Higher Education Commons^™

Learning Mindset Dimensions And Completion Status Of Tennessee Community College Students, Donna Sue M. Shellman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this nonexperimental, quantitative study was to analyze relationships between three learning mindset dimensions (growth mindset; purpose and value; and sense of belonging) to retention and persistence to graduation among first-time, full-time Tennessee community college student graduates and nongraduates who attended one of 13 institutions in Fall 2019. In addition to comparing Tennessee community college graduates and nongraduates’ learning mindset dimensions, I analyzed student subgroups to explore those dimensions with regard to gender and race. Additional analyses included correlations between students’ growth mindset scores; purpose and value scores; and social belonging scores.

Analyses included Tennessee Board of Regents’ …

Communication Apprehension Among Community College Students: A Phenomenology, John R. Bragg Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A qualitative investigation was conducted to explore the phenomenon of communication apprehension among a purposeful sample of five community college students with high levels of communication apprehension. The phenomenon of Communication Apprehension (CA) is “an individual’s level of fear or anxiety associated with either real or anticipated communication with another person or persons” (Beatty, McCroskey, & Heisel, 1998, p. 197; McCroskey, 1970, p. 269). All individuals experience some level of CA, and between 30% and 40% of individuals are estimated to experience high levels of CA. For the community college student with high levels of CA, the introductory communication course …

Cultural Influences Of Resource Dependence: Community College Administrator Perceptions Of Implementing Initiatives Related To Tennessee’S Performance Funding Model, John Owen Driskill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to describe the cultural influences of resource dependence for community college administrators responsible for the implementation of initiatives related to Tennessee’s new performance funding program. Tennessee’s funding formula, considered one of the most aggressive and robust in the country, is among a second generation of performance funding programs commonly referred to as performance funding 2.0. Cultural influences of resource dependence were defined as values, beliefs, and customs that influence administrator efforts to improve institutional outcomes and acquire additional resources through performance funding.

A top performing community college in terms of the performance …