Ambrose Learning Communities for Excellence
Ambrose Learning Communities for Excellence, or ACE clusters,
offer terrific advantages to first-year students by allowing them
to take a cluster of courses suited to their needs, and to do
so with a group of fellow students who share their interests.
Most learning communities consist of two general education
courses and a section of New Student Seminar linked by a
theme, ranging from developmental courses to which students
are referred by placement testing, to courses taken as part
of typical first-year programs, to introductory courses
within majors’ sequences. Most also include a course in
information literacy that fulfills a general education
requirement.
For fall 2007, first-year students can choose from 16 different learning communities representing a wide range of interests and opportunities.
Students say that learning community participation helps them to make friends sooner and adapt to campus faster, makes it easier to find study partners and get help with questions, makes their class work more fulfilling, and helps increase their interaction with faculty.
Typical comments from learning community students say a lot about the advantages of the program: “You really get to know the group of kids in your class,” “It makes it easier that your teachers know what’s going on in your other classes. Everything is related,” “I made some very good friends and I know they will take a lot of the same classes as me in the future,” and “You always have someone to study with.”
Although participation is not required, more and more students are finding that being part of a learning community is a smart choice.
Getting involved in a learning community is easy. Advisors at new student orientation help first-year students determine which group is right for them and assist in the registration process. Contact Maureen Baldwin at 563/333-6059 if you have any questions.