Welcome & EDCC640 Post Introduction

Building Connections: First-Year Seminar & Learning Communities

First-Year Seminar: Values, Attitudes, and Beliefs

Student success courses have been included in higher education since 1877 at Johns Hopkins University and the first credit-bearing version was offered to first-year students at Lees College in 1882 (Young & Keup, 2016).  A first-year seminar today often asks to students to reflect on their current situation, the past that brought them to this point and the future they hope to achieve.  Soft skills are woven throughout the curriculum so students begin to see their value in reaching the goals they have set for themselves.  During the 2000s, the terms values, attitudes, and beliefs were used interchangeably (Mayhew 2016).  These words are often used when referring to an individual student’s view or approach to topics but the fact that they may be used interchangeably should not discount the importance of values, attitudes, and beliefs in a first-year seminar curriculum.  Mayhew asks, “Can we assume the values students claim to hold – their commitment to helping others or their desire to promote racial understanding – will manifest in their actions and behaviors?”  This is definitely difficult to assess but there may or may not need to be a definitive answer. 

            Students taking major specific and skills based courses, whether academic or trade based, are in need of self-reflection on these actions and behaviors and how they are linked to their values, attitudes, and beliefs.  This is why first-year seminar courses are a much needed piece to the higher education puzzle.  Students often do not take the time to stop and think about how these internal components influence those outer actions and reactions.  Linking this seminar with other courses on the student’s academic plan adds a layer of value for those enrolled.  While first-year seminar courses alone are high-impact practices they can act as the glue bonding a learning community together as there is often flexibility in bringing in content from the other courses. 

Learning Communities & High-Impact Practices

Learning communities often include many of the high-impact practices identified by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and as listed in chapter 7 of the textbook Practical Leadership in Community Colleges.  These high-impact practices include first-year seminars, collaborative assignments, ePortfolios, and potentially service learning and cooperative work.  A learning community is when students are cohorted to take two or more courses together. There is much planning and preparation needed to ensure a successful learning community.  From selecting the faculty, building the courses, and enrolling the students to building the curriculum, linking the course content in a meaningful way, and developing collaborative work. 

Because of this additional planning, many times full-time faculty are teaching these courses which often brings a greater feel of connectivity to the institution.  This was the most important objective for first-year seminars according to the 2012-2013 National Survey of First-Year Seminars where 896 campuses responded.  The second most important objective was to provide orientation to campus resources and services, followed by developing academic and critical thinking skills.  One recommendation is that community colleges offer courses that teach college navigational skills, build student communities, and provide academic guidance by instructors who engage in pedagogical practices that form trusting relationships (Acevedo-Gil & Zerquera 2016).  Findings demonstrate a significant impact first-year seminar instructors had on students’ success through demonstration of care for students and being approachable as well as responsive to student questions.  Plus the majority of time, a full-time faculty member will have stronger networks at the institution. 

Co-requisite remediation in community colleges often links college-level courses with developmental coursework along with tutoring and supplemental instruction (Hatch, Crisp & Wesley 2016). While coursework emphasizes writing assignments or projects across the curriculum a co-requisite model may not be the best fit for the learning communities described here.  This course pairing or linked course format is a form of learning community but the benefits appear to be only during the time the courses are in session.  There is not necessarily a lasting impact.  “In addition to connecting the curricular goals of both courses, linked courses meet several of the College’s broader learning objectives, such as lifelong learning, problem solving, and global diversity” (Soven, M., Lehr, D., & Naynaha, 2011).  So while this is a form of a learning community it does not necessarily incorporate a first-year seminar course.

Learning Communities: Preparation and Planning

The ideal learning community would comprise of full-time faculty.  The course make up would include a first-year seminar, a major specific course and an academic skills course – math or English.  If the academic course is not an English course, the first-year seminar course often fills the writing component role in the community.  Young & Keup define course work in first-year seminars as writing-intensive educational experiences that include collaborative assignments, and a diversity and global learning element (2016).  So while many already have this writing focus there can be additional pressure for the significant writing work to be embedded in the seminar.  The diversity and global learning element can often gain even more traction connecting to the discussions of the major specific course.  These topics are a natural tie in to career development.  This is a direct link to soft skills in the workplace.  It is a time for students to review their values, attitudes, and beliefs when it comes to the benefits of cultural awareness.

Learning communities often bring students together who have something in common which is where the major specific course comes into play the most.  For example, in a learning community that joins first-year seminar, English composition and Education 101 students participate in service learning at an elementary school in the community.  Not only are students building a community within their classes but they are impacting youth in the community.  This work in the elementary school gives them real-world hands on experience in the classroom as well as a potential experience in diversity. 

            Another example, in a learning community that joins first-year seminar, math and Design Technology 101 students participate in a cooperative work experience.  This, again, adds another layer of community on top of the academic setting.  These students are meeting professionals in their field of interest that could lead to internships and career prospects.  This expands the student’s professional network and community.  This is a different connection students can make between their current academic work and reaching their goals.

