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Learning Communities Linking Bw Courses and First-year Seminars

In some learning communities that focus on basic writing students, the student cohorts are formed around a developmental writing course and some sort of freshman seminar course. This is often a university course designed to familiarize students with the skills they will need to succeed in college. These skills may include test-taking strategies, time-management skills and library research training. When this is the case, the freshman seminar component is required and is often offered for one credit. The LC may also include a third course beyond the composition course and the seminar course.

One example of an LC with this “study skills” component is the Learning Alliance at Cal State University, Long Beach. This LC is a variation of the paired or clustered classes model. It lasts two semesters, and the student cohorts share a seminar course, a composition course, and a general education course. During the second semester, cohorts change and students enroll in two linked courses. The Learning Alliance program is unique because it provides opportunities for students to participate in some fashion through their senior year. (Wiley “Rehabilitating” 19–20). The Learning Alliance also includes a mainstreaming component in which, according to Wiley, “…all basic writing students [are] accepted as equals among the several hundred students participating in the Alliance (“Basic” 11). Results of the Learning Alliance program include retention rates that exceed the university’s average and fewer students on academic probation (12).

Other benefits for BW students in the Learning Alliance program include:

• “Students are encouraged to build explicit connections between ideas and disciplines;” (6)
• Emphasis on active learning, discussion, workshops and frequent writing.
• Instructors work together to create links between their courses and meet regularly throughout the semester (6).
• Students receive priority registration each semester if they attend required academic advising (7).
• Opportunity to mainstream into the university-level composition course early (13).
• Instructors who are able to attend to individual needs of students.

Wiley, Mark. “Basic Writers in a Learning Community.” Reports (2000): 1–20. —. “Rehabilitating the ‘Idea of Community.’” Journal of Basic Writing 20.2 (2001):

The LC at Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne is another example of an LC for students labeled basic writers. There, student cohorts enroll in a BW course (English W130), a speech class (COM 114), and a freshman seminar called “Freshman Success” (IDIS 110) (59). Rachelle Darabi, in her study of this program, notes specific positive outcomes that appear to result directly from the basic writing course. Students

• participated fully in class, arrived early and stayed late, and made a point of speaking to everyone in class.
• “…became interested in their own and their classmates’ learning processes,” became more independent learners and required a less ‘instructor-centered’ approach.
• “…developed a greater understanding of their writing processes as they focused on concerns such as audience analysis, development, organization, and more.”
• developed strategies that they could draw upon for future writing assignments (62–64).

The instructor of the LC in the study believed that “…the writing course [was] central to the learning community” because it provided opportunities for students to develop their writing abilities and their sense of community (63).

Many other examples of learning communities that include a freshman seminar element can be found at , some of which are listed below.

Other LC’s with basic writing and study skills components:

• Learning Connections at Ouachita Technical College http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/natlc/dir/progDetails.asp?progid=543
• College Success at Olympic College http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/natlc/dir/profile.asp?progid=516
• Learning Communities Program at Citrus College http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/natlc/dir/progDetails.asp?progid=539
• First Year Success at Texas A&M International University http://www.evergreen.edu/washcenter/natlc/dir/progDetails.asp?progid=545

Lastly, here are some possible challenges of implementing an LC with a freshman seminar component:

• In terms of assessment, must consider how much student and program success may be a result of the seminar course and how much can be attributed to other factors, such as the fact that an LC model is being implemented for BW students.
• Instructors must learn how to “harness the ‘community effect’” that may result from a high degree of social bonding between students so it does not affect the learning outcomes (Darabi 71).
• Faculty/instructors must receive proper training in areas such as integration of courses and development of effective collaborative activities.