Honors programs are reviewed that use diversity in presentation, approach, and educational context to foster intellectual development. They individualize instruction and encourage students both to form partnerships in learning and to develop their own strategies for integrating information. (MSE)

The challenge of educating a committed citizenry is to change the societal and university paradigm from a strategy of competitiveness to one of collaboration, from a perspective of scarcity to one of sufficiency and inclusion, and from a search for expedient solutions to one that engages and commits to values and a way of life. (Author/MSE)

Examines factors that influence the change process and qualities of learning that contribute to transformation on college campuses. Focuses on how learning communities can create and sustain change, change how participants see the world, and change the understanding of relationships and making of commitments. Sees learning as comprised of…

The contemporary conception of learning communities addresses modern problems, but its roots are in early 20th-century reform movements. Combining curricular structure and some pedagogical insights from these earlier experiments and much theory about the teaching/learning processes from John Dewey, learning communities provide an economically…

Describes and compares five major types of college learning-community curricular models: linked courses; learning clusters; freshman interest groups; federated learning communities; and coordinated studies. Characteristics of each model are outlined concerning institution size, basic unit of instruction, number of students involved, faculty roles,…

Offers a checklist for implementing sustainable learning communities in colleges and universities. Addresses issues including determining focus and design, use of faculty resources, coordination with current institutional initiatives, administrative support needed, resources needed, promotion and marketing, institutionalization of the concept, and…

Examines how the structure of learning communities shapes the teaching/learning task, and describes the kind of pedagogical adjustments that learning communities demand of students and faculty. Notes that the structure creates avenues for intellectual and pedagogical exploration; the attitude of shared inquiry and mutual, responsible community can…

Discusses what has been learned about students in college learning communities, and their progress and problems in the programs. Addresses topics including student attitudes and characteristics, retention, achievement, intellectual development, what students value about the communities, developmental changes occurring during the program, and life…

Explores the characteristics and attitudes of faculty participating in college learning communities, what faculty value about the experience, opportunities for intellectual inquiry offered by the models, issues encountered in teaching in this context, and implications for the future of faculty work. (MSE)

At a time when higher education appears to be diverging from a sense of shared purpose, learning communities offer a way to maintain the balance between striving for oneself and contributing to the common good. They promote cooperation, help students forge interdisciplinary connections, empower students, revitalize the institutional environment,…

Lists institutions and individuals experienced in the five models of college learning community (linked courses, learning clusters, freshman interest groups, federated learning communities, coordinated studies), as well as networks supporting learning-community and other collaborative efforts, and major works on learning communities and…