Education Commons^™

Online Reflections In A Blended Approach To Collaborative Faculty Development, Ronny Keith Bridges

Doctoral Dissertations

Blended approaches to collaborative faculty development have the potential for stimulating critical reflection, but the process of online reflection by faculty members has not been fully explored in the literature. The purpose of this qualitative action research case study was to examine a blended approach to collaborative inquiry for professional development with a particular interest in the reflections that occurred online. This study had two focal points. First, to explore the relationship between the online reflections and the overall development of the participants and second, to more closely examine the levels of reflection that occurred within the online aspect of …

A Study Of Prior Learning Assessment In Degree Completion, Jean Marie Chappell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of prior learning assessment (PLA) in postsecondary degree completion for adult community college students at Mountwest Community and Technical College (MCTC). The study group consisted of 339 MCTC graduates, who applied PLA credits toward degree completion between the academic year 2006 and 2011. A comparison group was comprised of 321 MCTC graduates from the same time period, who did not apply PLA toward degree completion. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis found statistically significant relationships between time to degree completion and the application of PLA from military credits and institutional …

The Orientation Curriculum In A Community College: An Interpretive Approach, Patricia Anne Gutierrez-Hartell

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study focused on curriculum used in a community college orientation program classroom where most of the students were Hispanic. Curriculum for the purpose of student orientation has become an essential tool for increasing student retention rates at institutions of higher education (Hendel, 2007; National Research Council Publications, 2009). While the objectives of orientation courses and their curricula have been documented, not much is known about how these objectives unfold in classrooms, particularly in classrooms serving Hispanic students.

Qualitative inquiry was the basis for my study. I relied on an ethnographic approach to conduct research that involved gathering data by …