I'm interested in retaining students, especially the freshmen and sophomores. Freshman retention this year is nearly 90 percent, he said, and the department is at an all-time high for number of students enrolled. Polito said he believes one reason the junior-level learning community is working is that students have blurred the line between the two courses. Students have told him they can't tell which class some of their notes are from. Polito's team has hired a graduate student to compile two years' worth of students' final reports for client-farmers and assemble a panel of readers to compare the reports, prior to and following course integration.
English faculty see course integration as beneficial to their students, too.
Most agree that learning communities and integrated coursework aren't the solution to all teaching dilemmas. And it's not a solution you apply uniformly. But my experience is that it's helpful to look for spots where it could enhance the undergraduate experience. Polito said the junior-level learning community was an unanticipated solution. We were trying to improve student learning.