Learning Communities
What is a Learning Community?
Learning Communities combine two or more classes from different disciplines or areas of study. The same group of students is enrolled in all the courses in the community. The instructors plan the courses together to help students make connections between course content and to manage the workload for students. The result is an enhanced learning experience for everyone.
Students get to employ their critical and creative thinking skills, enjoy working collaboratively, and form close bonds with their classmates. Beyond that, long-term studies of learning communities show that participating students increase their levels of academic and social achievement, experience deeper and more meaningful learning, improve their ability to communicate and work in a group environment, and strengthen skills that transfer to their lives beyond the college.
Benefits
- Be part of a close-knit community of learners
- Work with classmates on projects and activities
- Be exposed to a variety of learning experiences, like activities, lectures, projects, or outings
- Contribute to the learning experience by sharing what you know, asking questions and discovering answers
- Take required classes on your own terms by choosing Learning Communities with themes you like
- Explore elective classes while making connections to a variety of content areas
What’s with the "600s"?
Did you know that section numbers for courses are meaningful? (Section numbers are the combination of 2 letters and 3 numbers that follow the Department Area Name and Catalog Number of any course.) Understanding section numbers helps you register for the right classes. Any class with a section number in the 600s is one part of a learning community. All courses in the same learning community will have matching section numbers. Take a look below to see an example how Learning Community courses are identified.
Title: "Election Year: Your Brain on Politics"
Courses in this community:
- General Psychology, PSY 211-FA699
- Fundamentals of Oral Communication, COM 112-FA699
- American Government with Project, POL 104-FA699
- Special Projects in Social Science/Interdisciplinary, SSI 290-FA699