Education Commons^™

Learner Persistence In English For Speakers Of Other Languages (Esol) Programs, Elyse Waksman

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Persistence – or continued, intense study – is a common challenge for adults in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs because of various institutional, situational, and dispositional factors. The current state and federal funding standards for adult ESOL programs are driven by human capital theory, and therefore most funders require demonstrated employment outcomes for students. These top-down objectives do not always align with English learners’ own motivations and goals. ESOL organizations must consider the complexities of these interacting forces to develop effective persistence strategies for their constituents. This case study of an ESOL organization in central Massachusetts is …

Satisfaction Of Nontraditional Students In Health Sciences: A Causal Comparison Study Investigating Institutional Effectiveness, Erica Harrison

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Nontraditional students have personal obstacles they must overcome in their journey through college. These barriers differ from traditional students and can include feelings of isolation and a sense that their chosen institutions are insensitive and inflexible to the particular nontraditional student needs. In this quantitative, causal-comparative study, the researcher sought to determine if students’ satisfaction, as measured by the Student Satisfaction Inventory, differed based on student status (traditional or nontraditional) and health science program (nursing, dental hygiene, or radiologic technology) enrolled at technical colleges of Georgia. This study was conducted at technical colleges in Georgia. Participants were students from five …

The Effect Of Motivation On Student Persistence In Online Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study Of How Adult Learners Experience Motivation In A Web-Based Distance Learning Environment, Kevin Lucey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of motivation in the persistence of adults enrolled in online higher education. Since the 1990’s, online courses and programs have proliferated across higher education, with adults (ages 25 and over) currently making up the largest portion of online enrollments. Online courses, however, suffer from a higher rate of student attrition than their hybrid and face-to-face counterparts. Although it is difficult to attribute the high rate of attrition in online education to any one factor, research has identified a lack of motivation as a primary cause of student dropout. Likewise, studies …

Customized Financial Interventions That May Affect Retention Rates In Nursing Programs, Joseph Rojek Ii

Scholar Week 2016 - present

With the cost of post-secondary education on the rise and retention rates of university students a major concern for university administrators, the author of the current study desired to explore the effect that a Financial Solutions Team (FST) had on improving the retention and graduation rates of undergraduate (RN-BSN) and graduate level (MSN) nursing students (n = 1030). The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the enhanced FST processes in order to determine its impact on the one-year retention rates after a financial hold was placed on a nurse’s student account, and the graduation rates …

A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Non-Academic Factors That Cuban Female Non-Native English Speakers Perceived To Have Been Principal Influences On Their Successful Attainment Of A Baccalaureate Degree In The U.S., Nelson Magana

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cubans arrive in the U.S. with more formal education than other Latino immigrants, and they arrive to communities with long standing networks of support. Though their baccalaureate degree attainment is better than their non-Cuban Latina counterparts, Cuban women still lag behind White, non-Latina women. The qualitative study aims to explore the principal influences and non-academic factors that 15 adult Cuban non-native English-speaking women in South Florida attribute to the successful attainment of their baccalaureate degree.

There are many differences among the various immigrant Latino communities in the U.S., and Cuban women are largely absent from the research. Nearly 75% of …

Interpretative Analysis Of Adult Learners’ Lived Experiences In A Uniquely Designed Higher Education Program, Latonya M. Branham

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The lived and collegiate experiences of adult learners, who are among the fastest growing student population in 21st century higher education, is the essence of this study. The study was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Fifteen baccalaureate level degree-seeking study participants consented to share their respective journeys. Twenty-one interviews were conducted for the study. Code-listed categories, themes and sub-themes emerged from two interview sessions, and member-checking sessions. Several themes were aligned to two research questions: In what ways, if any, are the distinctive needs and expectations of adult learners fulfilled through a baccalaureate level adult learner program; and, what does …