Linked learning communities model for developmental postsecondary students¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 6 claims (6 against) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 6 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Linked learning communities are postsecondary programs "defined by having social and curricular linkages" that give undergraduates intentional integration of the themes and concepts they are learning. In the specific linked model reviewed here, "cohorts of students enroll together in a foundational course (e.g., writing) and at least one additional content course (e.g., American history)", combining shared curricular content across courses with co-registration of the same peer cohort for social continuity. The model rests on the theory that active learning in a community-based setting improves academic outcomes by increasing social and academic integration.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Incorporates a shared intellectual theme with a linked or integrated curriculum
• Includes a community or common cohort of learners

Constraints¶

• All six reviewed implementations were single-semester linkages of one developmental course with one or two other courses, the most basic form of the model; the extent of curricular integration varied across sites and over time

Target Learners¶

• Developmental education students at community colleges

Target Learning Goals¶

• Academic achievement
• Degree attainment
• Postsecondary enrollment and credit accumulation
• Progress through developmental education

Claims¶

• Linked learning communities produced no statistically significant or substantively important effects on academic achievement [-W]
• Linked learning communities produced no statistically significant or substantively important effects on credit accumulation across six studies [-W]
• Linked learning communities produced no statistically significant or substantively important effect on degree attainment [-W]
• Linked learning communities show no overall effect on progress in developmental education, with a statistically significant but non-substantive gender interaction at Houston [-W]
• Linked learning communities show no overall enrollment effect, but statistically significant gender-by-condition interactions on registration at Houston and substantively important differences at Hillsborough [-W]
• Linked learning communities show no discernible effects on any of five outcome domains for community college students in developmental education [-W]

Related Elements¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• What Works Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Education. (2014). Linked Learning Communities. WWC Intervention Report. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/InterventionReport/630