Faculty & Staff: Research & Assessment: Learning Communities

First-Year Seminars at IUPUI are taught by instructional teams consisting of a faculty member, an academic advisor, a student mentor, and a librarian. In order to emphasize connections between students enrolled in seminar courses, most seminars are linked with specific discipline courses to form a learning community. University College has sponsored extensive qualitative assessment of its First-Year Seminar courses employing interviews with both faculty and students as well as quantitative investigations.

Learning Communities First-Year Template

Themed Learning Communities

Expanded learning communities that link 3 or more first-year courses offer a structured first-semester learning environment where students can easily develop a strong sense of community and see connections across disciplines. Students in each block, or themed learning community, enroll as a cohort in the same linked courses selected by the academic schools. In themed learning communities, instructors collaborate in advance to choose a theme and develop common learning experiences.

Learn more about the 2006 Themed Learning Communities