We combined tenets of learning communities and place-based learning to develop an innovative first-year program for STEM students. Using a quasi-experimental design, we found that participants in the place-based learning community had a stronger sense of belonging, improved academic performance, and increased first-year persistence relative to a matched reference group. We also showed that participation narrowed equity gaps in first-year outcomes for students underrepresented in the sciences. A sense of place arises not just from a location, but from interrelationships between people and the natural world, and these results suggest organizing learning around place can promote inclusive student success.
Learning communities for college students have been shown to improve first-year student outcomes and narrow equity gaps, but longer-term data to evaluate whether these benefits persist through multi-year retention and graduation are rare. This is especially important for students in science, technology, engineering and math, who often confront gateway courses and challenging academic cultures in their second and subsequent years. Here, we report on the second, third, and fourth year academic outcomes of three cohorts of a first-year placed-based learning community. Relative to a reference group, participants in the learning community generally showed similar grade acquisition in second- and third-year STEM courses, and initially higher GPAs for learning community participants later diminished to be statistically indistinguishable from the reference group. Nonetheless, units completed after one, two, and three years were slightly higher for learning community participants than for the reference group, and with narrower equity gaps. The learning community also increased and narrowed equity gaps in second- and third-year retention at the institution and in STEM specifically (+6 to +17%). Four-year graduation rates from the institution and in STEM specifically also increased (+8 to +17%), but equity gaps were only narrowed slightly. These results suggest that while benefits of first-year learning communities on grades decline over time, benefits for retention and graduation can persist, though they are insufficient to erase equity gaps. Future work should examine how scaffolding practices in students’ second and third years can better sustain and even magnify inclusive success improvements initiated by first year learning communities.
Only 40–50% of first-year collegiate science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) students complete a Bachelor of Science degree. Persistence and graduation rates of students from racially minoritized groups that historically have been underrepresented in STEM (URG) is significantly lower. Culturally responsive programming that incorporates the values, perspectives, cultures, and the empathy and equity matters of non-majority populations can empower students from diverse backgrounds to achieve their educational goals. This paper describes the outcomes of first-year place-based learning community students who participated in a water quality laboratory that integrates the science, culture, values, and social justice concerns of the Indigenous people of the Klamath River Basin. The curriculum was designed by university faculty and Indigenous scientists from The Karuk Tribe of California. A combination of survey data and thematic analysis was used to evaluate the impact of our program on intellectual growth, gains in psychosocial factors associated with first year student success, and academic achievement. All student participants demonstrated intellectual growth and gains in psychosocial factors associated with STEM retention, but the effects were most pronounced for students who identified parallels between issues faced by Native American communities and their home community. The most significant gains in STEM retention and academic achievement occurred for URG students who learned about Native American culture through the water quality laboratory. The majority of all students expressed the importance of understanding the cultural, environmental, and/or social justice issues of Native American people to their future careers. We believe ours is one of the first studies that specifically examines the power of collaborating with contemporary Indigenous communities to create opportunities for first-year collegiate STEM students to participate in interdisciplinary, place-based curricular and co-curricular activities.
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