A New Era in Learning-Community Work: Why the Pedagogy of Intentional Integration Matters

Abstract

June. We look forward to these conversations, because from them we discover a lot about learning communities on very different campuses.Without exception, wherever hardworking faculty, staff, and administrators organize learning communities and students come, the reward is gratifying and immediate: The student retention rate goes up, just as the literature predicts. Institutional attention then shifts to scaling-up the work. Emily Lardner and Gillies Malnarich, co-directors of the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education (www.evergreen.edu/washcenter), lead its national learning-communities work and other curricular reform initiatives.Lardner has taught academic writing and composition for many years, and Malnarich has taught developmental education and sociology. Both currently teach in Evergreen's Evening and Weekend Studies Program.

First-generation students' academic engagement and retention

“…Higher education faculty can positively influence first-generation students' experiences on campus through intentional measures, including seeking ways to increase formal and informal interactions with students (Lardner and Malnarich 2008). Researchers have found evidence suggesting that studentÁfaculty interactions are positively associated with persistence and other positive student outcomes, including their view of the campus environment and overall satisfaction (Astin 1993;Kuh et al 2007;Pascarella and Terenzini 1976;Tinto 1993).…”

Building Bridges: Community College Practitioners as Retention Leaders

“…Lardner and Malnarich (2008) titled this deliberate engagement strategy as intentional integration. Counselors and administrators must build in strategies to intentionally engage students through in-class and out-of-class educational experiences such as LCs, freshman seminars, and university orientation courses (e.g., college success classes).…”

Can partnerships with community-based organizations improve students' success at mid-size urban community colleges?

“…Lardner and Malnarich (2008) examined the execution of learning communities at various institutions and identified colleges that purposively integrated curriculum, co-curriculum, and community resources into learning communities as getting it "right." Getting it right, in their opinion, improves retention over the long term (Lardner & Malnarich, 2008, p. 4).…”

“…In contrast to Tinto (2007) and Greene et al (2008), Lardner and Malnarich (2008) consider the primary function of learning communities as learning, not retention. They describe retention as a by-product of a learning community, but not its primary purpose (Lardner & Malnarich, 2008).…”

“…They describe retention as a by-product of a learning community, but not its primary purpose (Lardner & Malnarich, 2008). Although some may share this perspective in the higher education field, community college effectiveness continues to be measured against quantitative benchmarks such as persistence and graduation (U. S. Department of Education, 2017a).…”