Adult and Continuing Education Commons^™

Resiliency, Mindset, And Academic Performance: A College Athlete's Perspective, Trisha C. Giacomazzi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed in this qualitative case study was the low graduation rates self-reported by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics institutions when compared to the general student population at a small Christian university in the Southern United States. In this study, I sought to acquire a deeper understanding of the degree to which an athlete’s mindset and psychological resilience influenced their perseverance and academic achievement on their path toward graduation. Utilizing semistructured interviews as the primary data collection method, I used purposive, convenience, and snowball selection methods to enlist a total of 10 participants from a pool of 52 …

Success Beyond Access: Examining Institutional Barriers To Persistence And The Supports Needed By Nontraditional Students Participating In A Tuition-Free Community College Program, Amanda K. Roeher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This research study examined the experiences of nontraditional community college students attending through a tuition-free grant. The intent of the study was to explore the student identified barriers to degree persistence and the student support services nontraditional students recognize as being beneficial towards their academic journey. This qualitative case study was guided by three research questions and utilized Bean and Metzner’s (1985) Nontraditional Student Attrition Model as a guide for study design and analysis. Data collection consisted of student interviews and institutional document collection. Data analysis explored themes related to nontraditional student motivations for attendance, persistence factors, and student support …

The Predictable Relationship Between Demographic Factors And Persistence Of First-Year Students At A Historically Black College & University, Dominic Thomas, Syreeta Landy-Blacklock, Jessica D. Davis, Lillian Poats, Ronnie Davis, Dwalah Brown-Fisher

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship and predictability of demographic factors, on the persistence rates among first-year, full-time, four-year degree-seeking students at a Historically Black College and University. Specifically, this study focused on the predictive power of demographic factors (gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status), and (high school GPA and number of hours passed) on the persistence rates among first-year, full-time, four-year degree-seeking students attending a Historically Black College and University.

The study approached the research questions from a correlational research design perspective. This type of research design was the most appropriate for this study because the …

Persistence And Retention Of Adult Learners: Results Of A Program Evaluation Of Tuition Funding Provided By Employers, Andrea J. Gross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the looming enrollment cliff approaches and more adult learners return to higher education, understanding the factors that affect their persistence and retention is vital for higher education institutions. Previous studies have shown that external factors influence post-traditional learners’ pursuit of higher education. This program evaluation aimed to acquire knowledge of up-front employer tuition funding and its effects on adult learners' persistence, retention, and time to degree completion. Through a quantitative approach, this program evaluation examines the differences between students receiving up-front employer tuition funding and those who do not. The results indicated that students who received employer funding retained …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Parenting Adult Learners Regarding Persistence In Two-Year Community Colleges, Michelle T. Webb Ed.D.

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the results of semi-structured interviews conducted with six parenting adult learners (ParentALs) enrolled in three public two-year community colleges in the United States. This study investigated the problem of a lack of understanding of the experiences of ParentALs enrolled in community colleges. The purpose of this study was to examine how the lived experiences of ParentALs enrolled in community colleges may influence their persistence. Three themes emerged from the literature review and data analysis: the identity of the ParentAL, characteristics and intersectionality of factors, experiences, and perceptions that may influence ParentAL persistence in community college, …

Attributes Of Successful Graduate Students: Facilitating Self-Efficacy And Persistence, Hamid H. Atchan, Hannah M. Terry, Jacob H. Perner, Jesse Gonzalez, Joseph R. Mueller, Kornelia Staniszewska, Mendela K. Paulsen

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Colleges and universities struggle with declining program completion rates among graduate students. While the attrition rate of graduate students declined over the last five years in the United States, the issue of graduate student persistence continues to be challenging. This study identifies and explores reported characteristics: expectations, motivation, self-discipline, emotional intelligence, and passion for learning. Graduate students studying educational leadership conducted a qualitative inquiry to approach theoretical comprehension of the intrinsic motivations, expectations, and major attributes of successful graduate students. Examining these areas provides a deeper understanding of success achieved by graduate students.

