The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1 - 19

Themed Residential Learning Communities

experience. An independent samples t-test was used to determine if those on the themed floors had significantly different satisfaction levels than those in the same-hall control group. Considering that all students lived in similar facilities, differences in satisfaction could be attributed to non-facility factors. Table 2 provides a summary of items that had significant differences in satisfaction between those in the learning communities and those in the control groups for the first three constructs. Table 3 provides a summary for student satisfaction with the residence hall staff and the students’ academic experience. There were no significant differences between any of the learning communities and the same-hall control group for the academic experience construct. The discussion of findings is limited to those items that had significant differences (p = .05). Overall experience at the institution. For the construct when considering your overall experience at this institution, students were asked how satisfied they were with their academic experience, classroom facilities, academic advising, tutoring and academic assistance, leadership opportunities, community service, housing facilities, interaction with residence life, and their decision to attend the institution. Pharmacy floors vs. same-hall control floors. When considering their overall experience, only the housing facilities item showed a significant difference between pharmacythemed floors and the same-hall control. The mean score for the pharmacy floor was 3.63, and the mean for the same-hall control was 3.20. An independent samples t-test for these samples found the difference to be significant (p = .002). Learning community students were significantly more satisfied with the housing

facilities, even though the two groups’ facilities were in the same building and had the same design and layout. Engineering/architecture floors vs. same-hall control floors. Differences in the satisfaction between engineering/architecture learning community floors and same-hall control floors for overall experience were not significant for any of the nine survey items. While both groups had high satisfaction means (range 3.08-3.74), the control had a slightly higher level of satisfaction with the academic-related items (academic experience, classroom facilities, academic advising, tutoring or other academic assistance) while the engineering/ architecture group expressed a slightly higher level of satisfaction with items related to residence life services. Wellness floors vs. same-hall control floors. Differences in satisfaction between the wellness-themed floors and same-hall control floors showed a significant difference on only one of the overall experience items: academic advising. The mean score for the wellness floor was 3.28, and the mean for the same-hall

. . .the three learning communities had varying levels of success . The level of faculty and staff interaction was related to the degree to which the students actively participated in the learning community experience and the level of success achieved individually and collectively .
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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