The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1 - 16

William Frazier • Myron Eighmy

METHODS
A QUAN-Qual Model (Gay & Airasian, 2003) was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. In the first phase of the study, interviews with faculty, staff, and students were used to collect qualitative data about the goals of the learning community programs from the staff’s perspective and from student perceptions related to each program’s effectiveness. The data collected from the interviews informed the survey concepts and items used in the quantitative phase of the study. The second phase of the study sought feedback directly from the students to learn more about their experiences at the institution and specifically their experiences in the learning communities. The survey assessed the satisfaction of residence life students and provided valid and reliable information to support assessment and improvement. A pilot instrument was tested with a group of residence life advisory board members. The Cronbach’s alpha for the instrument was .94. Student satisfaction survey items were analyzed using means and standard deviations. Independent samples t-tests were used to determine significant differences between learning community groups and a control group. The demographic items were analyzed using frequency distributions. The study protocol and instrumentation received IRB approval.

directors from the three residence halls with learning communities, the assistant director for leadership and community development, and resident assistants on the learning community floors. Students participating in the three themed residential learning communities were sent a letter by campus mail and a follow-up email asking for their participation in the interviews. The student sample and learning community population consisted of the following groups: pharmacy (23 of 61 community members participated), engineering/architecture (21 of 64 participated), and wellness (19 of 61 participated). Interview procedures. Interviews were used to seek feedback from faculty regarding the overall direction of the learning communities. All faculty members directly involved with overseeing the engineering/architecture, pharmacy, and wellness programs were interviewed prior to interviewing the students living in the learning communities. The faculty interviews were focused on the following topics: the established goals for the learning communities, the extent to which the goals had been met, the feedback faculty have sought from learning community students, the students’ achievement as it related to living in the learning community, and the overall effectiveness of the community. Following the faculty interviews, all residence life staff were interviewed to gather information regarding the goals that had been established for the learning communities. Hall directors from the three residence halls with learning communities, the assistant director for leadership and community development, and six resident assistants on the learning

Qualitative Methodology
Interview participants. The faculty interviews were conducted with all staff who were directly overseeing the engineering/architecture, pharmacy, and wellness communities. The participants in staff interviews included hall
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THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1