Iowa State’s learning communities are some of the most well-developed in the nation, two experts said Thursday.

Barbara Leigh Smith and Pat Hutchings spoke Thursday morning to a crowd of about 100 people who are associated with learning communities in Room 2432 in the Food Science Building. Smith is the co-director of the National Learning Communities Project at Evergreen State College, and Hutchings is the vice-president of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Smith said Iowa State is part of a National Learning Community project and her visit was designed to monitor the progress of learning communities at Iowa State and to make recommendations for continued improvement. She said learning communities are growing at a rapid rate, as about 500 to 600 universities are now involved with learning communities.

More than 2,000 ISU students are members of nearly 50 learning communities. Students in learning communities take some courses together, work with peer mentors, create their own study groups and sometimes live on the same residence floors.

Smith said there are two basic ideas of learning communities. One is aimed at helping freshmen become oriented to their school and community. The other is tied to student’s academic achievement and involves faculty much more. Most learning communities capture 40 percent of freshmen, and Iowa State meets this goal, she said.

Hutchings said it is important to emphasize the role of learning to students, but to also foster a community of learning for faculty.

“We need to get faculty members involved in each other’s teaching. We can learn a lot from one another,” Hutchings said.

Smith said there are a few ways Iowa State can improve learning communities. She said the liberal arts and sciences communities are not as strong as the learning communities in some other colleges, and that there are some gaps in the evaluation process.

“It is very important to study the impact that peer mentors have on the learning communities,” she said. Smith also said there are some neglected populations of students, such as transfer students, who may have difficulty becoming part of a learning community.

Doug Gruenewald, assistant director of residence, said he was pleased with the outcome of the event. “It’s great to see so much interest in the learning communities and so many dedicated faculty and staff members here.

A lot of students are unaware of the high level of faculty involvement in the learning communities, which is above and beyond their call of duty,” he said.