2008 Woodie Awards
Cooperation in college classes
Chase Becicka
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: News
Last semester when students perused through the available classes on EagleNet, a new option was available; they could choose to sign up for the first ever learning community at Kirkwood Community College.
The learning community, Writing for Social Justice was spear headed by instructors Heal McKnight and Sarah Barfels and contained the classes Composition II and Social Problems.
Instructors Steve Price and Sharon Treloar continued to build upon Kirkwood's initiative to discover how a commuter college could build effective learning communities by creating the Roots and Branches: Creative Exploration of Your Life and Religious Traditions which combines Treloar's Judaism, Christianity and Islam class with Price's Composition I class.
Before Kirkwood instructors are allowed to start a learning community they must do research on other school's learning communities and go through a three-tier application. The learning community task force at Kirkwood then reviews the application.
Another challenge for instructors at Kirkwood is figuring out how to format the linked classes. This semester Price and Treloar placed their classes back to back as well as placed in the same room.
"It was difficult to get an arts and humanities class in the same room as my Comp I class," said Price.
The learning community Web site Kirkwood hosts shows surveys and statistics from several different colleges that use learning communities. Examples range from higher overall grade point averages to higher overall retention rates with students in learning communities compared to students enrolled in regular classes.
"Attendance has been really good," commented Treloar when talking about some of the already noticeable benefits in the Roots and Branches learning community.
Another benefit the students can receive from the learning communities is the fact that some learning communities are placed back to back. This can allow instructors who are in linked courses to give and take on days where one instructor may benefit from extra time to finish discussions, watch films or devote extra time to an important or difficult subject.
Treloar and Price attend each others classes in an attempt to further integrate their classes. "It's better to have two brains teaching on the same subject, it's an enhancement," said Kimi Deed, Liberal Arts major and learning community participant."
Kirkwood students also have a chance to forge better relationships with their peers, Jessica Van Dyke, agriculture major, stated, "It's good because you get to know students better".
Learning communities at Kirkwood will continue to grow in the fall of 2008. Currently four new learning communities will be offered giving students at Kirkwood more opportunities to expand their academic careers.
The learning community, Writing for Social Justice was spear headed by instructors Heal McKnight and Sarah Barfels and contained the classes Composition II and Social Problems.
Instructors Steve Price and Sharon Treloar continued to build upon Kirkwood's initiative to discover how a commuter college could build effective learning communities by creating the Roots and Branches: Creative Exploration of Your Life and Religious Traditions which combines Treloar's Judaism, Christianity and Islam class with Price's Composition I class.
Before Kirkwood instructors are allowed to start a learning community they must do research on other school's learning communities and go through a three-tier application. The learning community task force at Kirkwood then reviews the application.
Another challenge for instructors at Kirkwood is figuring out how to format the linked classes. This semester Price and Treloar placed their classes back to back as well as placed in the same room.
"It was difficult to get an arts and humanities class in the same room as my Comp I class," said Price.
The learning community Web site Kirkwood hosts shows surveys and statistics from several different colleges that use learning communities. Examples range from higher overall grade point averages to higher overall retention rates with students in learning communities compared to students enrolled in regular classes.
"Attendance has been really good," commented Treloar when talking about some of the already noticeable benefits in the Roots and Branches learning community.
Another benefit the students can receive from the learning communities is the fact that some learning communities are placed back to back. This can allow instructors who are in linked courses to give and take on days where one instructor may benefit from extra time to finish discussions, watch films or devote extra time to an important or difficult subject.
Treloar and Price attend each others classes in an attempt to further integrate their classes. "It's better to have two brains teaching on the same subject, it's an enhancement," said Kimi Deed, Liberal Arts major and learning community participant."
Kirkwood students also have a chance to forge better relationships with their peers, Jessica Van Dyke, agriculture major, stated, "It's good because you get to know students better".
Learning communities at Kirkwood will continue to grow in the fall of 2008. Currently four new learning communities will be offered giving students at Kirkwood more opportunities to expand their academic careers.
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