Institute/Session Summary:

Purpose: 

The session will present the results of a study at Randolph-Macon College that suggests that the Center for Teaching and Learning Model can effectively address some of the biggest challenges in the current postsecondary climate by utilizing resources and learning communities that already exist.  Learning center professionals may be facing major changes in their missions as administrators are looking to learning assistance professionals to adopt a more direct role (and additional pressure) to improve retention rates, deal with a renewed emphasis on accoutability, and to provide more direct support not only to students, but to faculty.  Unfortunatley, while the challenges are increasing, many colleges and universities find that resources to accomplish these goals are shrinking.  The current study analyzes the changes that occurred at a small liberal arts college that attempted to address these factors.

Learning Objectives: 

The participants will be better able to identify existing learning communities (both formal and current mission.  The participants will be able to:

• define learning communities;
• define centers for teaching and learning;
• understand how CTL's may be the preferred model for provision of academic support;
• identify learning communities on their campuses;
• determine which learning communities could be partnered with the tutoring center to strenthen it and move it toward the CTL model.

Outline of the Content:

1. Randolph-Macon College
       A.  Organization
       B.  Philosophy/History
2. The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Model
       A.  Definition of CTL
       B.  Strengths of CTLs over traditional learning centers
       C.  CTL philosophy of interconnected learning communities 
3. Identifying Learning Communities
       A.  Definition
       B.  Learning Communities at R-MC
       C.  Identifying your campus learning communities
4. Utilizing Learning Comunities to Form a CTL
       A.  Blueprint for transforming your LC to a CTL
       B.  Implications and Discussion
       C.  Conclusions
5. Questions?

Significance to the Field:

Our experience at Randolph-Macon College complements the literature in the field of learning assistance, and suggests that there is great untapped potential in the varied learning already taking place on college campuses.  Learning communities, both organized and informal, are lively centers of learning in and of themselves.  By utilizing the CTL structure and fostering institutional support for recognition of diverse learning communities, colleges and universities may be able to refine and fulfill their educational missions more effectively, and do so without allocation of additional funds.  They may also be able to adopt and embrace a philosophy that is as old as the notion of the liberal arts education itself--no learning exists in a vacuum; learning is a social activity and we are social beings; everything is connected.  We believe that this study has great significance to learning center professionals, faculty, staff and, of course, the students we serve.  As professionals, we are all seeking to provide the highest levels of academic support we can, utilizing the resources we are given.

Relevance to CRLA Members and other Conference Attendees:

On most campuses today, the pressure is on all of us to be more accoutable for what we're doing, to provide academic support to a wider spectrum of post secondary students, and to be able to offer outstanding academic services with dwindling or very limited resources.  If we can discover new ways to increase our effectiveness by utilzing learning communities that are already in place on our campuses, we may have a partial solution to this problem.

Media:

We will utilize a Power Point Presentation to supplement the oral presentation.  We will also provide handouts that feature a blueprint for identifying learning communities that may be utilized by learning center professionals on their own campuses. We will engage the participants through small group interaction, a question and answer period and will be available for additional discussion following the presentation.

Partial list of sources:

C. Roland Christensen Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard Business School.  (2007). Retrieved March 29, 2007.

Gabelnick, F.G. (1990). Learning Communities: Creating connections among students, faculty, and disciplines. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Marcy, M., & Guskin, A. Project on the future: Teaching and learning in a climate of restricted resources.  Liberal Education, 89(2), 22-29.

Shapiro, N. S., & Levine, J. H.  (1999).  Creating learning communities.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Professional learning communities:  A review of the literature.  Journal of Educational Change, 7(4), 221.

Plus 20+ other excellent references that will be available to participants in the handout.

Presenter1 Name: Jenny Bruce
Presenter1 Institution: Randolph-Macon College
Presenter1 Bio: Dr. Jenny Bruce has spent more than 30 years in the field of special education and academic learning support.  She is the Director of Instruction and an assistant professor of Education at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA.  She has published numerous scholarly articles in the field of individualized learning accomodations, tutoring and mentoring support, and the development of effective academic support centers. 

Presenter2 Name: Jack Trammell
Presenter2 Institution: Randolph-Macon College
Presenter2 Bio: Dr. Jack Trammell has more than 15 years of experience teaching and researching in the areas of special education, disability support and learning center organization. He is also an award winning poet and author.