(QEP) Engaging the First Year Student - West Texas A&M University

QEP: Engaging the First Year StudentWest Texas A&M UniversityINITIATIVE 8Student Learning CommunitiesBenchmark of Best PracticesElements of this initiative were based on service-learning learning programs at ColgateUniversity; Portland State University; IUPUI; and Abilene Christian University. Important textsused were: Challenging and Supporting the First year Student: A Handbook for Improving theFirst Year of College (2005); Achieving and Sustaining Institutional Excellence for the FirstYear of College (2005); the initial monograph about learning communities by Gabelinick,MacGregor, Matthews, and Smith (1990); and John Gardner’s insights such as, “If I were to beasked what structural and pedagogical innovation currently being developed in American highereducation may hold the greatest promise for improving first-year student academic performanceand retention, I can now argue that it may well be the learning community” (1999) monographseries from the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students inTransition.Purpose StatementFreshmen students are in a season of transition and uncertainty, needing guidance to help them reapan enriched educational experience. Learning communities have documented success in addressingfirst year complications. This approach is successful regardless of socio-economic level, academicpreparation level, first-generation status, or ethnicity. Learning communities work just as well forhonors programs as they do for developmental education programs. The very nature of learningcommunities is that they are flexible and adaptable, making them good options for all types ofstudents, courses, classes and settings. According to Goodsell & Love (1999), learning communities:• help students form social networks among their peers• increase student involvement.• improve student performance• assist under prepared students to persist at rates equal to their more prepared peers• impact student retention• provide opportunities for faculty development• shift the focus to student learning outcomes• allow educators to rethink the ways by which students are taught.Identifying the ObjectivesBecause learning communities are an effective engagement tool, measurable objectives havebeen developed:31