ABSTRACT
College affects undergraduate students in many ways, and, as a result, educational leaders and researchers have developed a voluminous body of literature documenting these various effects (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). Many types of student outcomes have been studied in the development of this important literature base, perhaps the most important of these being student learning. Yet, many gaps remain in our knowledge about the ways in which different types of colleges influence student outcomes, particularly student learning. These gaps have resulted in calls for new theoretical perspectives that help us to better understand the ways in which institutions of higher education affect students (Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). Recently, this call has been answered in part by studies that have examined how various aspects of organizational structure at college campuses affect student outcomes (e.g., Berger, 2000; Berger & Braxton, 1998; Braxton & Brier, 1989). Such interest has generated greater insights into the ways in which college affects students’ outcomes, such as persistence, satisfaction, humanistic attitudes, and community service involvement. Yet, less attention has been given to the exploration of the impact of organizational structure at colleges on student learning as an outcome. This is surprising, given the importance of learning as one of the primary objectives of higher education. Hence, the purpose of this article is to provide a preliminary study of how organizational structure at colleges influences student learning.
