Leading Edge Academic Program (LEAP): A Successful Model in Programming and Collaborative Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Penn State University's Learning Edge Academic Program (LEAP) has three main goals: to promote active collaborative learning on the part of students by enrolling them in two small, linked classes; to foster a better living/learning community for students entering the new environment of a large university; and to provide students with the practical skills and familiarity with the available resources necessary to succeed in that community. Specific goals that are linked to these objectives seek to enable students to engage more deeply with a body of knowledge through integrated courses and thereby achieve at higher levels, empower students to take responsibility for their own learning through active learning opportunities, encourage students to work productively as members of a team through collaborative learning opportunities, and enhance students' ability to use library and computer resources in the service of learning. The authors share here the strategic approaches that have enabled LEAP to become a successful model. Programming, collaborative teaching and learning are some of the areas that this article will explore.