Counseling & Human Development Services

Georgia Journal of College Student Affairs

Fall 2002

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Review of Shapiro, N. S., & Levine, J. H. (1999). Creating learning communities: A practical guide to winning support, organizing for change, and implementing programs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Martin T. Howell, Emory University

Numerous recent reports, documents, and studies in higher education and student affairs have direct practitioners’ attention towards student learning as an outcome of the college experience (i.e. AAHE/ACPA/NASPA, 1998; ACPA, 1994; Newell, 1999). Bolstered by studies which have demonstrated that interaction with faculty members have led to increased student academic success and intellectual and psychosocial development (Astin, 1993; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991), this body of literature has done much to encourage increased collaboration between student affairs professionals and faculty members as a means towards increasing student learning. One of the forms this collaboration has taken is the learning community, a broad term which includes numerous structured forms of interaction between and among students and faculty members.

Adding to this conversation is Shapiro & Levine’s Creating Learning Communities: A Practical Guide to Winning Support, Organizing for Change, and Implementing Programs (1999). Described by the authors as a work which examines “the critical pieces that need to be in place from the beginning and suggest[s] how to build campus consensus around the concept of learning communities” (p. xii), the book provides practical advice on putting learning communities into practice. Unlike other works about learning and learning communities, the point of this book is not to attempt to convince the reader of the merits of learning communities (although the authors do present a compelling case for the learning community concept). Instead, it provides realistic and useful guidance to those who are already prepared to put learning communities into place on their campuses.

The first chapter steps back from the practical and attempts to answer the questions “Why learning communities?,” and “What is a learning community?” While only partially answering the “why” question of learning communities, the authors do set the context for the recent emergence of learning communities in higher education by reviewing recent reports and documents that call for the reinvention and transformation of undergraduate education. Better answered, however, is the “what” question of learning communities. While no one definition seems to encompass the kinds of programs the author describe, they do propose that learning communities share certain characteristics: (a) they organize students and faculty into smaller groups, (b) encourage integration of the curriculum, (c) help students establish academic and social networks, (d) provide a setting for students to be socialized into the expectations of college, (e) bring faculty together in meaningful ways, (f) focus on learning outcomes, (g) provide a setting for delivery of academic support initiatives, and (h) offer a critical lens for examining the first-year experience.

Chapter two provides the reader with a succinct history of the learning communities movement, including the work of such early reformists as John Dewey. The bulk of the chapter is devoted to describing four approaches to learning communities which the authors feel are most prevalent. The presentation of these models (paired or clustered courses, cohorts in large courses, team-taught programs, and residential-based programs) is particularly useful for the reader who may still be trying to grasp what a learning community looks like.

The rest of the book focuses on the business of implementing learning communities on a college campus. Chapter three, taking cues from the literature on campus culture and organizational change, describes a general model for assessing campus culture and identifying the opportunities and challenges for learning communities on a campus. Practitioners will find the discussion of “change levers” particularly helpful. The authors also cover such important topics as prioritizing, planning, promotion and budgeting.

Chapter Four turns to a discussion of the curricula, and examines some of the typical curricular bases for learning communities, such as the core curriculum, interdisciplinary courses, writing courses, freshman seminars, and experiential learning. Learning communities, the authors note, do not refer to a new curriculum, but instead “represent a new way to think about accomplishing the overriding goals of general education while helping students link their learning to career and future aspirations” (p. 90).

Chapter Five takes on the delicate but important task of attracting faculty to learning communities and rewarding faculty for their work. The authors point out that “a campus that is serious about attending to undergraduate education will have to institutionalize the roles and reward for faculty who dedicate themselves to this exciting but labor-intensive work” (p. 97). Faculty development must also be attended to if faculty are to invest themselves in the learning communities concept, and the authors discuss this in terms of defining roles and providing support and resources. Unfortunately, the recruitment, involvement, and development of student affairs professionals is absent from the chapter.

Administrative partnerships between student affairs, academic affairs, and business affairs units is important as well, and Shapiro & Levine explore this topic in Chapter Six. They note the multitude of obstacles to developing these partnerships, such as cultural differences and limited resources, but also identify a number of strategies which some institutions have found effective for overcoming those difficulties. Potential roles for specific administrative units (academic advising, residence life, orientation, and admissions, for example) receive attention, another helpful feature of the book.