Mangan found that when students helped tailor the community-service projects to their interests and wrote about their experiences it acted as a boost to the student’s self-esteem.  In having these types of real-world hands on connections to the workforce and the community there is additional validity given to the first-year seminar course.  Students are able to see how their attitude, motivation, prioritization, networking, and emotional intelligence plays an important role in the work they hope to do, not just in their time as students.

“The combination of peer mentoring and service learning increased retention, according to a report conducted by researchers at the Center for Youth and Communities at Brandeis University. After six semesters, the persistence rate among participating students was 32 percent, compared with 26 percent in the comparison groups” (Mangan 2015).  While peer mentoring may not be a formal part of every learning community, there is informal peer mentoring happening because the same students see each other multiple times a week both in the classroom and out in their service projects and/or cooperative work experiences.

Building Support Networks

One of the key components to academic and life success is building support networks.  Students in learning communities have the opportunity to develop nurturing relationships with their instructors and classmates because of the frequency in which they spend time together.  But maybe even more importantly, the feeling of comradery and being in it together brings something that taking courses independently does not.  Having this support helps with academic issues, but also life issues.  Many community college students struggle with obstacles outside of the classroom.  They are pulled away from their academics by external factors such as employment or child care responsibilities (Jaggers, Hodara, Cho, & Xu 2015).  Having others to turn to for assistance leads to more resources and potential solutions to problems.

 “Advisors at the college level often have little information on which to base certain decisions, such as which students should receive tutoring, special advisement and attention, and so forth. With reduced resources for academic interventions, it is important for community colleges to focus on those students most at risk for adverse academic outcomes” (Osborne, J.W. 1997).  There are affinity sections for at-risk students like specified sections for African-American males, single parents, and veterans for example.  These affinity sections are generally first-year seminars which would align well with the wrap around benefits of a learning community.  Those identified as high-risk students could use the additional support provided in a cohort of classes.

Professional Development Needs

             Not only faculty and staff but administrators need to understand the value first-year seminars and success interventions add for the students and the institution. (McComb & Lyddon 2016).  And with this comes the need for appropriate training for faculty.  Many college faculty are hired on their expertise in an area of study or because they have workforce experience.  They may not be educators by training and may not have awareness of issues facing first-year community college students whether teaching a first-year seminar or a major specific course. Faculty may be lacking the ability or comprehension of the importance of creating a classroom culture favorable to adult learning.  Grade norming and how to give useful, appropriate feedback may not be understood.  Many students are in need of support academically and socially. This can lead instructors to lower expectations, but in reality these need to remain high, asking students to rise to the challenge as instructors do the same nurturing the student with support.   Providing professional development in these areas will result in a higher comfort level for faculty and students.

It is a special kind of teacher who leads first-year seminar courses.  There are options for professional development pertaining to first-year seminars.  The National Resource Center First-Year Experience and Students in Transition out of the University of South Carolina is a leading researcher in this area and offers a variety of conferences and continuing education opportunities.  In February 2018, they will be hosting the 37^th Annual Conference on the First-Year Experience in San Antonio, Texas. In June 2018, they will be hosting the Institute on First-Year Student Success in the Community College in North Charleston, South Carolina. There are also online courses offered as well as an array of publications for purchase.  One titled Building Synergy for High-Impact Educational Initiatives: First-Year Seminars and Learning Communities looks at examples from both two and four-year institutions as well as best practices for implementation.  This would be a wonderful addition to an institution’s professional library for faculty to use in the developmental stages of a learning community.

AAC&U also offers a variety of professional development opportunities which are often more theme focused.  The Institute on Signature Work, Global Learning and the College Curriculum, and Forum on Digital Learning and ePortfolios are examples of AAC&U offerings.  So while many institutions are on tight budgets and it is not feasible to send large groups of individuals to such trainings, a small team, pair or even one individual could be sent and when they return convene those who will be a part of these initiatives to report what they learned and begin local training.

One of the seven capacity areas for Achieving the Dream's Institutional Capacity Framework is Teaching & Learning which is described as the following: 

The commitment to engaging full-time and adjunct faculty in examinations of pedagogy, meaningful professional development, and a central role for them as change agents within the institution. Also, the college's commitment to advising, tutoring, and out-of-classroom supports as well as restructuring developmental education to facilitate student learning and success.

This is exactly what learning communities do.  It not only calls for development of the faculty but for them to participate in a high-impact practice that includes services and resources both on and off campus.  Besides faculty involvement learning communities often include an assigned advisor working with students to register in the learning community but they also make classroom visits in preparation for registering for upcoming semesters.  Through first-year seminar courses students take a tour where the library and tutoring center are highlighted.  At some institutions a librarian is also assigned to the learning community to help with any research projects. 

Learning Communities: Communication & Collaboration

All of this requires time.  Having regular planning meetings can be difficult to schedule when faculty are teaching for three different departments.  Selecting the right faculty to make this work is a priority. There are many things to develop beyond an individual course curriculum calling for innovation and compromise.  When two faculty have the same type of assignment in each course, they need to look at how best this might work for the community not just their syllabus.  Can one class complete the annotated bibliography for the research paper in the other?  And if so, how do those instructors plan the grading for such assignments.

