Suchergebnisse

L. J. Cronbach (Designing Evaluation of Educational and Social Programs, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1982) argues that evaluators can be understood as educators. This insight forms the basis for the philosophy of evaluations evolved from confrontation with problems arising in a major evaluation project in New Zealand & from dissatisfaction with the existing philosophical foundations of evaluation theory. This model is sufficiently broad philosophically not only to subsume humanistic & scientific models, but to transcend them. The notion of a learning community is taken as central to the practice of evaluation. Implications of this theory for the practice of evaluation are considered. 88 References. Modified HA

Recently, higher education has focused on "learning communities." This
study examines a process in which students create expectations for their community of learners. The expectations provide the basis for assessment of students and the
program. Across three cohorts, common themes arise. The major themes from students' expectations of faculty are that faculty should be organized, use a variety of
teaching methods, and provide mentoring. Students primarily want their peers to
participate actively and constructively in class, have academic honesty, and contribute to class in a civil, respectful manner . Study findings indicate that students are
empowered in finding their collective voice and holding each other accountable for
classroom community. Using the transformative power of a learning community to
improve both student classroom behaviors and faculty teaching appears to be a
promising practice.

The author argues that the current conjuncture is a kairotic moment for their own learning community program as well as the national movement to support the development of learning communities in universities and colleges and the array of pedagogical approaches associated with them. With Barbara Leigh Smith (2013), they recognize a link between the social justice movements of the 1960s and the learning community movement both in their commitments to democracy and their organizing strategies. Through relating the story of their own experience as co-directors of the LIU Brooklyn Learning Community program, specifying different inventions, audiences, and purposes driving that initiative, they further suggest that learning communities have the potential not only to reinvigorate teaching and learning but also to contribute to struggles for a more democratic, compassionate society.