Putting the actual structures in place – both the operational processes of creating a community and the developmental process of maintaining one – is examined in Chapter Seven. The authors provide excellent recommendations about establishing planning cycles, working with colleges and departments, marketing programs, registering students, and monitoring enrollments. Unfortunately, the more difficult task of maintaining communities, particularly as the student affairs practitioner might understand them, is not given as strong a treatment.

Chapter Eight addresses evaluation and assessment, another topic which has received much attention lately in student affairs, and one which no process model should overlook. The authors provide a fairly thorough discussion of assessment, and suggest a process that roughly follows assessment models proposed in the literature (i.e. Upcraft & Schuh, 1996; Winston & Miller, 1994).

Chapter Nine serves to fill in the gaps left in chapters One and Two by attempting to answer the question, “What impact do learning communities have on students?” Here the authors provide a content analysis of various studies conducted at campuses where learning communities are already established. While the focus is not on research design and methodology, the authors do review several pieces of evidence which suggest that learning communities do have an impact on students, by examining such indicators as achievement and retention, intellectual and social development, and involvement. In addition, they provide evidence from student voices (results of qualitative studies) that provide a rich, descriptive representation of what students experience in relation to learning communities, including reasons for joining, benefits of participation, and the actual classroom experience. The impact on faculty and on the institution in general is also reviewed, although evidence in these areas appears slight. In evaluating the support for learning communities, the authors note three themes which emerged from a collaborative study recently completed at three institutions: (a) learning communities help develop a network of peers, (b) learning communities helped bridge the gap between the academic and social dimensions of college, and (c) learning communities helped students gain a voice in the construction of knowledge. Each of these seem consistent with what student development theories would lead us to expect from such an experience (i.e. Baxter-Magolda, 1992; Chickering & Reisser, 1993).

Finally, in Chapter Ten, Shapiro and Levine offer concluding advice and reflections on learning communities, based on the concepts emerging from the previous chapters and based on their own experiences in designing, implementing, and maintaining learning communities (Shapiro at University of Maryland College Park, Levine at Temple University). Their own reflections are presented as responses to four questions: “What do I know now that I wish I knew then?,” “What lessons could not be taught but rather had to be learned through trial and error?,” “What knowledge could have I acquired along the way?,” and “What one piece of advice would I offer to beginners?” While the advice is brief, it does provide unique insight for those about to embark on the learning communities journey.

This is an excellent sourcebook for those needing guidance in building learning communities on their campuses. It provides a comprehensive look at the many opportunities and challenges an educator may face during the development of learning communities. In addition, it provides a general process which will prove useful to faculty and administrators alike. The abundance of concrete examples from campuses with existing programs helps to illustrate that process. The only striking shortcoming, other than the brevity with which some topics are discussed, is the absence of any significant discussion of the role for student affairs in this otherwise very collaborative endeavor. While the astute student affairs practitioner can use this resource to discover his or her own role in introducing and maintaining learning communities on college campuses, the authors could have addressed ways in which student affairs can assume the role of full partner in this learning model with much potential. Nevertheless, Creating Learning Communities is well worth reading and makes an important contribution to the literature.

References

American Association for Higher Education, American College Personnel Association, and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (1998). Powerful partnerships: A shared responsibility for learning. Washington, D.C.: Author.

American College Personnel Association (1994). The student learning imperative. Washington, D.C.: Author.

Astin, A.W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Baxter-Magolda, M. B. (1992). Knowing and reasoning in college: Gender-related patterns in students’ intellectual development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Chickering, A. W., & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Newell, W. H. (1999). The promise of integrative learning. About Campus, 4(2), 17-23.

Pascarella, E. T., and Terenzini, P. T. (1991). How college affects students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Upcraft, M. L., and Schuh, J. H. (1996). Assessment in student affairs. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Winston, R. B., and Miller, T. K. (1994). A model for assessing developmental outcomes related to student affairs programs and services. NASPA Journal, 32 (1), p. 2-19.