Master of Science / Department of Counseling and Student Development / Doris Wright Carroll / Living-learning communities in higher education play a critical role in the success of our student population. Having the option of living-learning communities on campus is a sought after option for students and parents of students beginning college. For student retention efforts, it is important that our student affairs professionals understand the impact that living-learning communities have on the first-year student population. It is additionally important that professionals understand the different types of living-learning communities and determine which is best to implement on their campus. This report takes a deeper look into living-learning communities across the country and the impacts on living-learning communities have on campus. Taking into consideration the diversity of varying living-learning communities, three specific types were examined and their success was determined based on a national study called The National Study of Living-Learning Programs (2007). This report communicates the depth and necessity of living-learning communities in higher education for students, parents, and student affairs professionals.

This study explored the phenomenon of first year students who lived in a nursing living learning community and their experiences during their first year. The researcher utilized a qualitative research methodology to investigate the social and academic aspects that influenced these students as they worked to prepare to apply to the nursing program on their way to becoming nurses. Of the 68 students who lived in the community in the first two years, 12 were interviewed in a face-to-face setting. The researcher used Tuckman’s Stages of Group Development as the framework for this study, recognizing that groups go through several stages depending on the length of time that the group is together. The participants’ experiences were examined on a group and individual level, in order to fully understand their experiences in the community, including their persistence through applying to and enrolling in the nursing program. This study brought voice to the experiences of the students, helping to understand why they came together, how the community developed, and what lessons the students took away from living in this community. It was made clear during the interviews that the students chose to live in the community where they would be surrounded by students with the same goals. They also felt very strongly about academics taking a priority over social events, and believed that the community should have a second semester common course to keep the students working together throughout the duration of the first year.

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The engineering profession requires engineers who have not only deep technical knowledge but also broad professional competencies necessary to address complex challenges that impact individuals and communities. While engineering students often develop necessary technical competencies during their undergraduate education, professional competencies are often lacking in graduates. This lack of professional development can lead to graduates who are not prepared for the engineering profession and lead to fewer people, particularly individuals from groups historically underrepresented in engineering such as women, entering and continuing in these fields. Due to the rigidity of the engineering curriculum, out-of-class experiences, such as living-learning communities (LLCs), have become important sites for this professional development and can help women explore engineering and learn professional competencies. However, little is known about how these programs support students, particularly in regard to professional development. To further our understanding of these programs, a phenomenographic study was conducted to explore the experiences of 20 students who participated in an LLC for women in engineering. This study examined women's views of professional development in engineering and the experiences within the LLC that could support this development. Following an iterative analysis of interviews, two models were developed: the PD² Model captures women's views of the professional competencies relevant in engineering; and the LEEPD Model captures features of beneficial professional development experiences within the LLC. Combined, these models serve as useful resources for creating beneficial experiences to support women's professional development in engineering education contexts. The PD² Model can help educators intentionally identify outcomes of professional experiences, and the LEEPD Model can help in the design of a variety of experiences that are beneficial for students. / Ph. D. / In the engineering profession, engineers must develop both technical and professional skills in order to address complex challenges that impact individuals and communities. While undergraduate engineering programs tend to focus on the development of technical skills, engineering graduates often lack necessary professional skills. This lack of professional development can lead to graduates who are not prepared for the engineering profession and can lead to fewer people, particularly individuals from groups underrepresented in engineering such as women, entering and continuing in engineering. Due to the rigidity of the engineering curriculum, living-learning communities (LLCs), a type of out-of-class experience, have become important sites for this professional development. However, little is known about how these experiences support students, particularly in regards to professional development. To further our understanding of these out-of-class experiences, 20 students who participated in an LLC designed for women in engineering were interviewed. During interviews, students described their views of professional development in engineering and the experiences within the LLC that could support professional development. Interviews were analyzed and two models were developed: the PD² Model captures women’s views of the professional development in engineering and the LEEPD Model captures features of beneficial LLC experiences. Combined, these models can help educators create beneficial experiences to support women’s professional development in engineering education contexts. The PD² Model can help educators identify specific outcomes of professional experiences, and the LEEPD Model can help in the design of professional development experiences.

Over the past 50 years, living-learning programs (LLPs) have emerged as a dynamic curricular innovation in higher education. These programs are residentially based, seeking to seamlessly integrate the classroom and residence hall environments and blur the traditional boundaries between the academic and residential experiences for students (Kuh, 1996; Inkelas & Soldner, 2012). However, efforts to implement LLPs at some campuses have been met with resistance; this is not surprising, as institutions of higher education are often charged in part with preserving cultural and social norms, therefore making them naturally resistant to change (Shapiro & Levine, 1999). One of the most common challenges facing colleges and universities that seek change is a tendency for institutional culture dynamics to be potentially divisive and foster internal conflict (Kuh & Whitt, 1988). Such conflict impacts faculty, students, and administrative subcultures. Institutional partnerships that can overcome divisive cultural dynamics have the potential to greatly enhance the campus climate (Nash et al., 2016). This qualitative research study asks the overarching question, "How does institutional culture influence the creation and development of an LLP and, in turn, can an LLP reciprocally shape institutional culture?" This case study examines the internal conflict and cultural implications related to the founding of a comprehensive first-year residential college system at St. Lawrence University -- a small, private liberal arts institution in the Northeast. Utilizing Kuh's & Whitt's (1988) Framework for Analyzing Culture in Higher Education, as well as Schein's (2004) Conceptual Model for Managed Culture Change, this study collected data through historical document analysis, as well as narrative inquiry interviews focusing on the artifacts, values, assumptions, and beliefs of the campus community. In-depth interviews were conducted with faculty and administrators who played key roles in the foundational years of this LLP, as well as with faculty who opposed the program. The findings of this study demonstrate how preexisting cultural conditions heavily influenced the creation and development of the LLP. This study also identifies the ways in which several deeply entrenched cultural conditions changed, indicating this comprehensive LLP fostered a relational capacity to facilitate institutional culture change.