The Impact Of Academic Advisor Behaviors On Persistence Of Pregnant And Single Mothers At 4-Year Nontraditional Universities: A Mixed Methods Study, Kristina King

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential exploratory mixed methods study was to identify and describe academic advisor behaviors that had the greatest impact on persistence perceived through the lens of students who were both pregnant and single mothers while enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at a 4-year nontraditional university. A secondary purpose of this study was to identify factors that pregnant and single mothers perceived to have impacted their persistence.

Methodology: The qualitative phase of this study consisted of one-on-one interviews to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of single mothers who recently graduated from a 4-year …

Extra-Institutional Bonded Social Networks: A Qualitative Study On Their Impacts On Adult Learner Entry/Re-Entry, Persistence, And Transfer/Graduation At A Technical And Community College, Matthew J. Leisen

Education Doctorate Dissertations

Adult Learners are no longer a minority population in the higher education landscape in the United States. They enter and re-enter technical and community colleges with a vast array of experiences and are often influenced by their Extra-Institutional Bonded Social Networks (EIBSN) which are identified in this research as: Family, Friends, Work, Community, and Religious/Spiritual. The college student’s academic journey is outlined in three major phases, what are identified in this research as: Entry/Re-Entry, Persistence, and Transfer/Graduation. This study researches the social impacts of the five identified EIBSN at each of the three phases and is underpinned by several theorists’ …

Engaging The Adult College Student: A Case Study On Improving Nontraditional Students’ Persistence, Conzolo L. Migliozzi

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Nontraditional students, defined as those age 25 and older, had a first-year persistence rate of just 46.8% in 2019 (National Student Clearinghouse, 2021). The Education Fund, a large non-profit that provides training and tuition assistance to healthcare workers, is acutely aware of this problem as its membership is made up almost entirely of nontraditional learners. The Education Fund has many college readiness programs, and in an effort to improve upon their outcomes, requested this study on student persistence. Research on nontraditional student persistence was conducted and key Education Fund staff were interviewed as part of this project. While the literature …

The Impact Of The Online Learner Advising Model On Retention And Grade Point Average, Julie Delich

Doctorate in Education

As more students experience online learning environments, the academic community must invest more energy into improving retention of these learners. The purpose of this research was to study the impact of an advising model designed to support online learners, the Online learner advising model (OLAM). This study examined new student retention in the first 3 terms and GPA outcomes to measure the impact of the advising approach. OLAM was designed to address the specific needs of online learners through bringing together elements of proactive advising, shame resilience theory, and appreciative advising.

The sample was selected from Concordia University, St. Paul …

Cultural Capital, Habitus, College Persistence And Graduation Among Black Immigrant-Origin Undergraduates: A Basic Interpretive Qualitative Study, Erica M. Richards Chew

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Black immigrant-origin students are a significant sub-population of the total Black college student population, and they are persisting and graduating more frequently than Black U.S.-origin students. This study explored cultural capital and habitus and how they shaped the college persistence and graduation of Black immigrant-origin undergraduates and alumni from four-year postsecondary institutions. A basic interpretive qualitative design, guided by cultural capital theory, was used to explore thirteen Black-immigrant-origin students’ and graduates’ perspectives in-depth; and to describe their subjective meanings, actions, and social contexts from their point of view. Participants grew up with a habitus of achievement that came from the …

The Perceived Factors That Influenced African American Male Students’ Persistence At A Southeastern Community College, Phygenia Flowers Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This basic qualitative study examined the perceived factors that influenced African American male students’ persistence to acquire community college completion in the U.S. Southeast. It investigated the academic, cocurricular, and environmental intrinsic and extrinsic support systems of African American community college students who were successfully persisting toward degree obtainment. While the work highlights the challenges of these students as outlined in the published literature to frame their concerns, the study drew on Harper’s (2015) invitation to consider shifting the emphasis from Black male disadvantage to strategies that create an advantage using an antideficit framework. Harper’s (2010, 2012) antideficit achievement framework …

