Education Commons^™

Increasing Graduate School Enrollment In A Shrinking Applicant Pool: A Look At Factors Influencing College Choice, Lindsey Erin Storey Shelton

Theses and Dissertations

For years, the impending enrollment cliff has been a regular topic amongst higher education officials. With this event slated to hit undergraduate programs by 2025, it is anticipated that graduate schools will begin feeling the impact by 2029. By examining factors influencing graduate student college choice, enrollment managers can identify ways to offset the decline in eligible graduate students.

This study looked at applicants’ decisions to enroll or not enroll over a 5-year period at a public, research-intensive institution. The results of this study provided insight into the individual and academic factors that influence college choice, while also measuring the …

Students’ Experiences: An Examination Of The Academic Success Of Developmental Education Students In Corequisite Courses, Sheryce Woolery

Theses and Dissertations

A significant number of students enter community colleges with developmental education (DE) needs in reading, writing, and mathematics. Many of these students are typically referred to more than one level of DE courses before they can enroll in a college-level course. This has led to lower than desired success rate of DE students over the years. As administrators look for ways to improve DE student outcomes, many institutions have now adopted the corequisite model on account of results of several quantitative studies, which reveal high success rates of DE students enrolled in corequisite courses. With the corequisite model being widely …

Student Perceptions Of Academic Advisement At A Public Suburban Community College: A Qualitative Case Study, Amanda L. Fox

Theses and Dissertations

This research study examined student perceptions of advisement experiences with a primary role advisor in a centralized advising office. The intent was to explore the connection between academic advising and student connectedness to the institution. This study utilized Tinto’s theory of student departure to provide an understanding of how student success can be impacted by institutional relationships, particularly in a community college environment. Tinto asserted that a student’s decision to stay or depart from an institution was largely impacted by interactions and relationships between the student and other members of the institution (Tinto, 1975). This study aimed to explore students’ …

Everyone A Mode, Everyone A Voice: Critical Pedagogy And Community College Student Perceptions Of Multimodal Practices Over Traditional Writing, Marina Delvecchio

Theses and Dissertations

Using a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, this study was designed to acquire quantitative and qualitative data that expose community college student perceptions on multimodal compositions compared to traditional writing practices. As traditional writing continues to be privileged in college writing classrooms, a critical pedagogy theoretical framework was used to frame the research to explore how this privilege affects the learning of marginalized students. Through the collection of survey data and interviews with students, this mixed methods study was designed to reveal how being assigned multimodal practices over traditional writing for low-stakes assignments improves the learning environments of students and …

An Exploration Of Barriers And Supports Of High School Equivalency Diploma (Hsed) Graduates Transitioning To Postsecondary Education, Chanell Butler Morello

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to explore the perceived barriers and supports of High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) graduates upon their consideration of attaining a higher education degree at a community college in North Carolina. Other areas explored in this qualitative study included the way completing the HSED program changes a student’s perception of learning and/or increases his or her motivation to continue their studies.

A primary objective of the Basic Skills programs, also known as College and Career Readiness programs, is to transition as many students as possible to postsecondary education and employment. In spite of such goals, North …

Promoting Persistence Among Lgbtq Community College Students, Gregory D. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

A vast amount of research has been devoted to the persistence and retention of college students since the 1970s. Recent research has focused on targeted populations such as first year students, racially minoritized, students with low social economic status and students at the developmental/remedial level. Nevertheless, limited scholarly research has been conducted on the persistence and retention of another category of students, sexual and gender minorities. This qualitative study examined the experiences that promote persistence among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community colleges students. Interviews with eight LGBTQ students from three community colleges in the state of Illinois …

Seeing Reading In First-Year Composition, Matthew Felumlee

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on a study of reading-into-writing strategies employed by students in two sections of first-year-composition (FYC) that were paired with a support course as part of an accelerated learning program (ALP) at a community college. Each FYC course was comprised of 11 students whom the college had deemed college-ready without the ALP course, and 11 students who were deemed at remedial levels in reading and / or writing and who were subsequently required to enroll in the ALP course. The study employs grounded theory methodology to identify and consider the many factors that influenced how reading was portrayed, …

Student Demographic And Academic Characteristics That Predict Community College Student Success In Online Courses, Jennifer L. Davidson

Theses and Dissertations

Online student success is a concern for higher education institutions especially community colleges with open enrollment admission. This study analyzed online student success using online GPA (dependent variable) and both demographic and academic characteristics of online students (independent variables) to determine which characteristics significantly correlated to and predicted student success in online courses. The sample included an unduplicated count of 4,046 online students enrolled in at least one online course during fall 2015 and spring 2016 at a public, Midwestern community college. Six research questions and twelve hypotheses were used to determine which independent variables led online students to a …

Pathways To A Brighter Future: Narratives Of Latino Students’ Perceptions At Community College, Columba Myra Gaytan-Morales

Theses and Dissertations

Helping Latino students into leadership roles begins with a college experience. Latino students are the largest and fastest growing student population within community colleges, yet they are less likely to graduate. Blame is often placed on minority students and their families for the students’ poor academic performance. Deficit thinking models have impacted this way of thinking and this adds to the variety of factors that prevent students’ from successfully completing a college degree. An analysis of nine Latino students’ college experiences was examined to determine the types of barriers that were evident. Critical Race Theory and Latino Critical Race narrative …

