<p>Are learning communities a new thing on the rise? I've agreed to join a learning community at Nebraska, and just got mail from another school about learning communities. What is everyone's views on them, what is good and bad about them? Do many colleges offer learning communities?</p>
<p>On page 51 of the US News Best Colleges issue there is a list of universities with large "Learning Community" programs. Yes, they are pretty common. Large Universities try to make their colleges seem smaller by putting students within cohesive groups (Learning Communities). The communities can be residential (live, eat, and socialize together) or they can be academic (take the same courses from the same professors). They purportedly facilitate group cohesion in the sociological sense and improve retention and graduation rates.</p>
<p>I saw a book about learning communities...research results. (I took an education course once...and I have relatives who work in higher ed.) The research is done so poorly it would make a sixth-grader shake her head in disbelief. For example, they put the best students in the learning community and then they say that better retention is a result of the learning communities. They don't randomly assign students to Learning Communities or they put everybody in them so there is nobody left for comparison. </p>
<p>Learning Communities are another marketing gimmick that dead-wood administrators and incompetent bureaucrats (trying to justify their existence) inflict on unsuspecting freshmen. They don't work. There are a few honest appraisals out there that admit Learning Communities either do not make any difference or they drive students away. Some Learning Communities actually hurt student retention. Nobody whose job is to direct a Learning Community is going to report that their livlihood isn't effective. There is little evidence that they change very much about the college experience so why would you expect them to affect retention or student satisfaction. They are a waste of your parents hard-earned money. </p>
<p>They remind me of some of the really dumb "First Year Experience" or "Freshman Orientation" courses that some colleges require which are like middle school health class.</p>
<p>You would think that college administrators and student services staff would be smarter than this, but they tend to jump on whatever bandwagon is passing by and earn another year's salary while pursuing the latest fad and spouting the latest buzzwords. Next year it will be something else.</p>
<p>They should put the money into hiring more and better professors and reducing class sizes...or charge less tuition. Learning Community programs cost millions and the money is wasted.</p>
<p>Did I answer your question?</p>
<p>I too have heard lots of stuff about LC. I think they are fine but there are some disadvantages. +/- you get to be with people from your classes, obviously this could be really good or really bad depending on who your roomates are. I think that they are overall really good for the first year of school.</p>