University Core Curriculum Programs
First-Year Learning Communities Program
What is the FYLCP?
A&M-Corpus Christi's First-Year
Learning Communities Program (FYLCP) is an innovative nationally recognized
program which helps students to make successful academic and social transitions
from high school to the University. In 2001, the Texas Higher Education Board
recognized the excellence of the program by awarding it a Texas Higher Education
Star Award. The FYLCP was the only first-year student program to win a Star Award. In 2002 A&M-Corpus Christi was selected as one of thirteen "Institutions
of Excellence in the First College Year" by the Brevard College Policy Center
on the First Year of College, and in 2003 was selected as a "Founding Institution" of
the Foundations of Excellence® in the First College Year project, sponsored
by the Policy Center on the First Year of College and supported by the Lumina
Foundation for Education.
What is a Learning Community?
A&M-Corpus Christi students enroll in their first year in specially selected groups of 3 or 4 classes known as Triads and Tetrads. The students and teachers within each Triad or Tetrad form a learning community. The same group of students takes all of the classes within a given Triad or Tetrad together, which gives them many opportunities to work together, get to know each other, and learn together. The teachers in each learning community also work with each other, in order to develop connections among the classes: relating content, assignments, and activities in one class with content, assignments, and activities in other Triad or Tetrad classes.
Benefits of Learning Communities
A&M-Corpus Christi's learning communities program has been built upon years of research concerning learning communities. The research indicates that well-designed learning communities benefit students in many ways. For example, students who participate in learning communities:
- Have more opportunities to express themselves orally and in writing in academic contexts;
- Develop their academic skills more fully;
- Are more engaged or involved in learning experiences and in college life;
- Experience greater intellectual development;
- Report higher levels of satisfaction with their college or university;
- Are more likely to complete their courses and stay in school; and
- Tend to earn higher grades.
