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Tamia Powell
Instructor: Malcolm Campbell
UWRT 1101
November 5th, 2014

Health Connection Learning Community at UNCC

When I tell others that I am a part of a learning community, the most popular question is,
what is a learning community? Arent we all part of a learning community being that we are in
college? While that notion may be true, that is not the type of learning community I am
referring to. According to Google, a learning community is a group of people who share
common, emotions, values, or beliefs, and are actively engaged in learning together from one
another and by habituation and have become the template for a cohort-based interdisciplinary
approach to higher education. Also, the idea behind learning communities is that students will
be more likely to form stronger relationships with each other, instructors and/or advisors and
engage more deeply in the content of the course work and that this will give them a better chance
of passing courses and staying in college writes Mary Visher, Michael J. Weiss, Evan
Weissman, Timothy Rudd, Heather Wathington in The Effects of Learning Communities for
Students in Developmental Education. Furthermore, according to Wikipedia there are over 250
learning communities in college universities throughout the nation.
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is home to about 17 different types of
learning communities. Being that I am a part of the Health Connection Learning Community, I

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chose to observe this group more specifically. The Health Connection Learning Community at
UNCC hosts people who are pre-nursing, pre-kinesiology (athletic training and exercise science),
public health, or social work majors. These students are required to fulfill certain requirements
to maintain status in the learning community. The members of this community are required to
commit to participation for their entire freshman school year, live in Lynch residential hall,
complete a minimum of 12 hours of service learning in both the fall semester and spring
semester of their freshman year, and take the following courses: UCOL 1000 (freshman
seminar), SOCY 1101 (Intro to Sociology), and LBST 2214 (Health and Quality of Life.
According to the Health Connection Learning Community website, its goal is to provide
collaborative teaching services to better prepare each student for possible entry into the five
competitive college majors and the benefits from being a member of this learning community are
that one can establish personal relationships with faculty and students of the same major/field,
one will get assistance with transition from high school and with course registration , one will
have weekly contact with advisor, and one will have the opportunity to explore diverse cultures.
I stepped aside and did not participate in class for two days to observe the setting, forms
and types of communication, and the social environment of the learning community from a
different aspect. On the first day of observation, I noticed more physical observations than
anything else. Upon entering class, my first set of observations were focused on the setting of the
meeting place. These observations were the room was in the College of Health and Human
Services building, the room was full of long tables and many chairs but there were not enough
chairs to host all of the students, there was a projector screen, and there were no decorations in
the room. Other observations I made during the duration of this class period were that professors
take attendance, the professors review the assignments that were due that class period, one

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student in particular kept asking the professors questions about a homework assignment that was
posted on Moodle that she did not understand and the professors seemed to be getting frustrated,
the professors have (Author, Year) OWL Perdue Knight Cite written on the board, the students
have out their laptops, the class gets off-track frequently with lots of laughing, the professors
show a video called Prospect Faculty Interviews, and the professors review what is due the
next class period. On day two of observations, I notice a few people come in late and some do
not show up to class due to a sociology exam. Other observations on this day include a guest
speaker from study abroad to speak to students, students and professors ask many questions
during presentation, professors take attendance, the professors go over homework that is due that
day of class, the professors have to practically beg for student participation during class, there
are lots of breaks for joke-telling, the professors go over what is due the next class period and
class ends early. As far as language and communication observations, I noticed that the group
participates in a more informal type of communication. When speaking to one another, most of
the time, there is no specific greetings to start off the class or start individual conversations.
Students converse with each other to a great extent to the point that professors have to quiet
students routinely during the class period. Also, the professors and students communicate very
effectively. The professors frequently ask the students how they personally feel about a certain
assignments or a specific course they are enrolled. It is apparent that there is commonly a
miscommunication of assignments through Moodle, which is another method by which the
professors communicate with students. The UNCC email is also another system that this group
communicates.

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In order to draw more information for further analysis of the Health Connection Learning
Community at UNCC, I interviewed a current member of the community, who we will call
Sally for the sake of confidentiality. The interview went as follows:
Tamia: In which ways does this learning community communicate with one another in both
written and spoken aspects?
Sally: Our professors mostly communicate with us through Moodle but we live with other
students in the community so we can just find people in Lynch. But also, some people use slang.
There is a group of students who call each other Squad. And some students gave one of our
professors a nick name, P-Dilly
Tamia: How often does this group meet?
Sally: We meet two times a week but people meet in the dorms sometimes.
Tamia: What is the usual, everyday routine when this group meets?
Sally: We talk a lot so the teachers take a lot of time to get our attention. We also laugh a lot
during class and the teachers act like they are mad but they laugh with us most of the time. We
go over homework and the teachers have presentations then we leave.
Tamia: What drew you to apply for the learning community?
Sally: Well really I wanted my own room but too because I wanted exposure to more
opportunities and have a smoother transition from high school to college.
Tamia: What benefits have you noticed from being in the learning community thus far?
Sally: Ive learned a lot about campus resources and how to get around and function around
school.

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Tamia: Where do you all do your service learning? And do you enjoy it?
Sally: We volunteer at The Pines at Davidson. Its a nursing home. Its growing on me but I did
not like it at the beginning. Most of the time, it depends on the mood of the residents the day that
we volunteer to determine if its enjoyable. But the staff helps us a lot.
Tamia: As a group, do you all perform any specific rituals when meeting weekly?
Sally: We just go over homework and talk about the next homework that is due.
Tamia: Where exactly do you all meet?
Sally: We meet in CHHS, rooms 120 and 122. We meet in two rooms because the entire
community meets all together some days but split into two classes other days.
Tamia: What type of relationships do the students have with the professors/advisors/faculty?
Sally: Overall, the students have positive relationships with the teachers. But some students have
a closer bond with them than others do.
Through examination of the research, observations, and interview, I conclude that overall
the Health Connection Learning Community is a very beneficial group for incoming freshman
students. This group allows for students to adapt to the college life. Because the professors
communicate with students in a more informal type of way, they are seen more like mentors to
the students which allows for students to feel more comfortable with telling the professors how
they feel and asking for advice. The fact that students of the same learning community live
together is too very helpful to students because it is easier for students to communicate with each
other whether it be for educational purposes or for a social aspect. Also, the mishaps with
Moodle aids the students comprehension of the website. Moodle is an important website for

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UNCC because nearly every course taken at the university depends on Moodle for things such as
assignments, quizzes, and class syllabi. Being that this class is technically a freshman seminar
class, the professors also communicate with the students many different resources that are
available to the students from study abroad to tutoring services.
The learning community meets to assess the success of incoming freshmen, which is their
overall purpose. Each week the professors frequently give homework assignments based on
students specific majors or resources around campus. All of these students must have
something in common but what is it? All of these students have a passion for health in some
way, shape, or form. Their purpose or calling in life is to help those in need. This passion is most
noticeable in their willingness to volunteer at The Pines. Overall, members of this community are
exposed to opportunities that nearly half of the students at UNCC are not. Members gain close
relationships with students of the same major and their advisors, they gain service learning hours
that each student will eventually need to graduate, they gain knowledge of all possibilities
available to students, and much more. Moreover, this community views itself as a smaller family
and this can be displayed through the close relationships that have been formed from being in the
class. They also see themselves as the future of health care for our society.