Rowan Digital Works

Collaborating with Faculty in Learning Communities

Chateau Sugarloaf Hill, Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia PA

Learning communities involve collaboration, not only across academic departments, but also across other institutional resources that serve student needs. Extensive documentary evidence suggests that effective learning communities have important benefits for students and faculty. Faculty benefits include diminished isolation, a shared purpose, and cooperation among faculty colleagues. Smith, MacGregor, Matthews, and Gabelnick (2004) Lenning, O. T., & Ebbers, L. H. (1999). Teaching in a learning community opens many doors for librarians. Librarians at Delaware Tech have taught in learning communities since 2010. Collaborations with English, ESL, Math, Engineering, Business, Veterinary and Sociology departments have proven to be highly successful and are a great way for librarians to get “out of the library”, further develop teaching skills, and forge new relationships with some unlikely partners. We have taught First Year Seminar, Diversity and the College Experience, as well as our own Research Strategies course. This collaborative way of teaching has proven successful by not only facilitating professional development and generating collegial relationships, but has resulted in a noticeable upsurge in library usage by students and faculty from a variety of disciplines.