Author(s):
Linked-course learning communities are a widely used strategy to promote connections between students and support student retention. This grant project created linked-course learning communities at Bridgewater State University, a public University in southeastern Massachusetts. The communities paired a central 3-credit seminar focused on one or more United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) with the student’s first science class and appropriate mathematics class. This choice was inspired by social psychology research literature showing that students traditionally underrepresented in STEM often value, and look for, the social relevance of science and benefit from structures that provide a more communal, as opposed to individualistic, orientation in their studies. Need: This project conducted a randomized control trial of the effectiveness of linked course learning communities where students were randomly assigned either community schedules or unlinked schedules appropriate to their major. Students were matched based on major, math placement, gender, race, and income and then randomly assigned community or non-linked schedules. The project examined student grades and credits earned both overall and in STEM courses, retention at the University and in STEM, and social connectivity as measured by social networks formed through class registration for three cohorts of students (fall 2021, fall 2022, and fall 2023 first-time students majoring in science and mathematics). This study design rigorously assessed the impact of linked course communities. Guiding Question: Do linked-course communities increase students’ connections to each other, and do the communities positively impact STEM retention and student success? Outcomes: 191 students agreed to participate in the study by registering for the recommended classes with 127 community schedule (intervention) students and 164 unlinked schedule (control group) students. Significant differences were seen in student connections and STEM retention. Compared to the control group, community students were significantly more likely to take multiple courses with the same peers in the fall and spring of their first year, and community students were more likely to stay in STEM for the spring semester (91%) than control group students (82%). Broader Impacts: To our knowledge, this is the first randomized control trial testing the impact of linked course communities. Our results indicate that the communities can be an effective tool in supporting STEM and college retention and for supporting students to begin strongly in their college careers. Because it is possible to form linked-course communities in any discipline or at any university, our findings demonstrate the effectiveness of an important tool that can be implemented widely at relatively low cost.
Coauthors
Laura Ramsey, Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, MA
