Creating Learning Communities

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Aspiring Eagle Scholars Program A Model for
Success
North Carolina Central University
10/24/07
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Characteristics of Freshman Students

• Millennium Generation
• Vast knowledge of technology
• Constantly moving, on the go
• Looking to be entertained
• Often first generation college student
• Lack of knowledge about college expectations
• Egocentric
• Lacking direction and self discipline

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What is a learning community?

• An intentional restructuring of the environment
  so that students have opportunities for deeper
  understanding and integration of the material
  they are learning, and more interaction with one
  another and their teachers.
• Occurs in a variety of setting.
• Models are adapted to the organization and to the
  student and faculty culture of a campus.

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Why learning communities?

• Promote greater student involvement in learning
• Provide a context for faculty development and
  engage faculty in a highly supportive teaching
  environment
• Often used to link first-year experience programs
  and freshman seminar courses to discipline based
  courses
• Effective ways to introduce students to the
  academic culture

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And because. . . .

• Students and teachers share responsibility for
  teaching and learning
• Can provide at-risk students with a support
  network of faculty, peers, and counselors
• Help to overcome feelings of isolation common on
  large campuses
• LC introduce accountability into the classroom
  (attendance, participation, etc)

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How to structure the Learning Community?

• Organized along curricular lines
• Face to face, distance education or disciplines
• Common career interests
• Social interests
• Residential living areas
• Build around student organizations
• Establish LC for schools or colleges to encourage
  interdisciplinary studies

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We decided that our structure would . . . . . .

• Organize students and faculty into smaller groups
• Encourage integration of the curriculum
• Help students establish academic and social
  support networks
• Provide a setting for students to be socialized
  to the expectations of college

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Other Goals . . . .

• Bring faculty together in more meaningful ways
• Focus faculty and students on learning outcomes
• Offer critical lens for examining first year
  experience programs
• Provide a setting for community-based delivery of
  academic support programs

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2006 Aspiring Eagle Scholars Summer Bridge
Program

• Focus on retention and graduation rates (a
  product of the Retention Management Task Force
  Under the direction of Dr. Bernice Duffy Johnson)
• 50 students with developmental academic needs
• 5-week residential program
• 3 courses (4 credits) Math, Reading, Learning
  Strategies
• 2 hours minimum of weekly tutoring
• 4 Peer team leaders/counselors
• 2 - Cultural excursions
• Must continue in LC in Fall (joined by 105 other
  students)
• Structured student engagement activities, 3
  courses (4)

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Benefits of 2006 Summer Bridge Program

• 100 completed the program in Summer
• Earned no less than a B in all classes
• 49 returned in Fall
• Held 4/5 freshman class offices
• Motivated, excited, and engaged
• 96 engaged in campus organizations
• 38 earned 3.0 or better GPAs in Fall
• Provided a support network for each other and new
  students
• Average Fall GPA of 2.806 (higher than the
  university average)

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2007 AES Summer Bridge Program

• Funded by the Office of the Provost/NCCU Division
  of Student Affairs
• 100 students with developmental academic needs
• 18 conditional admits
• 5-week residential program
• 3 courses (7 credits) Math, Reading, Learning
  Strategies
• 2 hours minimum of weekly tutoring
• 6 Peer team leaders
• Cultural excursions
• Must continue in Fall (joined by other students)
• Structured student engagement activities

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Benefits of 2007 Summer Bridge Program

• 96 students successfully completed the program
• 96 passed the math course with at least a C
• All 18 conditional admits completed the program
• 17/18 of the conditional admits were accepted at
  NCCU for the Fall semester and 1 for the Spring
  2008 semester
• 99 of the total students were accepted at NCCU
  for the Fall and 1 for the Spring semester
• More maturity, accountability, growth and
  development

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Fall 2007 AES Learning Community

• Open to any freshman student (400 Students)
• Common residential setting for summer cohort
• Assigned faculty/staff mentors for all students
• (Freshman Seminar Instructors)
• Rites of Passage is the heart of the program
• 4 week progress reports / Tutorial reports
• 3 hours minimum of tutoring per week
• Community service project
• Monthly team meetings

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Fall Learning Community Sessions

• First Session of the Learning Community
• - Held in October focused on Managing
• Stress and Time Management
• Second Session of the Learning Community
• - To be held in November Focus to Civic
• Engagement and Understanding
  

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Other LC Sessions

• December Learning Community Session
• - Student Empowerment Conference
• Sessions to continue in Spring
• Closing ceremony held in April (Pinning)
  signifying a successful transition into college

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Assessment Strategies

• Comprehensive and Longitudinal
• 2 Week progress report by instructors during the
  summer
• Bi-weekly discussions by team leaders during the
  summer
• Program evaluation by students, staff, faculty,
  parents, and program coordinators
• Pre and post assessment in summer courses

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Other Assessment Strategies . . .

• The College Survival Success Scale
• (Students identify their most effective and
  least effective college survival skills)
• Non-academic assessments
• - Student engagement in campus activities
• - Number and intensity of social and
  personal
• interruptions
• - Level of satisfaction with universities
• entities

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And Other Assessment Strategies

• - Success in managing interpersonal
  relationships
• - Extent of accessing university
  resources
• - Participation in mentoring program
• - Point at which students declare a
  major
• - Number of times the major is changed

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Lessons Learned

• Know your students characteristics, needs,
  aspirations adapt services, program, and
  facilities to meet the needs of students
• The entire campus must be vested may require
  redefining our roles as administrators, faculty,
  staff, and support service providers
• Educational excursions are critical to developing
  the total person
• Common residential housing in a structured
  setting is needed

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Proposed Summer Bridge 2008

• 100 Students
• 50 Slots allocated for conditional admits
• 5 Week residential program
• 4 hours minimum of tutorials
• Math, English, Reading Comprehension (7 credits)
• Structured setting as in the past
• Evening seminars
• 100 Registration fee (Student Activities)
• 2 Cultural excursions

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New Components 2008-09

• Hire a data analyst to collect, analyze and
  interpret data (Controlled/uncontrolled groups,
  tracking each cohort until graduation and perhaps
  beyond)
• Instructors Academy
• - 15/20 Instructors (First Year, Retool,
  Interested Persons
• - Dinner
• - Examine various topics that will enhance
  the
• teaching and learning process
• Instructional Planning Workshop
• - Clustering of classes

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Other Possibilities . . . . .

• With
• Chancellor Nelms,
• ENDLESS!!!!!!!