The International Adventure learning community provides a 100% virtual experience in which first-year international students can take courses in common, connect with one another, receive support from upper-division peer mentors, and explore career options from anywhere around the world.
Four options are available for this virtual experience:
Business: course options for Pre-Business majors
Computer Science: course options for computer science majors
Engineering: course options for Engineering majors
General: course options for all majors
Contact:
For more information about this exciting opportunity, please contact Suzanne Härle at sharle@iastate.edu
First-Year Data Science majors and students in Open Option are eligible to join.
Program description
The Data Science Learning Community is designed to assist first-year Data Science majors in their transition to Iowa State University by providing a support framework of knowledge, resources, and people. All freshman Data Science majors will enroll in the same DS 110 orientation course and will have other clustered courses with members of the learning community. Students have close connections with a Data Science peer mentor in the orientation course and other meetings designed to assist in learning about data science, group interaction skills and academic problem solving in order to increase success and retention.
Living Options
None
Signing up
Students will have an opportunity to register for this learning community during the class registration portion of summer orientation.
First-year students majoring in Advertising or Public Relations, and Open Option students
Program description
This
learning community serves first-year students who plan to major in advertising or public relations. It will help them become better
consumers, creators, and brand storytellers, and it will promote connections with
other students in the major, as well as with faculty and staff in the
Greenlee School. A second learning community in the Greenlee School
serves students planning to major in journalism,
and the two Greenlee learning communities will have opportunities to
interact, especially through social events.
All students will be
enrolled in one of two sections of JL MC 110 set aside for the learning
community. Most will also find themselves in class together in JL MC 101
and ADVRT 230 or PR 220.
This learning community will also introduce
participants to opportunities for working with student media, clubs, and
other organizations that will foster and showcase their skills during
their four years in the Greenlee School.
If you are pursuing a major in Criminal Justice Studies, consider joining the Criminal Justice League Learning Community! You will join a group of about 35 first-year students in two shared classes and a seminar where will learn about your major, crime and the societal and criminal justice response to it, on-campus resources and activities, and future careers. You will connect with faculty and students both in and outside the classroom through activities like lively in-class discussions and fascinating field trips to local criminal justice agencies. You will imagine your future career and the steps necessary to achieve your goals by visiting Iowa State’s career fairs and discovering possible internship and job opportunities. You will collaborate with an academically successful peer mentor, who is a junior or senior in the Criminal Justice Studies major.
Living Options
None
Signing up
Register for this learning community during summer orientation and class registration.
This learning community is for new Linguistics majors as well as any student who is interested in language and how it works, seeking especially students in World Languages and Cultures, International Studies, U.S. Latinx Studies, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Data Science, and Open Option.
Program description
The Science of Language Learning Community is a non-residential learning community for students who are interested in languages, linguistics, and language science. The goals of SOL are to foster community among undergraduate linguists, develop critical thinking skills around language, broaden linguistic understanding of language as a science, and to help students become aware of possible future directions in these fields. As part of SOL, students will take three linked courses together: LING/WLC 119 Introduction to World Languages, ENGL 214 Introduction to Technical Communication, and LING 101 Introduction to the Study of Linguistics. SOL fulfills multiple LAS requirements including up to 6 credits towards Arts and Humanities requirements as well as International Perspectives.
Living Options
None
Signing up
New students will have an opportunity to register for this learning community during orientation and class registration. Transfers and Change of majors can sign up during fall class registration by contacting the coordinator.
New transfer students in Psychology are eligible to join.
Program description
This semester-long learning community assists students in their transition to Iowa State and the Psychology department through opportunities to connect with peers, faculty, and resources on campus during their first semester. Students in the Psychology Transfer Learning Community enroll in the common course Psych 112, Section C, which is designed specifically for students transferring from other colleges or universities to Iowa State University (other new students will take either Psych 111 or other sections of Psych 112 for new freshmen). Completing this course and its related activities allows students to make meaningful connections with other psychology students, better understand departmental and college requirements, learn about opportunities and careers related to Psychology, and familiarize themselves with campus resources and services.
Students will also work with upper-level Psychology majors who will serve as peer mentors. The peer mentors will link students to resources within the department and across the Iowa State campus, provide academic support, and facilitate social activities within the learning community.
Living Options
None
Signing up
Students are able to join the Psychology Transfer Learning Community at the time they sign up for classes by adding Psych 112, Section C to their schedule. Contact the Psychology Advising Office for help to add the class.
