factors: General Cohort Experience, Trust Within the Cohort, Network, and Community of Learners. Quantitatively, one cohort was found to be significantly different from the others in terms of Trust Within the Cohort; and the 60 hour cohorts were found to be more …

Of Merlins And King 'Authors': A Freireian Analysis Of The First-Year Writing Narrative, Ashley Lusk

All Theses

This thesis uses a Freireian analysis to unravel underlying ideologies in the university's first-year writing curriculum. By examining the characterizations and plots of the writing classroom narrative, we discover where issues of conflicting purpose and structure arise within frameworks of ideological constraint. This thesis considers the student-hero, the antagonistic qualities of the general education and state-mandated standardized curricula, and the role of the teacher who lies between these two entities. The Learning Community (LC) model provides a dialogic revision to current classroom practices in the student/teacher dynamic. The LC model accepts Freire's socially and ethically responsive conscientiza‹o as a way …

Teacher Video Clubs: A Method For Creating A Mathematical Discourse Community Through Collective Reflection, Nancy Jo Schafer

Communication Sciences and Disorders Dissertations

Although the reform movement in mathematics education has been very influential within colleges of education and among researchers, it has had less of an effect on mathematics education at the K-12 level (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1999). As a part of the reform movement, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (1991) recommends that teachers engage students in mathematical discourse. Given that situated learning theory suggests that reflection, particularly collective reflection, is necessary for professional development (Borko & Putnam, 1998; Lave & Wenger, 1991), this study examined the use of teacher video clubs as a space in which novice …

First-Year Experience Collaboration Among Academic Affairs And Student Affairs At Public State University, Kimberly Grimes Frazier

Educational Policy Studies Dissertations

February 2003 was the inauguration of the Foundations of Excellence project with an open invitation to chief academic officers at approximately 900 of both the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) and the Council for Independent Colleges (CIC) member institutions. The Policy Center on the First Year of College, under the direction of the Executive Director, John N. Gardner, invited the various campuses to develop standards and guidelines for the first year, which were termed as Foundational Dimensions or simply Dimensions. As a result, over 200 member institutions agreed to participate in the project by establishing campus-wide task …

Faculty Influence On Fraternal Residential Learning Communities, Charles G. Eberly, Andrew F. Wall, Brian Warren

Charles G. Eberly

This paper described a survey of fraternity members' satisfaction with their experiences in a Residential Learning Community within Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. RLCs include a faculty member who has an office within the chapter facility, who teaches a course for credit within the chapter, and who supervises educational programming within the chapter. Chapters who attain RLC status must apply for re-accreditation as an RLC on a periodic basis.

Faculty Influence On Fraternal Residential Learning Communities, Charles G. Eberly, Andrew F. Wall, Brian Warren

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

This paper described a survey of fraternity members' satisfaction with their experiences in a Residential Learning Community within Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity. RLCs include a faculty member who has an office within the chapter facility, who teaches a course for credit within the chapter, and who supervises educational programming within the chapter. Chapters who attain RLC status must apply for re-accreditation as an RLC on a periodic basis.