Effect of a Place-Based Learning Community on Belonging, Persistence, and Equity Gaps for First-Year STEM Students.

We combined tenets of learning communities and place-based learning to develop an innovative first-year program for STEM students. Using a quasi-experimental design, we found that participants in the place-based learning community had a stronger sense of belonging, improved academic performance, and increased first-year persistence relative to a matched reference group. We also showed that participation narrowed equity gaps in first-year outcomes for students underrepresented in the sciences. A sense of place arises not just from a location, but from interrelationships between people and the natural world, and these results suggest organizing learning around place can promote inclusive student success.
Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestMatt Johnson and Amy Sprowles have received research grants from the US Dept of Education, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, CSUPERB, the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the National Center for Civic Engagement, and the National Science Foundation. Matt Johnson and Steven Margell are members of the California State University Center for Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness.
(© The Author(s) 2020.)