Learning Communities at the Communty College of Baltimore County March, 2009 The League for Innovation at Community College Donna McKusick, Ed.D Dean , Developmental Education and Special Academic Programs

CCBC is One college, three campuses, two extension centers Largest provider of higher education and workforce development in the Baltimore metropolitan area 28,251 credit students 33,653 continuing education students 15,567 FTE

CCBC’s Learners Credit Continuing Education Average age 29 45 Female 63% 54% Minority 43% 36% County Residents 75% 61% Full/part-time 34%/66%

CCBC’s Learners 62% work 20 hours or more weekly 37% receive financial aid 69% of credit students (80% of students who take placement tests) place in developmental courses

Purpose at CCBC is to offer developmental students: a more integrated, contextualized learning experience through greater curricular coherence and increased collaboration of students and faculty in the pursuit of learning. an enriched and supportive learning experience an opportunity to accelerate into credit courses Purpose at CCBC is to offer developmental students:

Contextualization “The most logical goal for college reading and learning programs would be to teach students a repertoire of strategies and tactics that will prepare them for the tasks and texts they encounter in college.” Stahl, N. A., Simpson, M. L., & Hayes C. G., (1992), Ten recommendations for teaching high-risk college students, Journal of Developmental Education, 16 (1).

Contextualization “If transfer to other academic coursework and future learning tasks does not occur, these programs are of little value to students or to the institution…” Weinstein, C. E., Husman, J., & Dierking, D. (200). Self-regulation interventions with a focus on learning strategies. In M. Boekaerts, P. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 727-747). San Diego: Academic Press. Research on transfer says students need procedural knowledge or how to do it, sustained practice, explicit instruction, reflect

Supportive Learning Experience “…the successful developmental education teacher must develop the whole student rather than solely deal with cognitive skill deficits” Smittle, P. (2003). Principles for effective teaching. Journal of Developmental Education, 26 (3).  

Acceleration “The issue is not so much about ability but sustainability…the gap between students’ ability to perform and the performance they can actually sustain over the semester.” Inside Higher Education, “Rethinking Remedial Education” January 29, 2008

Goals Improve success as measured by student pass rates, retention, graduation and transfer Increase student learning and achievement Assist students with connecting their learning across courses and disciplines

CCBC’s Learning Communities: Quick Facts 40 learning communities a year, including general education, developmental education, ESOL, and Honors communities. Many developmental learning communities pair RDNG 052 or ENGL 052 with an introductory or general education course. Some communities pair developmental reading with developmental English.

Developmental Learning Communities Pair a developmental course with a gen ed credit course Courses frequently paired include PSYC 101, SOCL 101, SPCM 101, HLTH 101, HIST 116, Content for the developmental course is based on the curriculum of the credit course Have Master Learners, faculty who attend the credit course and conduct a one hour a week seminar on “learning-to-learn.”

Integrating Aspects of the Learning Community Use of authentic reading tasks Use of authentic writing tasks Use of an integrative assignment Strategy and skill transfer

The Master Learner Attends the credit class Models good student behavior Meets with students once a week in the Master Learner Seminar. Shares techniques with students about achieving academic success Meets with the instructors in the credit course and developmental course to discuss student concerns and align topics

In the Master Learner Seminar Students….through an SI type of experience Learn a variety of study strategies Practice note-taking techniques Discuss time-management strategies Learn test-taking skills Review course material Receive support and encouragement Share educational “experiences” Reflect to develop metacogition Learning-to-learn Thinking about thinking Memorization and recall strategies Predicting test questions Debriefing after exams

Benefits of Developmental Learning Communities Provide content validity Transfers skills Stops the cycle of deficit background knowledge Uses student power to foster retention Accelerates entry into credit courses Provides meaningful professional development to faculty

Benefits of Developmental Learning Communities Provide content validity Transfers skills Stops the cycle of deficit background knowledge Uses student power to foster retention Accelerates entry into credit courses Provides meaningful professional development to faculty 17

Challenges to Instituting a Learning Communities Program Partnering among college departments Getting students to register Helping faculty understand the integrative nature of learning communities Behavioral Issues-- hyperbonding

Participating faculty say that, as a result of the program, they have: Developed self-awareness of teaching Placed more attention on delivery systems Used more collaborative learning techniques Developed more compassion for students Become better listeners Become more flexible teachers Given students more responsibility for learning

Learning Communities Outcomes 2002 to 2007 LC students All RDNG 052 students CCBC students One semester retention 78% to 89%* 73% to 75%* 65% to 67%* One year retention 58% to 70%* 46% to 56%* 46% to 48%* Pass rates in reading 70% to 85%* 69% to 74%* N/A Pass rates in credit course 69% to 91%* 71% to 87%* (in same courses) *Depending on year Exact match with credit courses

Learning Community Expenses $ 1,000 stipend for revision of course materials: syllabus, lesson plans, integrative assignments, and resources. $ 500 stipend for partial revision of materials or for teaching in an existing LC One-credit stipend or course release time during the semester the faculty teach the LC Three-credit stipend or course release time for Master Learners

Future at CCBC Cost efficiency Taking it out of the realm of boutique programs Incorporating the Student Success course A platform for advising Bundling with other accelerated programs Part of a menu of high impact experiences

Questions?