Learning Communities From Start To Finish

While the phrase “learning communities” has various definitions, at the heart of all programs is the goal of enhancing the student learning experience in the community of others. This volume provides valuable information about learning communities--from start to finish--including: • historical and theoretical foundations that guide these programs, • structures of learning communities that provide varied opportunities for student participation, with a focus on specific student populations who may benefit from learning community experiences, and • elements of staffing and assessment, as well as an annotated bibliography of recent learning community literature. The authors consider critical elements of learning community programs and offer recommendations and options for faculty and staff who work with, or hope to work with, this particular curricular and cocurricular learning structure. This the 149th volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.

Co-published with In 2007, the American Association of Colleges and Universities named learning communities a high-impact practice because of the potential of these communities to provide coherence to and ultimately improve undergraduate education. Institutional leaders have demonstrated a commitment to providing LLCs, but they currently do so primarily with anecdotal information to guide their work. As a result, there is substantial variation in organizational structure, collaboration, academic and social environments, programmatic integration, student outcomes, and overall quality related to LLC participation. To establish a stronger, more unified basis for designing and delivering effective LLCs, the authors of Living-Learning Communities that Work collaborated on the development of a comprehensive empirical framework for achieving the integrating potential of LLCs. This framework is designed to help practitioners guide the design, delivery, and assessment of LLCs. This book thoughtfully combines research and field-tested practice to document the essential components for best practices in living learning communities and presents them as a clear blueprint – the LLC best practices model – for LLC design. Practitioners, researchers, and institutional leaders can use the book as a guide to more effectively allocate resources to create and sustain LLCs and to realize the potential of these communities to improve undergraduate education.

Student affairs has changed greatly in the almost twenty years that the series editors have been managing New Directions for Student Services. This volume provides a look back at this period of time from 1997 through 2014 with topical chapters focused on: trends in student affairs during the past two decades, changes in students and the most effective student affairs responses, progress and recommendations for assessment in student affairs, and challenges with and skills needed for digital technologies, finance and budgets, and staff preparation. The volume concludes with a look into the future of student affairs practice based in part on the lessons learned from looking at the recent past. This is the 151st volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.

Despite representing a majority of the college student population, a surprising lack of research has focused on the unique issues and needs of commuter students. This volume reviews the contemporary research and thinking about commuters. Topics include: • theoretical perspectives and discussions of foremost topics and issues, • specific examples for applying contemporary research with students of color, students with disabilities, and online students, • perspectives for immediate work and strategic planning, and • practical applications, recommendations, and suggestions for supporting commuter students. The volume has four major sections: theory, profiles and issues, support and services, and general applications. This is the 150th volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly series. An indispensable resource for vice presidents of student affairs, deans of students, student counselors, and other student services professionals, New Directions for Student Services offers guidelines and programs for aiding students in their total development: emotional, social, physical, and intellectual.

Both HEIs and academic communities are affected by global trends that pose many challenges. This raises dilemmas related to community building and the cooperation between academic community members, which requires the exchange of experience, knowledge and information on different levels. Therefore, it is necessary to discuss new approaches and methods to manage the learning and teaching process, as well as methods and tools that support the development of the academic community. This edited volume book tackles this multifaceted phenomenon by combining diverse viewpoints of scholars and practitioners. It captures the nuances of different scientific disciplines, including management science, psychology and pedagogy. What distinguishes the book is its innovation, multidimensionality, interdisciplinarity and methodological diversity. Building an Academic Community. Challenges for Education Quality Management shows the experiences of different HEIs struggling with current trends in the post-pandemic era such as the change of the university model with an emphasis on practical and competence learning and the technologization of the education process. It can be a valuable basis for future activities to develop the academic community and the quality of education at HEIs.

Building Online Learning Communities further explores the development of virtual classroom environments that foster a sense of community and empower students to take charge of their learning to successfully achieve learning outcomes. This is the second edition of the groundbreaking book by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt and has been completely updated and expanded to include the most current information on effective online course development and delivery. A practical, hands-on guide, this resource is filled with illustrative case studies, vignettes, and examples from a wide variety of successful online courses. The authors offer proven strategies for handling challenges that include: Engaging students in the formation of an online learning community. Establishing a sense of presence online. Maximizing participation. Developing effective courses that include collaboration and reflection. Assessing student performance. Written for faculty in any distance learning environment, this revised edition is based on the authors many years of work in faculty development for online teaching as well as their extensive personal experience as faculty in online distance education. Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt share insights designed to guide readers through the steps of online course design and delivery.

This book lays out a blueprint for thoughtful actions that transform schools and their communities. Using ideas and techniques focused on six key areas, educators discover what needs to be taught, what needs to be retaught, and who needs to be taught. Their PLCs build solutions that place academic excellence within reach of every learner.

This book situates learning communities in living systems and ecological perspectives. The fundamental premise is that all of human life and human activity is part of a deep planetary ecology of which mutuality and interdependence are cornerstone properties, learning and renewal are key processes, and emergent networks are foundational structures.