Community College Transfer Student Identity, Development And Engagement: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Approach, Sheri Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this constructivist grounded theory study was to explore community college transfer student identity, development, and engagement at four-year institutions due to the lack of literature in these areas. Relational maps and interview questions were crafted as part of the research design to explore meaning making, painting a holistic picture of the population's experiences at four-year institutions and taking into account the intersections between identity, development, and engagement. Twenty five (n=25) participants were interviewed from two four-year institutions located on the eastern seaboard until data saturation was reached. Findings revealed three theories, suggesting that community college transfer students …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Community College Entrepreneurial Orientation, Enrollment Management Orientation, And Performance, Bhavesh Bambhrolia

Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges are facing new economic realities in the midst of growing demand for accountability. To meet these challenges, college leaders take a strategic posture rooted in an entrepreneurial behavior. However, the relationship between entrepreneurialism and overall performance in a community college setting remained a gap in the existing body of literature. The purpose of this survey research was to explore the relationship between community college entrepreneurial orientation, enrollment management orientation, and performance. The study measured entrepreneurial orientation using a modified instrument, and enrollment management orientation was measured from a newly developed item set. Lastly, an objective measure of performance …

Faith Capital: A Persistence Study Of Two Student Learning Communities At A Northeastern Community College, David Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this embedded single-case study is to explore and better understand what social and institutional factors account for the success or lack of success in developing, delivering, and sustaining learning communities in support of at-risk, underprepared students enrolled at the community college where the research was conducted. Towards that end, theories of social capital, social justice education, and emergent organizational strategies are aligned with practitioner perspectives in an examination of two student learning community initiatives at the college. Faith capital (Hanson, 2001) is a secular notion aligned with the principles of social capital as an integrative locus for …

Community College Presidents: Perceptions Of Leadership Demands And Competencies, Paula Adelhoch

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore community college presidents' perceptions of the demands and competencies of leadership at the community college presidential level. The study focused on the experiences of four sitting community college presidents to understand their perceptions of leadership at the presidential level. The study employed qualitative research and case study methodology. Interviews were conducted at the participants' respective college campus, each lasting approximately 90 minutes. A demographic questionnaire was also provided to the participants. Once the interviews were completed and other supportive data collected, a thematic analysis of the responses was conducted to generate potential …

Faculty Expectations And Perceptions Of Writing At A Community College, Lynn Kraemer-Siracusa

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this multi-method qualitative study was to determine the nature and extent of any gaps that exist between the writing skills faculty members across disciplines at a community college expect their students to utilize in intermediate-level writing intensive courses, their perceptions of the students' general ability to demonstrate those skills, and the importance of the learning outcomes of the two semesters of FYC courses. The faculty members identified a majority of the FYC learning outcomes as having some level of importance to their courses across disciplines. In addition, the directions for the writing assignments used by these faculty …

The Impact Of Military Experience On The Higher Education Experiences Of Veterans, Jeff Dougherty

Theses and Dissertations

Veterans have been an integral part of the student population on higher education campuses since the conclusion of World War II. The purpose of this study was to examine veterans' perceptions of how their military experiences affected their experience as college students. Twenty-six veterans were interviewed at six Illinois higher education institutions. Study findings suggest five ways in which the military experience helped veterans adjust to college: (a) veterans were experienced with group collaboration; (b) veterans held high expectations of themselves; (c) veterans were organized and task-oriented; (d) veterans were experienced learners, and; (e) veterans had experience and ability to …

U.S.- Educated Multilingual Students In Community College: Transitioning From Esl To English 101, Melinda S. Harrison

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on U.S.-educated multilingual students as they transition from a community college academic English as a Second Language program to and through a semester-long first-year composition course. Research on non-native English speakers has indicated that U.S.-educated multilingual students have both similar and varied background and literacy experiences compared to native English speakers and international students; they also often present unique literacy needs compared to their peers. These various and shifting similarities and differences sometimes complicate placement and instruction in college courses.

My case study focused on three U.S.-educated multilingual students' experiences in the final semester of a community …

Community College Faculty Members' Perceptions Of Professional Development For Online Instruction: A Qualitative Study, Danielle Jubanyik

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate community college faculty members' perceptions of the professional development they have received for the implementation and teaching of online courses. The current body of literature is focused mainly on colleges and universities, and the researcher uncovered a gap in the literature, which often bypassed community colleges. I employed the research method of semi-structured interviews with 14 community college faculty members of varied backgrounds and experiences who shared their perceptions and experiences of the professional development they received to teach online. The main themes uncovered by this dissertation study were 1) …

Understanding Community College Affordability And Its Impact On Student Persistence, Elvy Vieira

Theses and Dissertations

Perceptions of community college affordability and the use of the payment plan as it relates to retention were examined during this action research project. The action research study conducted used six cycles to discover students' perceptions about tuition affordability, to understand the budget of the community college, examined staff experiences and opinions about students, and studied advisement strategies as a means to inform students of tuition payment options. The findings discussed indicate that students use payment plans at community colleges as a way to persist toward the attainment of their educational goal. Several factors were discovered through qualitative interviewing of …

Online Courses At A Community College: A Study Of Student Characteristics, Nancy Kegelman

Theses and Dissertations

Over five and a half million students in higher education were taking online classes in fall 2009. The annual growth rate (21%) in online enrollments from 2002 to 2009 far exceeded the enrollment growth (2%) in higher education for that seven year period (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Continued rapid growth in online enrollments is predicted despite students' significantly lower success rate in online classes than in face-to-face classes. This action research study was conducted to correlate student characteristics with online success in one community college. The researcher also examined the researcher's leadership growth and style through the design, development, and …