Education Commons^™

That Push Helps: A Qualitative Case Study Exploring Students' Responses To Receiving An Early Alert, Eric Tammes

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examined the decision-making experience of students receiving an early alert notification at a community college and what influenced students’ responses to the alert. Early alert programs are identified as a high impact persistence practice and may involve significant financial, technology, and personnel investments. Examining how students engage or disconnect from an early alert program may help maximize the institution’s investment and fulfill the program’s intent. Utilizing a qualitative case study, informed by Pascarella’s (1980) Student-Faculty Informal Contact model, this study sought to fill a gap within the persistence and early alert literature. The study also provided participant-driven guidance …

Experiences Of Southeast Asians At A Community College In The Midwest, Emmanuel Canlas Esperanza Jr.

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explored what contributed to Southeast Asian students’ persistence in an urban community college in the Midwest. A qualitative case study was used to reveal how Southeast Asian students perceived personal and educational experiences and how those experiences created an impact on their persistence. This project addressed the lack of research on Southeast Asians and their challenges attaining academic success in higher education. This study is critical, as there is a lack of research on Southeast Asian students’ experiences within higher education institutions, particularly within community college settings. The majority of research has focused on Asian American or international …

Qualitative Perspectives On The Strange Trails Of Persistence In Stem, Erika Johanna Zocher

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In 2019, a Midwestern state university was awarded a $1 million NSF S-STEM grant to support scholarships for academically gifted, Pell Grant-eligible undergraduates enrolled in one of six designated STEM majors. Educational research was also funded by this grant, with the goal of identifying and contextualizing supports and challenges that impact persistence in STEM within the setting of a near-peer-mentored social support group during the fall of 2019. The purpose of this group was to provide social support and foster a sense of belonging for the twelve scholars. Such support is important for guiding students towards personal development and degree …

Alumni Perceptions Of Trio Student Support Services' Contribution To Their Success, Shatoya S. Black

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This case study research focuses on community college TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) program initiatives and approaches to first-generation students’ success. The study interviewed students who attended a Midwest community college and participated in TRIO SSS programs to aid them in navigating the college going process to degree completion. The study also looks at how these first-generation students transitioned after college from the student perception and how they make meaning of being in TRIO SSS. While traditional advising has focused on aiding students with academic course requirements, TRIO SSS programs take a holistic advising approach to supporting the student both …

High-Impact Practices Support Second-Year Students' Academic Success, Engagement And Persistence, Melissa M. Cavazos-Eichelberger

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the perceptions of ten second-year students who participated in the Success Program at Midwestern four-year university. As part of the Success Program, these participants also participated in several high impact practices (HIPs) throughout their first year. Participants in this study shared their perceptions on the benefits of HIPs, how HIPs improved their academic success and engagement, making them want to persist, and any barriers they experienced, prohibiting their participation in HIPs. Findings indicated students perceived HIPs (a) enhanced academic success, (b) increased community engagement, (c) improved the likelihood of their persistence, and (d) that targeted HIPs should …

Unraveling A Lifetime Of Racism And Sexism: An Autoethnography Of The Educational Journey From Kindergarten To Doctoral Education For An African American Woman, Sandy Lee Barney-Inniss

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Audre Lorde’s (1984) essay titled “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” is suitable for describing the intent and rationale for this research. My purpose was to use my voice to interpret experiences that assisted in dismantling the master’s house (dominant group) by sharing insights and unraveling the layers (onion peels as a metaphor) of my experiences with race, gender, and age on my academic journey to complete my doctoral degree at a predominantly White university to report a truth that denies the context of power and race in our society.

Higher education continues to wrestle with addressing …

Student Perceptions Of A Customer Service Model In A For-Profit Higher Education Institution, Leonard J. Grinstead

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the impact on students of customer service-oriented behaviors exhibited by faculty members and student advisors in a single geographic segment of a large institution of higher education in the for-profit sector headquartered in the midwestern United States. A single-case case study approach was used in order to explore students’ degree of satisfaction with customer service experiences and the extent to which these impacted their decisions to persist toward graduation from the university. A survey approach with a questionnaire distributed by email was used in order to gather data from students for …