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Building Communities of Active Learners
Southwest Regional Learning Communities Conference
February
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University of Texas at El Paso
Andrew Swift, Thomas Brady, Helmut Knaust, Benjamin Flores, Connie Kubo Della-Piana, Carissa Flores, Cesar Rodriguez
In response to the growing recognition that programs must be established to improve undergraduate education, The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) established the Circles of Learning for Entering Students Program. CircLES, which is in its fifth year, has learning communities as one of its essential components. Drawing on the experiences of key "players" involved in learning communities on at this urban commuter campus, speakers will discuss lessons learned, surprises, and challenges involved in the creation and continuous improvement of learning communities for entering students. Panel members include deans, an associate dean, faculty members, peer facilitators, and evaluator. Each member of the team represents a "key ingredient." In the past, students entering UTEP with an interest in engineering had to wait until they completed prerequisite coursework. Recognizing this as a problem and the need to have a parallel intervention in science, the program, with support from the National Science Foundation, provides a "home" for pre-engineering and pre-science students during their first semester at UTEP until they are admitted to the program of their choice. Panel members will describe the concept and challenges of learning communities for students attending an urban commuter campus, the administration and structure of the program, the implementation of learning communities at the course level, and the evaluation of the program for improvement and accountability. Panel members and participants will examine how institutional policies, practices, and structures, as well as culture can assist in and create barriers for change in undergraduate education.
contact information:connie@eng.utep.edu
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