Learning Communities
All first-year students at Northeastern University are part of a learning community. For students in majors, the learning community is based in the curriculum of that major. The College offers a variety of learning communities specifically for undeclared students to give them an opportunity to begin to explore a major in which they might be interested. These learning communities are also grounded in the first-year curriculum and consist of an introductory major course, which is linked to the one credit freshman seminar, Connections and Decisions.
Here's how the learning communities for undeclared students work. A student who has a strong interest in psychology might choose the psychology learning community for undeclared students where s/he would take Foundations of Psychology and a section of Connections and Decisions that is specifically designed for undeclared students exploring the field of psychology. The instructor of Connections and Decisions will help the students explore the psychology major in general, become familiar with the entrance and other requirements of the major, and understand various career paths open to students in this major. S/he might invite psychology professors, the co-op faculty coordinator, or co-op employers to talk to the class. The undergraduate teaching assistant, typically a student in the major of the learning community, will talk to the students about what it is like to major in psychology and what kinds of experiential learning opportunities are available in the major. The TA may also invite other psychology students to talk to the class about various fields of study in psychology, co-op positions they've had, research possibilities with faculty, and other aspects of the major.
Students in each learning community will take their Connections and Decisions class and their introductory major class together, though in the major class they will be part of a larger group of students. In addition to these two classes, undeclared students also choose three more electives for the fall semester.
Fall 2008 Learning Communities
- Art/Design
- Communication Studies
- Economics/Businesss
- Health Sciences
- International Affairs/Anthropology
- Political Science
- Journalism
- Science/Math
- Music
- Psychology
- Sociology
- General