Black Lives Matter And So Do Black Men With A Phd, Jamel A. Gibson

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

It is crucial for the Black Lives Matter movement that more Black men pursue and earn doctoral degrees. American society must be made aware of intellectual contributions that underpin the fact that Black men are intelligent, eloquent in speech, and able to research and present any given topic. Black men are often underrepresented in terminal degree programs, and those who do advance to advanced study fall short due to doctoral attrition. These troubling phenomena highlight the need for research concerning motivational factors that may improve the odds of Black men entering and completing postgraduate programs across disciplines. This opinion paper …

Enabling And Threatening Factors Affecting Persistence. A Qualitative And Quantitative Study On Rural First-Generation Stem Students’ And Stem Faculty's Perspectives., Travis A. Miller

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This study focuses on the factors that enable and threaten rural first-generation STEM students’ persistence. Limited empirical studies are available that focus on rural first-generation STEM majors’ persistence. Quantitative analysis was conducted using Kruskal Wallis H and Mann-Whitney U tests to determine any significant differences with the survey results. Content and thematic analysis was conducted on the student and faculty interviews to determine themes of enabling and threatening factors affecting persistence.

Enabling factors affecting persistence were found to be: Drive or Motivation, Experiences and skills, and Support. These were both faculty and student interview themes whereas a …

Doctoral Student Perspectives On Motivation And Persistence: Eye-Opening Insights Into The Ideas And Thoughts That Today's Doctoral Students Have About Finishing The Doctoral Degree, Barbara Holmes, A. Brooke Boulton, Bryan Boysen, Carson L. Perry, Donavan Bailey, Amanda Durnen, Joe Mollner, Kara De La Fosse, Meghan W. Sinning, Nichelle Guillaume, Richard Breuninger, Sam Jones, Susan Webber

Education Doctorate Books

"It all comes down to this: we have an amazing team of faculty working with us who are present, supportive, intelligent, and motivated to help us succeed. They designed this program with those objectives in mind. We are in good hands, and any questions we have will be answered, so long as we ask them. Having the support system of our faculty, along with the tools we need to be successful, are major parts of the battle, already won. The rest is up to us." - A. Brooke Boulton

Persistence Among Emerging Adults With Traumatic Brain Injury In Postsecondary Settings, Ardith A. Clayton-Wright

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This longitudinal study sought to investigate the demographic and socio-psychological factors associated with predicting persistence in postsecondary education among emerging adults with traumatic brain injury. The predicting variables in this study were: (a) gender (sex), (b) socioeconomic status (SES), (c) employment, (d) years of education; (e) age at onset of injury, (f) existence of familial capital/parental involvement, and (g) hours spent studying for a class.

Data were obtained from a secondary dataset collected by the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Data and Statistical Center longitudinal database. There were 2436 participants with TBI in the study. Ages ranged from 16 …

Different And The Same: A Comparison Of Vertical And Lateral Transfer Students., Joshua Harris Mckee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As more students evaluate their choice for higher education, the rate of transfer students continues to grow. The transfer population is often addressed broadly in research studies, and few examine differences among the population. This study was designed to analyze the differences in transfer shock and retention rates between students who transferred from a community college to a four-year institution (vertical) versus those who transferred from one four-year institution to another (lateral). Participants of this study consisted of 1,032 students who transferred to the University of Louisville during the fall 2014, 2015, and 2016 semesters. Results indicated, when controlling for …

A Phenomenological Study On Self-Efficacy And Self-Regulated Learning Strategies And Their Link To Persistence In Hispanic College English Language Learners, Gabriela Defrancisco

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In adult education, studies have been done in the areas of persistence, self-efficacy, self-regulated learning strategies and the Hispanic population. However, this study was unique in its attempt at examining the link between the self-efficacy and self-regulated learning strategies in the persistence of Hispanic college English language learners. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the experience of 1^st generation Hispanic English Language learners during their first year at a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

