The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 38, No. 2 & Volume 39, No. 1 - 23

Themed Residential Learning Communities

DISCUSSION
The researchers found that the themed residential learning communities had varying levels of student satisfaction. The focus group interviews revealed that the extent to which students actively participated in the learning community and the level of individual and collective satisfaction were positively related to the amount of interaction with the faculty and staff. When students experienced more intentional interactions with the faculty and staff, student satisfaction was higher for all aspects of the educational and living experience. In learning communities where interactions with faculty and staff were fewer, there were lower levels of student satisfaction with the learning community experience. The pharmacy learning community experienced significantly higher satisfaction means than did the control in their building on several key items, most notably their satisfaction with the residence hall learning experience and the residence hall student staff. Helping students become more successful academically and establish goals for themselves were the two items where pharmacy students’ satisfaction levels were significantly higher than those of the control. The pharmacy community also had significantly higher means than the control for becoming knowledgeable about the major, building relationships with other students in the major, and being provided with programs that were beneficial to learning more about their major. Lastly, the satisfaction level of the pharmacy community with the housing facilities was significantly higher than that of the control, even though the facilities were the same.

The pharmacy learning community experienced significantly higher satisfaction means than did the control in their building on several key items, most notably their satisfaction with the residence hall learning experience and the residence hall student staff .

Interest and participation in the pharmacy community were evidenced by listening to the students as they shared their living experiences. One of the students responded, “We love our RAs. They have been through this process and can tell us more about how things work than anyone else can.” Another student stated, “Because we know how difficult this program can be, we try to help each other out so no one fails.” The resident assistants serving the pharmacy learning community were also majoring in pharmacy. The students felt a stronger connection to the student staff because of the common connection of the same major. The pharmacy learning community, more so than the engineering/architecture and wellness communities, emphasized how important it was to have staff and students in the same program. The students appreciated the ability to share the issues they were dealing with on a daily basis. Significant differences were found between the engineering/architecture learning commu-

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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