Education Commons^™

Esl To Composition Transitions: Investigating The Differences In Disciplinary Values Among Two-Year College Faculty, Amy M. Flessert

English Theses & Dissertations

In this qualitative methods study, I draw on Paul Kei Matsuda’s 1999 article “Composition Studies and ESL Writing: A Disciplinary Division of Labor” to examine if, more than 20 years after its publication, there is still a significant disciplinary division between ESL writing and first-year college composition. I surveyed writing instructors from both ESL and ENG at Mid-Atlantic Community College (MACC) regarding what they value as “good” writing. I also worked with three faculty members – one in ENG, one in ESL, and a third who teaches in both departments, serving, in this study and the department, as a “bridge” …

Natural History Of Discourse Of Missouri House Bill 1042: Bringing A Critical Perspective To Policy Engagement In Two-Year Contexts, Mary Casey Reid

English Theses & Dissertations

In this autoethnographically-infused natural history of discourse (NHD) (Silverstein and Urban, 1996; Slembrouck, 2001), I use methods from critical discourse studies (CDS) to trace 10 years of changes in “remediation” discourses within a corpus of texts associated with Missouri HB 1042, a piece of legislation passed in 2012 that requires higher education institutions to “replicate best practices in remediation” (CBHE, 2013). After providing national and state context related to HB 1042 and the discourses circulating within the HB 1042 corpus of texts, I describe what I call the “higher ed’s remediation problem” discourse, focusing on three discourse features that I …

A Narrative Study Of The Experiences That Disrupt Or Terminate Entry In The Community College Presidential Pipeline For African American Women, Dana G. Stilley

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Organizational structures, beliefs, and values in higher education are influenced by the deep-seated characteristics of patriarchy, dominance and racial and gender bias, upon which higher education was founded. These factors continue to impact the ascension of African American women to college presidencies. Current challenges facing community colleges include a gap in executive leadership and the underrepresentation of African American women in the presidential pipeline.

The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to better understand the experiences that disrupt or terminate the journey to a presidency for African American women in senior level positions at community colleges. The goal was to …

Leading Hispanic Serving Community Colleges: Latinx Faculty Perceptions About The Aacc Competencies, Sanjuanita Chavira Scott

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Latinx students are likely to enter postsecondary education at a community college. This phenomenon has led to the increase in community colleges being designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions. The designation of Hispanic Serving is not driven by mission, but rather by number of enrolled students who identify as Latinx. This preliminary descriptive study examined the perceptions of faculty at four Hispanic Serving community colleges in Texas regarding their proficiency on leadership competencies for faculty, whether there were differences in the perceptions of Latinx and non-Latinx faculty members, and whether certain leadership competencies influence faculty members’ decisions to pursue leadership opportunities. …

Narratives From Appalachia: The Current Stories Of Lgbtq Community College Students, Todd A. Cimino-Johnson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

LGBTQ students are ubiquitous on community college campuses across the United States. The exact number of LGBTQ students is unknown and often their needs are ignored. LGBTQ students face harassment and discrimination at higher rates than other minority groups. This study was conducted to gather the current narratives of LGBTQ students attending community colleges in the Appalachian Region. This study aimed to determine what LGBTQ students are experiencing on community college campuses across Appalachia. Fifteen students took part in a one-on-one semi-structured interview for this qualitative study. All students were currently enrolled in a program of study when the interviews …

Possible Self Dynamics Of Community College Students Engaged In 3d Printing In Informal Environments, Lawrence Ralph Nightingale Jr.

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The overall number of students from diverse backgrounds and women that graduate from community college with degrees in high paying Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines is unacceptably low. The number of opportunities to gain exposure to STEM-based expressions of technology to overcome the dearth of exposure in high school is limited in community college. 3D Printing uses computer-controlled machines to build physical objects one layer at a time starting from the bottom up. The computer-controlled nature of 3D Printing provides a low risk, low cost platform to exercise elements of computer programming and engineering.