The researcher conducted 14 semi-structured interviews of their experiences both as immigrants learning the English language and first-generation college students by utilizing a phenomenological framework. …

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 …

The Effect Of Motivation On Student Persistence In Online Higher Education: A Phenomenological Study Of How Adult Learners Experience Motivation In A Web-Based Distance Learning Environment, Kevin Lucey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of motivation in the persistence of adults enrolled in online higher education. Since the 1990’s, online courses and programs have proliferated across higher education, with adults (ages 25 and over) currently making up the largest portion of online enrollments. Online courses, however, suffer from a higher rate of student attrition than their hybrid and face-to-face counterparts. Although it is difficult to attribute the high rate of attrition in online education to any one factor, research has identified a lack of motivation as a primary cause of student dropout. Likewise, studies …

Interpretative Analysis Of Adult Learners’ Lived Experiences In A Uniquely Designed Higher Education Program, Latonya M. Branham

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The lived and collegiate experiences of adult learners, who are among the fastest growing student population in 21st century higher education, is the essence of this study. The study was conducted using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Fifteen baccalaureate level degree-seeking study participants consented to share their respective journeys. Twenty-one interviews were conducted for the study. Code-listed categories, themes and sub-themes emerged from two interview sessions, and member-checking sessions. Several themes were aligned to two research questions: In what ways, if any, are the distinctive needs and expectations of adult learners fulfilled through a baccalaureate level adult learner program; and, what does …

Persistence Of General Educational Development And Advanced Diploma Recipients At A Southeastern Public Community College, Ann Underwood Smith

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

With the current emphasis on accountability and the importance of a college education in today's economy, the success of nontraditional students at community colleges is critical. How to improve the success of high-risk students such as GED recipients is a complex challenge for college leaders. While the GED is widely accepted for admittance to college, GED holders have experienced low levels of postsecondary success and clearly face many complex challenges. Lack of persistence has been found in most studies of all nontraditional adult college students, but there is no consensus on whether or not traditional high school graduates perform better …

Retention Issues Of Mature Students: A Comparative Higher Education Analysis Of Programs In The United States And Ireland, Kim Bullington Sibson, Dr. Dennis Gregory, Brian-Patrick D. Kurisky

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Retention of students is an issue that challenges colleges and universities around the world and South Africa is no exception. A comparative look at Ireland and the United States shows that there are many similar tools used to retain mature students, and, at the same time, many different ones are used depending on particular situations. A brief retention literature review dealing with mature students is provided as well as examples of retention strategies used in both countries. While these strategies may not fit for South Africa, they may serve as a point of departure for similar activities there.

Institutional Factors Supporting The Enrollment And Persistence Of African-American Males In Virginia Community Colleges, Alfred A. Roberts

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The participation and persistence rates of African-American males in American institutions of higher education consistently trail those of other ethnic and gender subgroups. These national enrollment, graduation, and transfer statistics are reflected in the member institutions of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The purpose of this study was to determine which of the 23 member colleges of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) have been able to enroll and graduate or transfer the highest proportional number of African-American male students and to identify the institutional characteristics and practices that best predict the enrollment and persistence of African-American males.

The …

Predictors Of Persistence Among Community College Adult And Traditional-Aged Students, Kellie Crawford Sorey

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Previous literature has documented the high attrition rates for community college students. Beyond raw data, research has demonstrated that predictors of higher education persistence may include a student's background characteristics, a student's external commitments, institutional influences, and a combination thereof. However, empirical research on the persistence of community college students is scarce, and even fewer studies address the differential predictors of persistence between adult and traditional-aged students. The present study examined the predictors of institutional persistence among adult and traditional-aged degree-seeking, first-time enrollees at a public, multi-campus two-year community college in southeast Virginia.

A random sample comprised of 350 traditional-aged …