Learning community
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[edit] Introduction
This article examines the concept of learning community, its history, current models and examples, and trends in learning community research.
One definition of a learning community is exemplified by a cohort-based, interdisciplinary approach to higher education. This is based on an advanced kind of educational (or 'pedagogical') design1 in which the participants may be actively engaged in 'peer tutoring' as well as learning. Instructors (US) or tutors (UK/EU) may contribute from several distinct fields of study. Learning communities are now fairly common to American colleges and universities. They are also found in the United Kingdom and Europe.
[edit] History
Clearly the history of the concept of learning communities is important for understanding its current forms and models. History is also useful for helping to understand how underpinning theoretical frameworks can influence practice, and also reproduce the contradictions they contain.
There is a useful albeit very short summary of the history of the concept of learning communities by Roth and Lee (2006)2. This paper is also useful because it examines some of the contradictions that, they argue, are inherent in the theoretical basis and praxis (practice informed by theory) of learning communities. They suggest that until the early 1990s, and consistent with (until then) dominant Piagetian constructivist and information processing paradigms, the individual was the 'unit of instruction', and the focus of research. For Roth and Lee, this is claimed as a watershed period when, influenced by the work of (they claim) Lave (1988)3, and Lave and Wenger (1991)4 among others, researchers and practitioners switched to the idea that knowing and knowledgeability are 'better' thought of as cultural practices that are exhibited by practitioners belonging to various communities (Brown, Collins and Duguid, 19895; Roth and Bowen, 19956; Scardamalia and Bereiter, 19947; The Cognition and Technology Group, 19948). Roth and Lee (ibid) claim that this led to forms of praxis (learning and teaching designs implemented in the classroom, and influenced by these ideas) in which students were encouraged to share their ways of doing mathematics, history, science, with each other. In other words, that children take part in the construction of consensual domains, and 'participate in the negotiation and institutionalisation of ...meaning'. In effect, they are participating in learning communities. Roth and Lee go on to analyse the contradictions inherent in this as a theoretically informed practice in education ( - see issues in research and practice below).
This analysis does not take account of the appearance of Learning communities in the United States in the early 1980s. For example, The Evergreen State College, which is widely considered a pioneer in this area, established an intercollegiate learning community in 1984. In 1985, this same college established the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education, which focuses on collaborative education approaches, including learning communities as one of its centerpieces.
Learning communities began to gain popularity at other U.S. colleges and universities during the late 80s and throughout the 90s. The Washington Center's National Learning Commons Directory has over 250 learning community initiatives in colleges and universities throughout the nation. Search)
[edit] Learning Community Models
There are five basic learning community models: (1) linked courses, (2) learning clusters, (3) freshmen interest groups, (4) federated learning communities, and (5) coordinated studies.
[edit] Research Issues and Approaches
[edit] Sources
- Smith, B.L., & McCann, J.; Eds. (2001). Reinventing Ourselves: Interdiciplinary Education, Collaborative Learning, and Experimentation in Higher Education. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing.
- Gabelnick, Faith; MacGregor, Jean; Matthews, Roberta S.; Smith, Barbara Leigh. "Learning Communities: Creating Connections Among Students, Faculty, and Disciplines." New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Number 41, Spring 1990.
- are learning communities?
[edit] References
1 Goodyear, P., De Laat, M., and Lally, V. (2006) Using Pattern Languages to Mediate Theory-Praxis Conversations in Designs for Networked Learning. ALT-J, Research in Learning Technology, 14,(3), pp211-223.
2 Roth, W-M. and Lee, Y-J. (2006) Contradictions in theorising and implementing communities in education. Educational Research Review, 1, (1), pp27-40.
3 Lave, J. (1988) Cognition in practice: Mind, mathematics and culture in everyday life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
4 Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
5 Brown, J. S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989) Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), pp32–42.
6 Roth, W.-M., & Bowen, G. M. (1995) Knowing and interacting: A study of culture, practices, and resources in a grade 8 open-inquiry science classroom guided by a cognitive apprenticeship metaphor. Cognition and Instruction, 13, 73–128.
7 Scardamalia, M., & Bereiter, C. (1994). Computer support for knowledge-building communities. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3, pp265–283.
8 The Cognition and Technology Group (1994). From visual word problems to learning communities: Changing conceptions of cognitive research. In K. McGilly (Ed.), Classroom lessons: Integrating cognitive theory and classroom practice (pp. 157–200). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
