Navigating through a learning organization: A case study of a community college

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to determine, describe, count, and report the themes from the trigger events and critical incidents perceived to be impacting Mesa Community College's movement toward becoming a learning college and a learning organization. Using previous studies (the Personal Assessment of the College Environment [PACE], the Student Assessment of the College Environment [SACE], and MCC's own reports), trigger events were uncovered. Those events provided the background for the research questions and interview questions. During the site visit, interviews were conducted, observations were collected, and documents published by Mesa Community College were gathered. The data were examined for themes. Nine themes relating to the learning college concepts and six themes relating to the learning organization concepts were extracted from the data. The three categories of data were reexamined and coded according to the 15 themes. These data were organized into matrices for the purpose of determining which themes were above and below average. Those themes that ranked below average provided clues for the purpose of offering Mesa Community College recommendations for possible changes in behaviors, procedures, and strategic planning activities. Additional recommendations for further research were also offered.; The findings indicated that four learning college themes consistently ranked below average. They were as follows: (a) assessing student outcomes, (b) sensitivity to learning styles, (c) learners take responsibility for their own choices, and (d) documentation of improved learning. For the learning organization themes, systems thinking and community involvement consistently ranked below average.; Using the below average themes as a guide, recommendations for practice were made. Examples included additional emphasis on the awareness of learning styles and the implementation of activities designed to connect Mesa Community College with its external community. Recommendations for further research included additional inquiry into Mesa Community College, other Learning College Champions, and other community colleges. Quantitative sampling of community colleges for the purpose of determining their alignment with learning college and learning organization concepts was also recommended.