Institutions of higher education are replete with programs designed to position incoming undergraduate students to successfully persist toward a degree and to do and be well along the way. This longitudinal field study of incoming students’ transitional year focused on outcomes associated with two common types of program: bridge programs and living-learning programs. Bridge programs are intended to boost achievement and persistence of structurally disadvantaged (e.g., low-income) students to close the gap between them and their more advantaged peers, usually with some combination of financial and academic support. Living-learning programs are intended to generally promote achievement and persistence through the intentional formation of communities in which groups of students live together in wings of residence halls and engage in curricular and/or cocurricular activities together. Social-psychological interventions have been inspired by critiques that such programs inadequately support students who are at a structural disadvantage. Specifically, critiques have argued that financial and academic support are insufficient, that students also need psychological support. To strongly test that claim, I replicated one of these interventions within a bridge program and examined whether it affected students’ wellness and success at the end of their transitional year, over and above the bridge program itself. I also examined whether living-learning programs contributed to students’ wellness and success over and above living in conventional residence halls, and whether either of those two types of residential groups differed from students living off-campus. Results from the intervention did not fit the theoretical framework on which it was based, the same framework contextualized in the bridge program, or an alternative framework on which other similar interventions are based. Results regarding residential groups suggest that living-learning communities did not augment wellness or success, at least at the particular institution under study. Rather, living on campus generally is associated with a greater sense of social-belonging, higher life satisfaction, more extracurricular activity, and taking advantage of campus resources. Practical advice and recommendations for administrators and researchers are outlined in the Discussion.

This dissertation was the first study to estimate the direct and indirect effects of living-learning community (LLC) participation on a standardized measure of critical thinking using a multi-institution longitudinal research design. It is possible that despite being lauded nationally as an effective institutional intervention, LLCs may simply cluster students predisposed to be more engaged with their environment, more academically prepared, and more open to growth compared with traditional residence hall peers. Recent studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between LLC participation and self-reported growth in critical thinking. The findings of this study demonstrate markedly different conclusions from previous LLC studies exploring the outcome of critical thinking. The results of this study suggest that net of academic ability and background and institutional characteristics, students who participated in LLCs did not demonstrate greater gains on a standardized measure of critical thinking than their peers in traditional residence hall environments. To investigate the relationship between LLC participation and growth in critical thinking, I performed secondary data analysis from the 2006, 2007, and 2008 cohorts of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education - a longitudinal study of teaching practices, programs, and institutional structures that support liberal arts education. From the initial 53 colleges and universities in the WNSLAE study, I selected a sub-sample of 19 institutions with formal LLC programs to make a more conservative estimate of the reliability of participation in an LLC. The final sub-sample included 435 (25%) students in the experimental group (students participating in LLCs) and 1,282 (75%) students in the control group (students living in traditional residence halls). This study makes four important contributions to the literature on LLC. First, the longitudinal nature of the WNSLAE data allowed for an estimate of growth during the first-year of college and controls for students' self-selection into the experimental or control groups. Second, the critical thinking module of the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency allowed for an objective measure compared to previous studies that use students' self-reports. Third, this was the first multi-institution LLC study to include liberal arts colleges in the sample. LLCs at liberal arts colleges did not demonstrate a differential impact compared with LLCs at regional and research universities on students' growth in critical thinking. Finally, post hoc analysis did not demonstrate conditional differences of LLC impact between students background, institutional characteristics, or the degree of faculty and peer interaction.

The purpose of this research is to see if the peer mentors make a difference in the leadership development of students, their feelings about peer mentors, the Leadership Living Learning Community, and their acclimation to Texas A&M University. Leadership is defined as an interaction between members of a group in which individuals, in the name of the group, act as agents of change, persons whose acts affect other people more than other peoples’ actions affect them. The five leadership skills studied were working in groups, positional leadership, communication, decision-making, and understanding self. A post-then methodology was utilized with self-reporting as the process by which data was collected following completion of an academic leadership learning community. The findings from years one and two participants were computed individually and then compared to see if the addition of peer mentors during the second year yielded any significant findings. The major findings for this study were as follows: Year one participants in the learning community indicated improved leadership skills after participation in the learning community for the first semester, as measured by the Leadership Skills Inventory. In addition, year two participants in the learning community indicated a similar increase of leadership skills after the first semester. Year one participants indicated a more statistically significant increase when compared to year two on their leadership skills on the individual questions, while year two participants were found to have more statistically significant findings relating to the five leadership skills or Leadership Skills Inventory scales. Responses by year two participants indicated that the peer mentors who helped them were supportive, gave positive feedback, were good role models, were knowledgeable about Texas A&M University, were easy to communicate with, and did not use peer pressure to persuade them to do anything negative.