Building Community: Stories and Strategies for Future Learning Community Faculty and Professionals - Paperback

by Terra Peckskamp (Editor), Carrie McLaughlin (Editor)

Learning communities are now an integral part of campus life at a wide range of colleges and universities, where they play an important part in efforts to improve student success. They help to create smooth transitions for first-year students and lead to greater satisfaction with the undergraduate experience. Learning communities can make a large campus more navigable foster a more academically and socially supportive residential environment, and forge connections among students, faculty, and staff.

However, creating learning communities requires commitment and concerted effort from numerous stakeholders. With a wealth of information and hard-earned insight, Building Community: Stories and Strategies for Future Learning Community Faculty and Professionals offers indispensable advice on the design, implementation, maintenance, and improvement of learning communities.

Topics include:
The historical evolution of learning communities
Learning community models
Assessing the effectiveness of programs
Faculty, student, and administrative perspectives on learning communities
Creating a new learning community: possibilities and challenges
Teacher-student dynamics within learning communities
Diversity in learning communities
Implications and applications for graduate education
Resources for and about learning communities

Author Biography

Terra L. Peckskamp serves as Director of Residence Life at Syracuse University and is a doctoral candidate in the School of Education there.

Carrie McLaughlin is the Director of Student Life at Loyola University Maryland and a doctoral candidate in the Higher Education Program at Syracuse University.