Majors Eligible to Join: All Open Option, Pre-Health, Pre-Med, and Pre-Law students are eligible to join.
Program Description:
The HOME Learning Community is a first-semester program designed to support exploring students. The program provides a structured process for students to explore majors and careers while creating a home at Iowa State. Students receive support from connections with peer mentors, academic advisers, and faculty.
Benefits of HOME include:
Provide you with a structured framework through which you can successfully explore three majors or careers.
Connect you with information, resources, and people that can support you through the exploration process.
Give you opportunities to practice and therefore develop confidence in your ability to make decisions.
Living Options
No residential options are affiliated with the program
Signing Up: Students will sign up during Orientation. Please ask your adviser for more information.
First-Year Software Engineering students are eligible to join.
Program description
The Software Engineering Learning Community is a non-residential, course-based learning community program for first year software engineering students. Students will take a set of required courses with other software engineering students. Fall semester, students will take first semester course, S E 101: Software Engineering Orientation. The goal of this course is to provide an engaging learning environment for first semester freshman to learn policies, procedures and expectations at Iowa State University. Students will find resources for personal and academic success, as well as learn about educational requirements. Students will also be enrolled in common courses and participate in structured activities.
During spring semester, students will participate in S E 166: Software Engineering Careers. The goal of this course will be for students to learn of the career opportunities for Software Engineering majors and interact with potential employers. Students will continue to take common courses and participate in activities.
Living Options
None
Signing up
Students will have an opportunity to register for this learning community during June Orientation.
All students in any major are eligible to join Leadership ISU.
Program description
Leadership ISU is a leadership focused Learning Community designed to help students develop capacity for practicing leadership on campus and preparing them to facilitate organizational and community-based change. This community is partnered with Campus Leadership Development (LD ST 270), a course designed for students who want to learn about exemplary leadership practices and engage in experiential campus leadership opportunities.
The Student Activities Center is a critical partner providing key connections for students in this learning community to lead the amazing possibilities for students at Iowa State. This learning community provides highly interactive experiences that create opportunities for students to be leaders on campus, shape change in their communities, and establish a professional network leading to success at Iowa State and after graduation.
Through LD ST 270 and the Student Activities Center, students will participate in dynamic lectures, engage in student-centered discussions, participate in large and small group activities, and identify opportunities to build community within the group as well as network with others on campus. Leadership Studies program faculty, Student Activities Center staff, and peer mentors ensure students feel supported in their academic growth and leadership development.
Leadership ISU and LD ST 270 are open to all students, though specifically geared toward first-year and new transfer students. All students enrolled in LD ST 270 will be a part of the Leadership ISU learning community.
Living Options
None
Signing up
All students who register for LD ST 270 be participating in the learning community.
”Students who join learning communities have a special opportunity to connect with classmates---form study groups, serve as sounding boards for one another, and even develop lasting friendships throughout their four years at ISU. Seeing the same familiar faces in two classes every week creates a comfort level many college first-years don't experience, and finding comfort in the classroom setting inevitably leads to smoother learning and more permanent retention of vital communication skills that translate to the workplace."
Majors eligible to join
Students of any major (including Open Option) who register for English 214 and English 250.
Program description
Students will learn about the background, practical application of, techniques of, and demand for technical writing and web design/usability in the U.S. and worldwide. Through written, oral, visual, and electronic communication skills, they will complete summaries and rhetorical analyses related to topics in technical communication. They will also delve into visual website design and rhetoric and learn to analyze and evaluate visuals both in terms of their messages and in their creation as TComm deliverables. Finally, they will master argumentation, acting as mediators in debates centered around technology, its use/misuse in the workplace, and its presentation in writing and multimedia. Because all students enrolled in this section of English 250 will also be taking the same section of English 214, this will encourage a sense of community and create shared learning opportunities. Within this single learning community, students can satisfy an Arts and Humanities requirement, an ISUComm Foundations requirement, and a US Diversity requirement! Students will also gain a greater understanding of technical communications as a field, potentially adding it as a major, second major, or minor. Tech Comm was recently rated the 14th best job in the U.S. by Career Cast and other sources, meaning that majors in English and related fields are becoming more and more lucrative as the demand for strong communicators rises!
Living Options
None
Signing up
Students will have the opportunity to register for this learning community during spring registration and June Orientation.
