Implementing Learning Communities At The Community College...

Introduction Many students start college and end up either dropping out or taking an exuberant amount of time to complete. This is especially true for the community colleges, where the majority of the students are commuters, a large portion work and some have family obligations. Many institutions have started addressing these circumstances by creating learning communities. The idea of implementing learning communities at the community college level can be the change that is needed for the success of these students. In order to execute this change, an understanding needs to be developed for the needs of the organization, in this case Citrus Community College in Glendora, California. The resources need to be identified, including the†¦show more content†¦The students in the learning communities will take some courses together, often with a common theme link. There are at least five basic models of learning communities that share three common factors: shared knowledge, sha red knowing and shared responsibility (Rao, 2005). The courses are linked together and the students can share knowledge with each other. By sharing this knowledge the students enrolled in the classes together, get to know each other due to the fact they are together more often. The students become dependent on each other to get work accomplished and this shared responsibility helps the students learn to collaborate. The five basic models include linked courses, learning clusters, coordinated studies program (CSP), freshman interest groups (FIG) and federated learning community (FLC) (Rao, 2005). I would like to implement the freshman interest group as one of the models of the learning community, into the academia at Citrus Community College. It entails three freshman courses being linked together, usually involving an area of interest. Weekly peer advising session will be held where the students can meet and discuss their coursework, professors, and college life in general. O ne of the courses that all students would be required to take is a general course called â€Å"College 101.† This course involves various aspects of college life such as student success, develop and transition into college. Each week a topic is discussed