Freshman engineering living-learning communities at Virginia Tech

Abstract

Living-learning communities have been a part of higher education for many years. Research indicates that students who participate in living-learning communities report a more favorable college experience and are more likely to persist to graduation, to report fewer social problems, and to perform better academically. At Virginia Tech, there are currently two livinglearning communities for freshman engineering students. Hypatia, now in its sixth year, currently houses 75 freshman women, and Galileo, in only its second year, houses 180 men. Of our fall 2006 incoming class (186 women and 1040 men), these programs serve 40% of the women and about 17% of the men. This paper presents our experience with engineering students who choose this type of on-campus living arrangement, including our findings on residents' academic performance and persistence as compared to non-participating matching cohorts. We will also provide demographics of the residents, details on the required fall companion seminar course and the optional spring programming activities, and an overview of the challenges and successes of implementing a rather large living-learning community (Galileo) in the residence halls of a large university. Survey results on motivations to participate and on program satisfaction will be provided. Presented results will be offered in terms of the separate male and female communities, and in combined form when appropriate, so that distinctions between the communities can be noted and preserved. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2007.