Auburn University’s Learning Communities Program is helping freshman students make the transition from high school to college a little easier.
The program groups together students who share a common interest in an academic college or in topics such as sustainability and conservation biology. The groups, or communities, take several classes together including a UNIV course (an elective course that focuses on transitioning to college and study skills), and one to three core curriculum courses, such as English Composition or World History. For program participants, learning communities make walking into their first large lecture class at a major university a less intimidating experience.
“I came from out of state so already knowing 25 people when I walked into a large lecture class was just awesome,” said Auburn sophomore Amy Hood, who participated in Learning Communities last year.
Each community is made up of approximately 25 students. This year there are 17 different communities and the program has increased significantly from 227 participants in 2007 to 367 students in 2008.
“Back when the program started in 1999 we had 50 available spots for students so we have grown enormously and we are even looking to add more for next year as we continue to grow,” said Ruthie Payne, academic counselor in Auburn’s educational support services and one of the co-coordinators for the Learning Community Program.
Every college or school on campus has its own Learning Community which allows students interested in pursuing similar majors to be grouped together. As the program has grown, Payne said interdisciplinary or theme-oriented communities have been added. This year in addition to the specific college or school communities, students could chose from topics like conservation biology and Earthsmart, a community focused on sustainability.
One of the main benefits of the program, which is free and open to all incoming freshmen, is that it provides students a small group of peers with common interests.
Suzanne Free, an Auburn graduate student who was part of the university’s first Animal Science Learning Community, said the program allows students an opportunity to “meet people with common educational goals that come from diverse backgrounds.”
Oftentimes these groups study and socialize together. This fall the program started the Learning Communities Activities Board which plans events and activities for participants beyond the classroom. For example, members have had the opportunity to participate together in intramural sports or attend socials such as Pumpkins and Professors where they could interact with faculty outside the classroom.
A few of the learning community groups also live together in student housing. Known as Living-Learning Communities, this aspect of the program will be expanded next year when the new on-campus housing called The Village is complete.
While there will still be Living-Learning Communities located in residences in the Quad and Hill dormitories, Payne said the new housing will provide the groups with amenities such as group study space, office space for faculty and satellite support services for students including academic coaching, career counseling and library services.
“We are really working to make Learning Communities part of the culture of a student’s freshman year at Auburn,” said Julie Huff of Auburn’s Office of Undergraduate Studies.
Payne said there is research to support that students in general who participate in Learning Communities retain at a higher rate than non-participating students because they have the support they need to succeed academically and stay enrolled in school. “We’ve seen that at Auburn as well,” she said.
She added that the Learning Community program also increases student/faculty interaction, which also leads to student success.
“Being in a comfortable classroom environment where students know the other students allows them to feel more comfortable to get to know their faculty members and we’ve seen that transfer over to their other classes. We all know that faculty interaction makes such a huge difference for student success,” Payne said.
Another benefit Payne said that students cite as one of their favorite aspects of the Learning Communities Program are the long-lasting relationships that are formed during the transitional freshman year and often continue throughout and beyond college.
“We have a close bond,” Catia Irons, an Auburn freshman who is currently participating in the Animal Sciences Learning Community, said of her group. “We have shared experiences and I’m making friendships now that will continue along as I go through college.”
Like Irons, Free formed long-lasting relationships through the program.
“My learning community experience was a very positive one with connections that lasted long past my freshman year at Auburn.” She said. “Over the years of my undergraduate career at Auburn, I continued to take classes and study with the students that I first met in the learning community.”
Hood found her Learning Community experience so beneficial she decided to give back to the program by working as a peer instructor. She is also student director of the Learning Communities Activities Board.
“I still keep up with people from my learning community. A lot of them are in my classes this year. I’ll see a familiar face and we can go ahead and study together since we already know each other’s study habits.”
Auburn Learning Communities Program will begin taking applicants for the 2009-10 academic year in January. For more information or to apply, click here.
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