This study was a …

Equity Issues In Dual Enrollment Programs: Exploring African American Community College Students’ Perceptions Of Dual Enrollment, Kristen Wagner Rarig

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Dual enrollment has been shown to increase post-secondary student success outcomes across a variety of measures such as retention, grade point average, and four-year attainment (Allen & Dadgar, 2012; Hoffman, 2012, Pretlow & Wathington, 2014). In Virginia, access to community colleges among students of color has increased from 32.3% in 2008 to 42.7% in 2018 (SCHEV, 2019-a). Despite these gains, far fewer African American students than White students participate in dual enrollment in Virginia, which has significant implications for their future success in post-secondary education. This study examined the experiences that influenced African American students’ choice to participate in dual …

The Impact Of The Number Of Dual Enrollment Credits On Racial Minority Students’ Completion Time At Five Virginia Community Colleges, Elizabeth Gardiner Dingess

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The five-year college completion rate for students of color can be 15-20% lower than it is for White students (Fink, Jenkins, & Yanaglura, 2017). Dual enrollment courses have been researched as a predictor of college completion (Taylor, 2015), but fewer racial minority students enroll in dual enrollment courses; this enrollment disparity affects their college preparedness skills and may lead to lower college persistence and graduation rates (Evenbeck & Johnson, 2012). Despite the benefits dual enrollment courses could provide to racial minority students, few studies have examined the differences in college completion outcomes between racial minority and majority dual enrollment students …

Going The Extra Mile: Successful Transfer Of Latino/Latina Students From Two-Year Institutions To Four-Year, Christopher S. Card

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative dissertation was to provide insight as to the experiences of Latino/a students at community colleges preparing to transfer as compared with those from Latino/a students who had already transferred. The Latino/a population is one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States yet despite the growth experienced by this population in the United States, particularly in states such as California and Texas, accessing equitable higher education opportunities and achieving educational success have both been a tremendous challenge to this culture (Perez & Ceja, 2010). Eight Latino/a students preparing for transfer from two different …

Being Retained: Perspective Of The Online First-Year Composition Student, Catrina Marie Mitchum

English Theses & Dissertations

Keeping students in college classrooms can be a struggle, but keeping them in an online classroom is an even more difficult feat. While the field of retention research has expanded its focus beyond traditional four-year students to include a variety of non-traditional student situations, including online, it has yet to focus efforts on online first-year composition at the community college. The first-year of college has been shown to be the most critical in student retention at the institutional level, which puts first-year composition in a potentially influential position. The fact that fewer students are retained in online courses than face-to-face …

An Examination Of African American Male Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Success And Their Experiences At The Community College, Shashuna Jenean Gray

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this research is the perceptions of academic success held by African American male students attending a community college. Community colleges often serve as the gateway for unprepared, at-risk students. However, this group of students frequently fails to persist and matriculate even after six years of attendance. Understanding the perceptions of academic success within two defined groups of students, pre-enrollment and probationary, would allow community college leaders to efficiently allocate resources to ensure high levels of engagement within the college classroom.

Community, Identity, And Transition: Student Veterans And Academic Writing At The Two-Year College, Mark Edward Blaauw-Hara

English Theses & Dissertations

Higher education is experiencing an almost unprecedented influx of student veterans. However, research is sparse on their transition to college, and, in particular, their experiences with college writing. Additionally, current scholarship focuses mainly on veterans at four-year schools. This dissertation describes six student veterans’ transitions to academic writing at the community college. Based on a case-study approach, the study seeks to identify key themes in student veterans’ experiences with learning and writing in the military and compare them to their experiences learning and writing in college. In addition to locating areas of disconnect, the study highlights typical strengths student veterans …

Predicting Student Success In Passing The Exit Exam For Writing Proficiency, Cheryl Ann Latko

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the Exit Exam of Writing Proficiency (EEWP) and the variables that may impact the probability of a student passing the EEWP. The EEWP is one of the graduation requirements for all undergraduate students at a mid-sized four-year university in the mid-Atlantic region. The purpose of the EEWP is to ensure that undergraduates demonstrate clear, concise, and professional writing skills.

The literature discusses general issues with student writing skills specific to the field of human services, as they relate to teacher educators, developmental education, and the field of human services. Student demographics, such …

An Evaluation Of An Urban Community College Single Parent And Displaced Homemaker Program, Linda Myers Rice

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of an urban community college Single Parent and Displaced Homemaker program composed primarily of minority women, many of whom were receiving public assistance. The critical dimension of mattering (Schlossberg et al., 1989) formed the conceptual framework for the evaluation.

Program effectiveness, impacts, efficiency and participant needs were assessed. The primary methodology was survey research. A descriptive and a causal comparative study were conducted to determine if there were significant differences in the number of semesters completed and the number of credits taken by program participants when compared to students …