The Impact of Learning Communities on the Persistence of Low-Income Students

n.

Learning Better Together:

The Impact of Learning Communities on the

Persistence of Low-Income Students

Cathy McHugh Engstrom, Ph.D. and

Vincent Tinto, Ph.D. Syracuse University1



'via Blog this'



Abstract

This article describes the major findings from a longitudinal study of the impact of

learning communities on the success of academically under-prepared, low-income

students in 13 community colleges across the country. In this study, we employed

both quantitative longitudinal survey and qualitative case study and interview

methods. We utilized the former in order to ascertain to what degree participation

in a learning community enhanced student success and the latter to understand

why and how it is that such communities do so. The findings strongly support

adapting the learning community model to basic skills instruction to improve

learning and persistence for this population.



http://www.sdbor.edu/services/studentaffairs/documents/LearningBetterTogether_Engstrom-Tinto-2008.pdf