USD Student Researchers Explore First-Year Experiences in Living Learning Communities
“It’s been eye-opening to explore what the first-year experience is like and how the Learning Communities benefit students.”
As part of the University of San Diego’s Anthropology 496: Research Experience course, five USD student researchers are exploring the impact of the university’s Living Learning Communities (LLCs). The LLCs are designed to provide students with a model of integrated, liberal arts education while fostering a sense of belonging and intellectual engagement early in their college careers. The research team’s goal is to better understand how first-year students interpret and navigate the LLCs, and how those experiences shape their broader engagement with USD’s academic and campus life.
The student researchers—Anthropology major Aaron Buchanan, Behavioral Neuroscience major Kathryn Calderon, Anthropology major Irene Cervantes, Anthropology and Communication major Gray Ehling, and Sociology major Katherine Wronsk—collaboratively designed interview questions about the first-year experience at USD. They are now using those questions to conduct interviews with first-year students. “[Our] research uses ethnographic methods within a cultural anthropology context,” explained Ehling. Ethnography is a qualitative research method where researchers closely engage with a specific community or organization to observe their behaviors and social interactions.
The research team will analyze their findings and co-author a report for faculty and administration with guidance from Professor and Chair of Anthropology David Syring, PhD. “It’s been eye-opening to explore what the first-year experience is like and how the Learning Communities benefit students,” shared Cervantes, one of the student researchers. Reflecting on the impact of the research, Dr. Syring said, “It’s an opportunity for students to apply ethnographic methods in a real-world context while making a meaningful contribution to institutional learning.”
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Noelle Norton, PhD, is supporting the project through the Dean’s Leadership Fund. “This kind of hands-on, student-led research strengthens our understanding of campus life from the student perspective,” emphasized Dr. Syring. The research team has also benefited from the insight and collaboration of several key consultants: Director of Learning Communities Gabriella Rangrej; Assistant Director of Learning Communities Timothy Navarra; Professor of Languages, Cultures and Literatures Rebecca Ingram, PhD; and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies Amanda Petersen, PhD.
Although this project simultaneously provides the institution with important data and provides students with hands-on experience in ethnographic methods, collaborative writing and applied research—it is the larger impact of the work that the student researchers keep in mind. “The more student voices are heard, the better the LLC program can become—not just at USD but across universities,” shared Ehling.