General Education Curriculum: Learning Communities

Learning Communities are intentionally designed structures that encourage students to integrate what they are learning in their various studies, disciplines, and experiences, and also to connect to each other through ongoing co-curricular interaction. Learning Communities at Benedictine can take different forms but should include all of the following:

• An emphasis on working cooperatively as a member of a team 
• An interdisciplinary approach and an emphasis on integrating knowledge from different areas/fields of study
• Exploring connections between classroom knowledge and experiences outside the classroom
• An assignment that requires some form of reflection

There are generally three basic models of learning communities that are offered at Benedictine University: 

1. A stand-alone learning community that is not a formal course but includes all of the aforementioned requirements of learning communities. Examples include Living/Learning Communities, structured intercultural engagement, a minor in Catholic Studies, and study away/study abroad experiences not tied to a particular course.
2. A single-course learning community that is a course and that includes all of the aforementioned requirements of learning communities. Examples include BenU's Model United Nations Program (PLSC 2215), music ensemble courses, and study abroad experiences connected with a course.  
3. A two-course learning community wherein students co-enroll in two courses from different programs/disciplines/fields of study. This two-course cluster includes all of the aforementioned requirements of learning communities. Also possible are three-course learning communities (a three-course interdisciplinary cluster of courses organized around a common theme), or even a four-course learning community (a four-course interdisciplinary cluster organized around a common theme). Examples include the Emerging Scholars Program and the Scholars Program. 

Goals Chart for the Syllabus

Create a chart that maps the goals and place it in your syllabus.