First-year college students' experiences in a developmental learning community

A variety of developmental studies programs exist on community college campuses nationwide designed to assist students who begin college lacking the skills necessary to be successful. Learning communities have been used as a curricular structure to help support students' intellectual, personal, and social growth while they are in college. This study investigated first-year college experiences, from the student perspective, as members of a learning community which featured support services and linked developmental English and learning success courses in a rural northern California community college. Participants included a cohort of first-year college students (N=53) affected by educational, social or economic disadvantages and receiving services from Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS). A mixed method research design was used including pre- and post-test data collected from the Noel-Levitz College Student Inventory (CSI), a locally developed survey, and focus groups. Major findings suggest that establishing relationships and being able to respond to needed academic or personal support were the most helpful aspects of the EOPS Learning Community. Overall satisfaction with the learning community experience was correlated with student satisfaction with on of the two courses. Differences were also found between learning community completers and non-completers, as those students who completed the courses rated their desire to finish college, family emotional support, intellectual interests, and study habits significantly higher than those students who did not complete.