The impact of a place-based learning community on STEM students’ success: Study

In a study recently published in Innovative Higher Education, researchers from Humboldt State University explored the impact of a first-year learning community on the success achieved by STEM students in subsequent academic years. First-year students pursuing similar majors were put in place-based learning communities that included peer mentoring programs, block enrolment in lower division courses, a first-year experience course, and more. The researchers tracked academic achievement metrics such as GPA and retention over the following years. Students from the learning community saw some benefits over the reference group, such as narrowed equity gaps and improved four-year graduation rates, but these benefits tended to decrease over time. The researchers suggested that future research could explore how scaffolding efforts could sustain and grow the impact of a learning community on student success. Innovative Higher Education Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.