Learning Communities and College Student Success: Exploring Overall and Conditional Effects

• In Event: 58.040 - Innovation in Student Success

Abstract

Learning communities are commonly used at colleges and universities. Previous research had generally suggested that this initiative was effective at promoting student success, but this conclusion has been challenged by recent experimental studies. Therefore, to provide additional rigorous evidence on this topic, this study used quasi-experimental analyses of a large, multi-institutional dataset to examine the link between learning community participation and several student success outcomes. Overall, propensity score analyses indicate that learning communities are positively related to college retention and satisfaction, but they do not significantly predict grades or four-year graduation. Subgroup analyses indicate that the retention findings are driven almost entirely by positive results at less selective institutions.

Authors

• Nicholas A. Bowman, University of Iowa

• Weilin Chen, University of Iowa