Johnson Matthew D, Sprowles Amy E, Goldenberg Katlin R, Margell Steven T, Castellino Lisa
Department of Wildlife, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA USA.
Department of Biological Sciences, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA USA.
Innov High Educ. 2020;45(6):509-531. doi: 10.1007/s10755-020-09519-5. Epub 2020 Jul 24.
We combined tenets of learning communities and place-based learning to develop an innovative first-year program for STEM students. Using a quasi-experimental design, we found that participants in the place-based learning community had a stronger sense of belonging, improved academic performance, and increased first-year persistence relative to a matched reference group. We also showed that participation narrowed equity gaps in first-year outcomes for students underrepresented in the sciences. A sense of place arises not just from a location, but from interrelationships between people and the natural world, and these results suggest organizing learning around place can promote inclusive student success.
我们将学习社区的理念与基于地点的学习相结合，为理工科学生开发了一个创新的一年级项目。采用准实验设计，我们发现，与匹配的参照组相比，参与基于地点的学习社区的学生归属感更强、学业成绩提高，并且一年级的留校率增加。我们还表明，参与该项目缩小了在科学领域代表性不足的学生在一年级成绩方面的公平差距。场所感不仅源于一个地点，还源于人与自然界之间的相互关系，这些结果表明围绕场所组织学习可以促进学生的包容性成功。
