Education Commons^™

New Jersey Community Colleges: Is There A Relationship Between Part Time Faculty And Student Success?, Gerald Maxmilian Slusher

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing number of part time instructors in the community college professorate combined with low student retention and graduation rates makes research into part time faculty and student success highly germane. My dissertation investigated if higher ratios of adjunct faculty were related to student retention, certificate/degree attainment, and transfer without a credential while accounting for institutional, student body, and county characteristics. The dissertation was limited to New Jersey community colleges to eliminate differences in state policies. The sector was examined over 12 academic years yielding 228 data points arrayed into three panel models to run 12 regressions.

Using results from …

Academic Success And Student Development In The Health Professions: An Action Research Study, Molly Ellen Higbie

Theses and Dissertations

The first year of college is a time of challenging transition for many. Students are adapting to a new way of learning as well as developing as adults. Using a mixed methods design, this action research study aimed to provide insight into the student experience for academically at-risk first-year students in a health professions program at a mid-size university in New England. Quantitative data showed that most students’ academic performance met or exceeded the minimum requirement for their major with support from their advisor through this intervention. Further, quantitative data showed that student development did occur for participants. Qualitative data …

Student Success At One Borderlands Hispanic-Serving Institution, Neda Goerlitz Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the perceptions of student success of campus leaders at one Borderlands Hispanic-Serving Institution. The study incorporated 4 interviews, 9 observations, analysis of 23 documents as well as additional research to answer the research questions. The three themes emerged from the study were: (1) encouraging and empowering students to succeed, (2) removing barriers to student success, and (3) serving by default. Recommendations for educational leaders included serving by design, setting high expectations, getting to know students, encouraging and empowering students, and removing barriers to student success. Additionally, the findings of this study suggest that studying student success, investigating …

Thriving In College: The Contribution Of Career Services To Student Success, Jodi M. Chowen

Theses and Dissertations

Career services in higher education has a long history of supporting student development and post-graduation success (American Council on Education, 1937; Rayman, 1999; Dey & Cruzvergara, 2014). However, there is a dearth of research identifying specific connections between engagement with career services and student success. College student thriving has been established in previous studies as positively contributing to traditional measures of college student success, including intention to persist, grade point average, institutional fit and satisfaction, and self-reported learning gains (Schreiner, 2013). Examining the relationship of student experience with career services and thriving provides a new way to evaluate the contribution …

Preparing For Professional Programs: Strategies And Practices For Pre-Medical Education, April Elayne Curry

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the preparation process for students in professional programs and highlights strategies and practices for pre-medical education. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted elements of the healthcare system that explore how critical physicians are that can lead with both a global perspective and with compassionate patient care. In order to understand the competencies required for this leadership process, it is critical to consider the medical school lifecycle from the undergraduate education to residency. Working from the admissions process, we consider what competencies are required for medical school success and physician preparedness and we use that to shape a solid …

The Lived Experiences Of Higher Education Academic Advisors With Counseling Degrees In Addressing Their Role In Student Success, Shajuana Isom-Payne

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to examine the lived experiences of academic advisors with a counseling degree in addressing their role in student success. If student retention rates are not addressed, higher education institutions are at risk of losing students, which is costly to the institution and the student (Himes, 2014). Most college students are in a state of change and need academic advising support to achieve success during a college transition (Tinto, 2012). Academic advisors can assist students in finding the right career for students’ specific strengths. Academic advisors with counseling degrees address advising through the lens …

Measuring The Ability Of A Readiness Course To Improve Online Student Success At A Two-Year Technical College, James Devin Henson

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the continued growth of online enrollments nationwide, students consistently are not as successful in online courses as traditional face-to-face courses. The challenges are magnified in the two-year college environment, which has a disproportionately high percentage of low-income or minority students compared to four-year universities. This action research study uses a convergent parallel mixed methods design to study the effectiveness of a mandatory readiness course for online students at a two-year college in South Carolina to increase student success. Specifically, this study examined how and to what extent taking an online readiness course impacted online student success, students’ perceptions of …

Best Practices For Achieving First Generation Student Success In Higher Education, Hillary Long Gilkeson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study seeks to elucidate the best practices for achieving first generation student success within the realm of higher education. First generation students experience challenges in obtaining student success at a higher rate than their multi-generational peers who possess larger reserves of social capital regarding higher education. A review of the literature identified obstacles to and methods to achieve student success. The review progresses with discussion surrounding how to transition students to college so that they achieve student success from the time of matriculation. Finally, the review identifies the ways in which first generation students may require …

The Impact Of Project-Based Learning Assignments On The Writing, Communication And Interpersonal Skills Of Students In A College Skills Course, Aungeto Ditze Lockhart Sigman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the impact of project- based learning on the writing, communication and interpersonal skills of students in a college skills course. This course was required for students who were enrolled in at least one or more developmental courses. The purpose of this course was to equip the students with skills necessary for success during college and beyond. However, the syllabus for the course did not include any activities or assignments to improve the students’ writing, communication or interpersonal skills. As a result, the students were not successful in completing the final …

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 …

Adjunct Faculty Sensemaking In The Context Of A Student Success Initiative At A Community College, Denise-Marie Coulter

Theses and Dissertations

Now that community colleges are being pressured by external forces to improve student completion and transfer rates, it is important to determine how part-time faculty are conceptualizing change and implementing it in their practice. They comprise the majority of the teaching staff at these schools, so they are a vital component to ensuring comprehensive change. I undertook an embedded case study to examine how adjunct faculty teaching a gateway English course make sense of the shift in mission to emphasize one school’s commitment to improving student success and whether or not their understanding of this change is impacting their pedagogy. …

Creating A Culture Of Completion In Two-Year Institutions: Examining The Influence Of Participation In The Community College Completion Corps On Institutional Stakeholders, Jennifer Blalock

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation assessed the effect of participation in Community College Completion Corps and associated activities on campus stakeholders’ perceptions of a culture of completion. The national initiative to increase completion rates at community colleges has resulted in a heightened awareness of this performance measurement. A number of community colleges have participated by hosting a C4 signing event, the hallmark activity associated with the movement. This inaugural event served as a public declaration of the two-year institution’s intention to provide an environment in which policy and practice, as well as theory and application, focus on supporting and increasing student completion. …

Perceptions Of Recipients Of A Florida High School Dropout Prevention Program’S Scholarship About The Influence Of Mentoring And Student Advocacy On Success And Persistence In Higher Education, Tracy Lyn Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to help a specific Florida high school dropout prevention program better understand the factors that influence the postsecondary persistence rates of their scholarship recipients. The program administrators want to explore the scholarship recipients’ perceptions regarding the role of mentoring and student advocacy in his/her academic success or college persistence. To understand the scholarship recipients experience better, a mixed methods study was conducted with current program scholarship recipients to gain insight into the individual student’s perception of factors including mentoring and student advocacy that influenced student success and completion in college.

Information gained from the student …

Triggering Relationships That Contextualize The Pathway For Student Success, Darin R. Eckton

Theses and Dissertations

America invests large amounts of money in K-12 education to develop its human capital. As such, K-12 student success is vital to the human capital development and future of America's children and adolescents. There is significant concern for the K-12 students who are predictably at risk of not graduating from high school (e.g., low-income, ethnic minority, and first generation college students) let alone qualifying for and enrolling in postsecondary education. Over the past four decades student success has primarily been explained by sociological research on status attainment as well as social capital and cultural capital. However, very little research addresses …