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
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.
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.
Any first-year majors who’ve met the qualifications for entry into English 250.
Program description
Writing Gender is a learning community open to students of any major (including Open Option) that links a section of WS 201 with a section of English 250. Students will learn about the contemporary status of women and gender diversity from social, economic, historical, political and literary perspectives. Through writing, oral and visual communication skills, they will analyze the intersection of gender, race, class, nationality and sexuality in the US and globally. Because all students enrolled in the section of English 250 will also be taking the same section of WS 201, this will foster an additional sense of community and collaborative learning experiences. Within this one learning community, students can satisfy an Arts and Humanities requirement, an ISU Comm requirement and a US Diversity requirement. Students will also gain more insight into the nature of a major or second major in WS.
Living Options
None
Signing up
Sign up will take place during Orientation. Please ask your adviser for details.
Open Option students and others interested in exploring majors and careers in science and technology - first-year and transfer students.
Program description
Do you want to:
Get to know new friends in a small classroom setting (40 students or less) while exploring majors and careers in the areas of environmental sciences, health, cell biology, and interdisciplinary STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)?
Make connections with upperclass students who are knowledgeable and who remember what it was like to be new at Iowa State?
Learn about campus resources and develop academic and professional skills that will enable a successful Iowa State experience now and into the future?
Have the ability to shape your learning community experiences based on your own interests and goals?
Participate in small group activities that engage you with students and professionals who are already pursuing majors and careers that interest you?
You can achieve all of these things and more by meeting for just two hours per week throughout the fall semester.
During Orientation, you will have the opportunity to sign up for the section that best suits your needs, and don't worry - if your interests change as the semester progresses, you can get help switching to the section that works best for you!
Here are your options:
Save Planet Earth. An environmentally-themed section where students learn and connect via hands-on sustainability and conservation projects, as well as field trips to research sites around Ames.
Helping People: The Health Care Career Spectrum. Learn about the myriad of healthcare-related career options, have the opportunity to take a tour of the Iowa State cadaver lab, and meet with practicing professionals including a physician and a pharmacist.
Exploring the Secret Life of Cells. Learn how basic cell biology research in different organisms can help us improve our world in areas such as medicine, agriculture, and technology. Experiences include hands-on lab activities and visits to research labs around campus.
Striding Through STEM. This section will help you discover how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) can play a role in your broader interests. It will provide you with opportunities to explore interdisciplinary career paths through interactions with upperclass students, faculty, and leaders outside academia. It is also a great way to find study buddies for first-year STEM courses. Activities will include presentations by representatives of unique interdisciplinary majors (e.g. Data Science), workshops to develop professional skills, and field trips to facilities both on and off campus (e.g. Workiva).
Course: LAS 103D (1 cr.)
Living Options
None
Signing up
Students will have an opportunity to register for this learning community during June Orientation. See your adviser for more information.
The best part of learning community is all of the connections I've made. I met some of my best friends when I was taking it as a freshman and I continue to meet new people all the time. It has also allowed me to connect with a lot of professors who have been valuable resources to me throughout my college career. - Kate
Majors eligible to join
The Chemistry Learning Community is intended for first-year and transfer majors in chemistry, but is open to any student with an interest in chemistry.
Program description
The Chemistry Learning Community (CLC) seeks to build a community environment that fosters the educational and emotional growth of chemistry students. Because of the importance of research in chemistry, the CLC is centered on a research theme. The CLC holds weekly meetings and activities with freshmen and transfer students throughout the year. Students enroll in Chemistry 101A (fall only) and Chem 101B (spring only) “Chemistry Learning Community Orientation.” We will introduce students to support services, resources, and opportunities at ISU including AccessPlus, Canvas, and the Society of Chemistry Undergraduate Majors (SCUM) – our chemistry club. We will develop team-building, problem-solving, and professional skills, provide educational and service-based field trips, and invite faculty to discuss their research. We will also have some activities just for fun!
Our goals include:
building a supportive community for our freshmen and transfer students by creating and promoting connections between the majors, peer mentors, faculty and staff,
exposing freshmen and transfer students to undergraduate research opportunities, and
helping students learn coping, problem-solving and communication skills.
Living Options
This is a non-residential learning community.
Signing up
All incoming first-year and transfer chemistry majors will automatically become part of the Chemistry Learning Community when they register for courses at summer orientation. Be sure to show up in August for the learning community orientation events which will be held just prior to the start of classes.
Open to all undergraduate students in any major, including open option, undecided and undeclared.
Program Description
The Entrepreneurship & Innovation Learning Community provides a unique learning experience for students from all majors who have ever thought about starting their own business, who are currently running their own business, or who are simply looking to gain skill sets in entrepreneurship, leadership, and small business management. Students majoring in chemistry, marketing, engineering, and all other disciplines learn together in a hands-on entrepreneurial learning environment.
Students in the program are connected to mentors and speakers who contribute to student learning by sharing experiences and offering advice. Students have access to a support network rich in resources to help them develop new innovations or even launch their own companies. Students from a variety of majors will learn about entrepreneurship and innovation through classroom and extracurricular activities.
Students should register for Bus Ad 292 to participate in the weekly seminar class, which includes field trips, speakers, and fun team activities.
Living Options
This is a non-residential learning community program.
Application Process
Register for the required weekly seminar course, Bus Ad 292, or contact Judi Eyles for more information about getting involved.
The course is open to all majors and includes field trips, speakers, networking, and more. The one-credit course meets on Thursdays from 9:30-10:45 am in the Student Innovation Center.
Contact
Judi Eyles Program Coordinator ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship 515-296-6754 eyles@iastate.edu
In this learning community, students study biology, chemistry, English and microbiology as a group, seeing the same faces in most of their first semester classes. The English course most of the students take is science-focused, using the discovery of water-borne disease, the controversy surrounding antibiotics in agriculture, and the importance of hand-washing to demonstrate the value of communication skills. Peer mentors will provide assistance, be part of the orientation class, and plan social outings.
During the spring semester, Microbiology students will continue to have access to the peer mentors for guidance pertaining to academics, class questions, or a friendly person to listen to concerns. At the end of the academic year, learning community students are given the opportunity to travel to the national American Society for Microbiology (ASM) meeting, where they see presentations of the most current microbiology research and, more importantly, meet student and professional microbiologists from around the country. If you are interested in microbiology, join us to learn how microbes DO rule the world.
Living Options
Non-residential LC
Signing up
Freshman/first semester students may sign up for the learning community during their summer orientation.
