Learning Community Faculty Assessment
Fall 2000

In Fall semester 2000, faculty participating in ten first-year student and one upper-level Learning Community (LC) were asked to participate in a series of brief mini-assessments over the course of their LC experience.  Participants were surveyed on three separate occasions: early semester, mid-semester and end of semester. 

The first assessment was given within the first three weeks of the semester and asked instructors to characterize briefly their sense of the LC by completing one of the following statements:

• My Learning Community's students....

• I've been surprised by my Learning Community students because...

• One of the things that has struck me about my Learning Community is...

A compilation of these responses is available at Learning Community Quickview.

A second assessment was administered at mid-semester.  Once again, participants were asked to characterize their Learning Community experience by completing one of three statements:

• I know that my students have made some connections across the courses in my Learning Community because…..
• From my vantage point, the greatest benefit that students have received from participating in my LC is….
• If I could start the semester over again for this LC, I would….

A compilation of these responses is available at Learning Community Mid-semester Assessment.

A third assessment was administered at semester's end.  Instructors were asked to reflect upon their Learning Community experience and reply to questions requiring them to evaluate the effectiveness of their Learning Community and administration of the Learning Community model.  The questions were as follows:

• What was the MOST successful element of your Learning Community section? Was it intentional or accidental? If the former, how was it accomplished?
• What was the LEAST successful element of your Learning Community section? Was it intentional or accidental? If the former, how was it accomplished? If the latter, what characteristics of the setting, your students, or the Learning Community format allowed it to happen?
• If you were you to teach in the Learning Community setting again - some of you have already committed to do so, can you identify any specific way(s) in which the Director of General Education, in his role as administrator of LC, could further facilitate success within your Learning Community?

A compilation of  these responses is available at Learning Community End of Semester Assessment.