What is a Learning Community?

A learning community connects or combines two or more courses. Chandler-Gilbert Community College offers several kinds of learning communities.
Informal: Students may hear a guest speaker or work on an assignment with students enrolled in a different course that meets at the same time.
Linked: Assignments and/or activities are planned for students by instructors teaching different courses.
Fully integrated: Instructors combine two or more courses into one coherent class.
All learning communities involve instructors and students learning together in a friendly, supportive environment.
All learning communities connect different courses so that students will see how what they are learning in one class is relevant to what they are learning in another.

Why enroll in a Learning Community?

Learning communities promote student success! Students who build strong ties with other students and with their instructors are usually more successful than students who do not. Students who see connections between the different courses they are taking are also more successful because they find what they are learning to be relevant and meaningful.

Learning communities are also convenient:

• It's easy to build a schedule around a core Learning Community.
• Many satisfy multiple awareness areas for University transfer credit.
• One assignment often counts for two courses.

CGCC students recommend Learning Communities!
"A great experience. It is easier because there are two instructors in class that can help us with our work."
"The learning community helped me see how things fit together, you know, the big picture."
"I found myself getting more out of both classes; they complemented each other and provided me with a better understanding of the issues."
"It was beneficial knowing other people who are going through many of the same things as I am."
"The learning community is less work than two separate classes, but the thinking and learning is much deeper."

Are Learning Community courses harder than other courses?

No, you will not be required to do any more work than you would in two separate classes. Connecting courses should actually make the material easier to understand, and an assignment for one course often counts for the other as well.

How do I enroll in a Learning Community?

Check out the classes offered at my.maricopa.edu.

Linked and integrated learning community courses are listed in the schedule of classes. Most require an instructor's signature to enroll, and you must register for each of the courses that make up the learning community.

Do Learning Community courses transfer to universities?
Do they satisfy degree requirements?

Yes, courses at the 100-level and higher transfer to universities and satisfy elective or required credit, depending on your degree requirements.

Visit Registration or Advisement