This paper reflects on the experience of the 1999-2002 minority pipeline program (MPP) at the University of California, Riverside. With support from the American Economic Association, the MPP identified students of color interested in economics, let them explore economic issues affecting minority communities, and encouraged them to consider…

The concepts of "learning community" and "community of practice" may hold value to researchers, but questions exist as to how well they help in organizing and clarifying the type of critical thinking involved in investigative work. This paper approaches the problem from two directions. One is to deconstruct the two concepts…