1. The Green Learning
Community and its Impact
By: Alli Tadlock

2. About the GLC
The GLC is a small group of about
30 USC students.
They live together on the same floor
of West Quad C.
This group was made for students
who want to promote green living
and create a more sustainable
environment.

3. Why I chose this as my topic
 I am a member of the GLC this school
year, and I have really enjoyed it.
 As I spent more and more time in this
group, I began to question whether we
were actually making an impact as a
group.
 When talking with other students in the
group, I felt they were wondering the
same thing too.
 I decided this project would be the perfect
opportunity to find out the answer to this.

4. Observations
I completed two separate
observations of the GLC.
There are two classes for the GLC
that meet each week.
The GLC was only supposed to have
one class, but not everyone could fit
that time into their schedules.
So, I observed both class times.

5. Observations cont.
 Both of my observations gave me the
same results.
 Both classes showed how the students
are really a tight knit group that gets
along very well.
 The environment for both observations
was very relaxed and fun.
 The main thing I noticed during both
observations was how little time was
spent discussing environmental topics.

6. Observations cont.
 Only about ten minutes of each class
were devoted to these ideas.
 The rest of the class time was spent
mostly on random conversations and
just hanging out.
 This is a problem because the students
are supposed to be learning and
discussing new environmental concepts
during class.

7. Three Cultural Themes
 I found three themes that are present in
the GLC.
 They are:
Appearance vs. Actuality
Cooperation
Education

8. Appearance vs. Actuality
 There is a big difference between what
the GLC looks like from the outside and
what actually happens.
 The brochure states that the main
goals for the GLC are to teach the
students how to live more sustainable
lives and help the environment.
 These goals were one reason why I
decided to join the group.
 Since being in the group, I have found
that these goals are not being met.

9. Appearance vs. Actuality Cont.
Only spending about five or ten
minutes of class each week talking
about environmental issues is not
going to save the environment.
If the group really wants to make
these goals happen, there has to be
some changes.

10. Cooperation
 All of the students in the GLC get along
really well, and we have all become
good friends.
 We went on a community building
retreat at the beginning of the school
year, and we had to do a lot of tasks
that made us work together.
 I think this trip really made us bond
with each other, and it showed we all
work well together.

11. Cooperation cont.
Since the members of the GLC work
so well together, it shouldn’t be a
problem to obtain the group’s goals.
But there are some things standing
in the way of the group doing this.
Once we make the right changes to
the group, we will work hard and
cooperate to help the environment.

12. Education
 All of the students in the GLC joined
because they wanted to learn ways to
help the environment and live more
sustainably.
 Learning new things helps us grow as
people.
 Being part of this group is supposed to
broaden our knowledge.
 The problem is, that isn’t really
happening.

13. Education cont.
 One of the students I interviewed,
Rachel, told me why she thinks this is
happening.
 She said that “the students in the GLC
have become unmotivated and lazy as
the year has gone by.”
 She told me this is happening because
the GLC lacks guidance.
 The only person that helps with the
GLC is a graduate student.

14. Education cont.
 The graduate student was helpful at
the beginning of the school year, but as
time went by she stopped helping us
for the most part.
 She leaves it up to us to plan activities
and events, and this is part of the
problem.
 We don’t know what to plan because
she never told us how to do that.
 We tried to make events, but most of
them fell through.

15. Education cont.
After that happened, the students
pretty much quit trying.
Without the graduate student, we
aren’t learning anything new.
We need someone who cares about
the group who will teach us because
that is the only way we will learn.
Learning new things is how we can
make a difference.

16. Structure
 Another problem with the group is that it
doesn’t have enough structure.
 This problem can be seen in our projects.
 Each student in the GLC has to complete a
project each semester that the student
puts 15 hours into.
 The only real guideline is that it has to be
environmentally related.
 This seems like a great way for the
students to work with environmental
ideas, but that’s not what happens.

17. Structure cont.
 These projects are graded very easily, so the
students aren’t putting any effort into them.
 There has to be a change in the way the
projects are set up in order for the students to
take it seriously.
 Another student from the GLC I interviewed,
James, told me what he thought should be
done.
 He said “students should have to complete an
hour each week for their projects and keep a
log of their hours.”

18. Structure cont.
 He thinks this would work a lot better, and
the students would really earn the 15
hours this way.
 James also said that “the green learning
community could be a strong force if
everyone put in the correct amount of
time because our combined hours could
really make a difference.”

19. Conclusion
 I found out that the GLC is not making
an impact as a group.
 This is caused by lack of guidance and
weak structure of the group.
 These problems can be fixed with some
planning and work by the students
involved and some faculty members.
 Once this happens, the GLC can really
make a great impact.