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Teaching at SU
Learning Communities at
Syracuse University
Nearly 1600 students participate in residential and
non-residential learning communities at Syracuse University, and the majority of them are
first-year students. Learning community participation helps students in their transition to
SU as they may make friends more quickly, have opportunities to develop skills and attitudes
that enhance academic achievement, and learn to balance their academic and social lives. In
residential learning communities, students take one or more required courses together, and
in non-residential learning communities, students take two or more courses together.
Consultants at CSTL are available to meet with you to discuss
planning a syllabus for your learning community course, incorporating collaborative
strategies in your course, or assessing the effectiveness of the course.
Learning community theory, research, and practice plus the
profiles of eleven learning communities at Syracuse University are described in Building
and Sustaining Learning Communities: The Syracuse University Experience by Sandra N.
Hurd and Ruth Federman Stein published in 2004 by Anker Publishing Company in Bolton, MA.
Copies of the book are available at CSTL and in Bird Library.
For more information about learning communities at SU, check out
the learning community webpage.
Additional Resources:
Cross, K. P. (July–August, 1998).
Why learning communities? Why now? About Campus
Davis, B. G. (1993).
Collaborative learning: Group work and study teams. Tools for Teaching. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Erickson, B. L., & Strommer, D. W. (1991).
Teaching college freshmen. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (available at CSTL)
Hurd, S. and Federman Stein, R. (Winter,
2005). The chair’s role in managing faculty involvement in learning communities. The Department
Chair, 15 (3), 23–24. (available at CSTL)
Millis, B. (2000–2001)
Co-operative learning: It’s here to stay. Essays on Teaching Excellence: Toward the Best in
the Academy 12 (8). A publication of The Professional & Organizational Development Network in
Higher Education (POD).
Shapiro, N. S., & Levine, J. H. (1999).
Creating learning communities: A practical guide to winning support, organizing for change, and
implementing programs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. (available in Bird Library)
Student Success and Shared Learning
Environments. A collection of resources on one of the
hottest topics in teaching-learning communities. (1998). The National Teaching and Learning Forum
Newsletter, 7 (4).
Wilhite, M. & Banset, L. (1998–1999).
Learning Outside the Box: Making Connections between Co-Curricular Activities and the Curriculum,
Essays on Teaching Excellence: Toward the Best in the Academy, (10) (5). A publication of The
Professional & Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD).
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