Learning Communities Reforming Undergraduate Education [Hardcover]

Learning Communities is a groundbreaking book that shows how learning communities (LCs) can be a flexible and effective approach to enhancing student learning, promoting curricular coherence, and revitalizing faculty. Written by Barbara Leigh Smith, Jean MacGregor, Roberta S. Matthews, and Faith Gabelnick¾acclaimed national leaders in the learning communities movement¾this important book provides the historical, conceptual, and philosophical context for LCs and clearly demonstrates that they can be a key element in institutional transformation.Introduction.

The Authors.

PART ONE: The Contemporary and Historical Context ofLearning Communities.

1. Learning Communities and Undergraduate Education Reform.

2. Learning Community History: Education for What? Education forWhom?

PART TWO: Learning Community Structures andPractices.

3. Learning Community Curricular Structures.

4. Core Practices in Learning Communities.

PART THREE: Rich Arenas for Reform.

5. General Education, the First Year of College, and LearningCommunities.

6. Success for All: Learning Communities in Basic Skills andEnglish as a Second Language Settings.

PART FOUR: Initiating and Strengthening LearningCommunities.

7. Information and Feedback: Using Assessment to Strengthen andSustain Learning Communities.

8. Recruiting and Supporting Learning Community Teachers.

9. Initiating and Sustaining Learning Communities.

PART FIVE: Conclusion.

10. The Future of Learning Communities.

References.

Notes.

Name Index.

Subject Index. ... the authors provide a lucid and comlƒg