Learning Community
From apse
Contents |
[edit] What It Is
A learning community is a group of people who are dedicated to helping each other learn about some topic or area of study
[edit] Why It’s good
Learning communities in the classroom setting offer several advantages over classes without such communities because the members of a learning communities are more comfortable talking in front of and with each other. This is especially useful if the seminar discussion method is used but also helps during lectures when questions are expected to be asked.
[edit] Discussion
There is no one way to create the perfect learning community, rather there are ways that work better or worse for the specific people who are to be made into such a community. First and most important is the desired ratio of seminar to lecture time to other activities. If the class is going to be all lecture then a lecture oriented learning community is all that is required. If the class is going to be seminar orientate then a much more complex and difficult to create learning community is needed.
[edit] Lecture oriented learning communities
This sort of communities can be created with the least amount of effort. All that is needed is a group of students who are dedicated to the same goal (usually completing class work) and who will regularly attend class. what is important is that these people feel that there contributing to the group in some important way. Do some ice breaker games to get them interacting with each other, use some class time to have a monthly pot luck lunch. The few hours spent in these exercises will greatly improve the efficiency of the rest of the class time.
[edit] Seminar orientated learning communities
These learning communities are much more illusive then the lecture oriented variety. The members of such a community interact directly on an academic level at least a few times each day. With twice-weekly seminars that may last for two hours or more. In addition to the ice breakers and potlucks mentioned above when creating a seminar orientated learning community it is important for you to keep track of who is not getting along with who in the class and mitigate large conflicts. Also you must encourage all people to participate as evenly as possible. Even with the best intentions, planning, and application, what ultimately makes a seminar oriented learning community is the people in it. They have to become a cohesive unit. If you can hand pick your students and you know them all personally it is possible that the desired cohesiveness could be planed. However in a scholastic environment were students register for classes this is not usually an option, so as the professor you must work with what you have. And not be disappointed when despite your best efforts its only in the last half of your three quarter program that the seminar oriented learning communities finally solidifies.
