Assessing a Political Science Learning Community

• In Event: Reassessing the Political Science Major

Abstract

The learning community, where students take their classes as a cohort, are becoming increasingly popular across higher education. Research has shown that students who are involved in a learning community report higher levels of satisfaction with their college experience and are more likely to return to college the following year. Faculty frequently report that students enrolled in learning communities are more engaged, perform better and master material faster than those who are not learning communities. Yet, most of these findings are anecdotal. In this paper we test to see if the students who are in learning communities perform better than students in traditional college classrooms. Our research examines this question with a natural experiment involving students in a learning community setting versus a traditional instructional environment.

Authors

• Linda Kay Mancillas, Georgia Gwinnett College

• Peter W. Brusoe, Bloomberg Government