Communication and collaboration between the instructors must be consistent throughout the term.  If ample time for planning and routine maintenance of the coursework is not available this infusion will remain surface level.  The community feel and support building mechanisms will still be there, but the high-impact practices may result in mediocre-impact practices. This takes additional time and effort once again.  If a learning community and the high-impact practices being initiated within are not a priority for the faculty it will move to the back burner.  Then, at the end of the semester it will move its way back on to the to-do list as it is time for assessment and evaluation. Having a department or team in charge of the learning communities and their organization would be helpful for those involved, both in the planning and implementation but also in the assessing and reporting. 

Cooperation & Adaptability Lead to Retention

First-year seminars as well as learning communities are both retention tools.  This tracking takes time and is often done outside of the academic department.  The metrics are collected and reviewed by student affairs personnel tracking retention efforts.  It is important that a faculty leader be on this review team.  Having the department or team devoted to maintaining learning communities would also allow for easier tracking of enrollment and retention trends for those students completing the learning community.  This department or team would also able to facilitate faculty training for best practices in teaching but also collaboration.  This group would also lead monthly meetings for those faculty involved in learning communities allowing for both routine review of business but also dedicated time for planning and continuation of weaving coursework and assignments together.  One thing that can happen, even with proper pre-planning, is that changes need to be made during the semester.  If an instructor makes a change to a project in their class it may no longer only impact their lesson plan but the fellow instructors in the learning community.  In the fast pace of the semester sometimes this communication can be lacking, but if there is a department or team purposefully continuing this conversation this is less likely to occur. 

By starting with a small number of faculty for the initial learning communities, they will become experts in developing and maintaining learning communities.  After participating twice they will be ready to be the lead faculty on a new learning community.  Eventually the six faculty participating in two learning communities will be leading one of their own and training two new faculty in the process.  This will continue to evolve into a team of experienced faculty in which collaboration and innovation will become engrained.  This type of engagement with the curriculum, each other, and the students will be a benefit to the institution as a whole.  This will impact not only student retention but also faculty retention as it will be an outlet for creativity.

In shifting to more learning communities there can be a focus on the “additional” work although it is not meant to add more work for the students or the faculty.  It changes the work itself, not the work load.  It pushes instructors to seek new ways to cover course objectives besides writing and testing.  This is yet another reason first-year seminars should be included in learning communities since a focus is on lifelong learning.  This also brings a reminder for the importance of soft skills, like active listening and emotional intelligence, for the faculty when working together on a team effort such as this.  It is refreshing and ultimately rewarding.  Learning communities are valuable in promoting positive attitudes and nurturing belief in oneself.

References

Acevedo-Gil N, Zerquera D. D. (2016) Community college first-year experience programs: examining student access, experience, and success from the student perspective. New Directions for Community Colleges. 2016(175), 71-82. doi:10.1002/cc.20213

Achieving the Dream, Our Approach (n.d.) Retrieved December 5, 2017 from http://achievingthedream.org/our-approach

Boggs, G. R., & McPhail, C. J. (2016). Practical leadership in community colleges: Navigating today’s challenges. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Hatch, D.K., Crisp, G., & Wesley, K. (2016). What’s in a name? The challenge and utility of defining promising and high-impact practices. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2016(175) 9-17. doi:10.1002/cc.20208

Jaggers, S.S., Hodara M., Cho, S., & Xu, D. (2015). Three accelerated developmental education programs: features, student outcomes, and implications. Community College Review, 43(1), 3-26.

Keup, J.R., & Skipper, T.L. (2014) How “Hip” is your First-Year Seminar? National Research Trends. 2012-2013 National Survey of First-Year Seminars. [PowerPoint Slides] National Resource Center. (March 2014) 2014 Annual Meeting of AAC&U, Washington, DC http://sc.edu/fye/research/research_presentations/files/2014/Skipper_keup_How%20hip_2014.pdf

Mangan, K. (2015) To improve retention, community colleges teach self-esteem. Chronicle of Higher Education, (2015, April), 10

Mayhew, M. J., Rockenbach, A. N., Bowman, N. A., Seifert, T. A., Wolniak, G. C., Pascarella, E. T., & Terenzini, P. T. (2016). How college affects students: 21st century evidence that higher education works.

McComb, B. E., & Lyddon, J. W. (2016). Understanding the effectiveness and impact of student success interventions on campus. New Directions for Community Colleges. 2016 (175), 83-94. doi:10.1002/cc.20214

Osborne, J.W. (1997). Identification with academics and academic success among community college students. Community College Review, 25(1), 59

Soven, M., Lehr, D., & Naynaha, S. (Eds.). (2011). Linked courses for general education and integrative learning: a guide for faculty and administrators.

Young D.G., & Keup, J.R. (2016). Using hybridization and specialization to enhance the first-year experience in community colleges: a national picture of high-impact practices in first-year seminars. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2016(175), 57-69. doi:10.1002/cc.20212