The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 36, No. 2 - 71

Exploring the Effect of a Residential Partnership

tion when compared to other students? (b) Do students in this living-learning community have more academic peer-to-peer interaction than do other students? (c) Do students in this living-learning community have higher satisfaction for the overall living environment than do other students?

In order to be considered a livinglearning community, the program must be guided by significant leadership from the academic school or college, which includes (a) the funding and supervision of a fulltime program director, (b) making admission decisions about which students can participate in the program, (c) teaching disciplinespecific courses on site, and (d) assigning faculty to offices in the residential community .

In response, efforts to establish learning communities have been widespread in American higher education because they appear to be particularly effective in enhancing curricular coherence, nurturing deeper student learning, and creating a sense of community among teachers and students (Cook & Lewis, 2007; Kuh, Douglas, Lund, & Ramin-Gyurnek, 1994; Kuh et al., 2005; Laufgraben & Shapiro, 2004; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005; Smith, MacGregor, Matthews, & Gabelnick, 2004). Learning communities take a variety of forms among higher education institutions, such as clustering courses, first-year interest groups, team-taught courses, and residence-based programs (Inkelas & Weisman, 2003; Shapiro & Levine, 1999). While learning communities vary in format, most seek to develop group identity, integrate student academic and social experiences, offer connections between disciplines, foster critical thinking skills, and regularly assess learning outcomes (Brower & Dettinger, 1998). Studies suggest that residence-based programs consistently enhance student-faculty interactions on both formal and informal levels and are more effective than other learning communities in harvesting desired student outcomes (Garrett & Zabriskie, 2004; Shapiro & Levine, 1999; Stassen, 2003). In one of the most thorough studies on student-faculty engagement, Kuh and Hu (1999, 2001) divided student-faculty interaction into three categories: substantive interaction, out-of-class contact, and writing improvement. Their study found that only substantive interaction (interaction more intellectual in focus) had a consistently significant effect on self-reported gains during college.

BACKGROUND
As research continues to show how students develop both inside and outside the classroom, colleges and universities search for best practices to create improved conditions for learning (Keeling, 2004, 2006; Kuh et al., 2005; U.S. Department of Education, 2002, 2006).

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 36, No. 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 36, No. 2
