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Ua42/1/4 Delo Academic Outreach Community College, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the WKU Community College.

Community College Faculty: Exploring The Process By Which They Determine And Manage Interpersonal Boundaries With Students, Suzanne M. Schmidt

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Higher education instruction is a relational practice that requires skill, reflection, and intentional effort. Faculty-student relationships are critical to learning. Interpersonal boundaries between community college faculty and students are a dimension of the faculty-student relationship that is under-researched and minimally understood.

The purpose of this research was to qualitatively and phenomenologically explore faculty perceptions of their awareness of boundaries between themselves and community college students. Data were collected from seven faculty who work at a large Northwestern community college. Interviews were conducted to explore faculty perceptions of how they become aware of, arrive at, and negotiate change of their interpersonal …

College Instructors' Perceptions On Coteaching, Theresa Da Costa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Coteaching is a teaching strategy that requires 2-teachers to collaborate in developing a course syllabus, selecting materials, and assessing students' work. The research problem, addressed in this study, was an appeal to educate the diverse adult population whose needs could not be addressed through traditional instructions at Rex College. Because of a high number of enrolled adult students, coteaching at Rex College was used to improve student success for academically underprepared students in a Set for Success program. The purpose of this study was to examine the coteaching strategies used at Rex College so that teaching guides and/or professional training …

A Study Of State College Faculty Trust In Immediate Supervisors, Anna Byrd

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated faculty trust in their immediate supervisors (academic deans and faculty chairs) in a state college setting. A survey instrument created for this study was based on existing research on trust in schools by Bryk and Schneider (2002) and Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (1998), as well as research on trust in corporate setting. The study’s purpose was to determine the types and frequencies of interactions between community college faculty and deans/faculty chairs – i.e., faculty immediate supervisors – that are related to higher levels of faculty trust. Also investigated were the relationships between faculty trust and demographic characteristics …

Organizational Change For Sustainability: Implications For The Community College, David Ayers, Michael V. Ayers

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

We discuss the theoretical basis for organizational sustainability as well as an introduction to how community colleges might incorporate sustainability into planning and organizational renewal. We then describe drivers of change organized into three categories: dynamic natural environment, globalization, and multinational agreements. Implications for community college policy and practice are discussed. The second half of the paper presents a phase model of organizational change for sustainability.

A Workforce Development Study To Explore Current Demand For Industry-Recognized Credentials, Debra Kay Smiley

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

In this descriptive research study, I identified industry-recognized workforce credentials that are or will be in high demand by employers operating in Virginia. I surveyed a targeted group of Virginia workforce development stakeholders including 17 Virginia Community College System workforce development leaders who represent each local community college, 47 Virginia local and regional economic development directors, and 11 Virginia Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act directors. Due to the economic disparity between rural and urban areas, I also examined the contrast between high-demand credentials needed by employers in rural and urban areas.

The findings revealed that the top two industry-recognized credentials were …

Reinvigorating Classroom Practice Through Collaborative K-12 And Higher Education Professional Development, Sean W. Agriss, Katie O'Connor, Louann Reamer, Andrea Reid

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

High school, community college, and university faculty attempted to address student readiness for first-year college English classes by working with each other across sectors in an ongoing, collaborative professional development project, Successful Transitions to College (STC). STC demonstrates that teachers can work across sectors to smooth transitions for students who often navigate multiple educational systems throughout their K-16 experience. This professional development work intentionally built opportunities for faculty to work collaboratively while honoring teaching expertise and shared problem solving. Interest in student transition across academic sectors has created a fresh realization for many teachers—one of the best ways to …

Institutional Researcher Reflexivity: How Ir Professionals Can Utilize Researcher Reflexivity In Qualitative Studies Of Community College Students, Elvira Abrica

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

In this paper, I argue that researcher reflexivity, a common qualitative practice, is a specific tool that institutional research professionals endeavoring to conduct qualitative research studies involving Students of Color can use to unpack issues of power and privilege that exist between the researcher and the researched. This may be particularly useful among institutional researchers working within community colleges that serve a disproportionate number of racially minoritized populations and other vulnerable student groups. I offer a reflexive account of various experiences related to race, gender, and social class that I encountered in a qualitative research study of Black and Latino …

Beyond Teacher Knowledge: Connections Between Content Knowledge, Mindset For Learning, And Teaching In Two-Year College Mathematics Faculty, Lucy Hernandez Michal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Addressing thousands of students entering unprepared to enroll in college freshman mathematics courses is a challenge two-year college mathematics faculty face every semester. The study addresses this challenge through a mixed methods sequential nested multi-case design to investigate what faculty need, beyond teacher knowledge, to teach mathematics effectively to students. The three-part study measured the mindset learning profile and content knowledge of a sample of mathematics faculty at a two-year college. The quantitative and qualitative data provided references to select four faculty typologies to interview and observe. Interviews reflected faculty perceptions of teaching and learning. Class observations captured images of …

Community College Writing Program Administrators: Implementing Change Through Advocacy, Lizbett Tinoco

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation, Community College WPAs: Implementing Change Through Advocacy, examines the work and role of Writing Program Administrators (WPAs) at community colleges. Defining the role and the work of WPAs is very complex, and even more so at community colleges since these institutions are very diverse places in regards to programmatic structure and student population. The scholarship of writing program administration has typically excluded community colleges; as a result, my research focuses on including these narratives. Unlike a lot of WPA narratives that often describe WPAs as "composition wives" (Schuster, 1991; Hesse, 1999) who do much of the dirty work …

Students' Perceived Value Of The Community College Experience: A Mixed Methods Study, Robin A. Duncan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore students’ perceived value of their community college experience and its relationship to other factors often related to student persistence in college, namely satisfaction, academic quality, service quality, and engagement. The research was guided by three focused questions: How do students describe and define perceived value of community college; what components emerge from exploratory factor analysis of items designed to measure perceived value; and how, if at all, is a student’s perception of the value of a community college experience different from related measures such as satisfaction, engagement, or quality? Data were collected …

Institutional Conditions That Matter To Community College Students' Success: A Multiple-Case Study, Crystal L. Edenfield

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative and explanatory study utilized a multiple-case study to better understand the impact of institutional conditions that contributed to continuing students’ success at Georgia Highlands College (GHC) in terms of identifying and making progress toward or achieving educational goals from the student perspective. The researcher compared two locations at GHC in northwest Georgia, a nonresidential, limited-access state college within the University System of Georgia. This study was intended to ascertain students’ perspectives regarding what they need from institutions to succeed. The researcher examined the roles of campus environment and institutional agents (faculty, staff, and administrators) to …

Journal Of Communication Pedagogy, Complete Volume, 2018

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Faculty And Staff Mentoring On High-Risk Community College Student Self-Efficacy, Support Systems, And Persistence, William E. Ashcraft

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of faculty and staff mentoring on high-risk community college student self-efficacy, support systems and persistence and identifying the attitudes and behaviors of successful faculty and staff mentors. Using a phenomenological qualitative approach, twenty-two successful high-risk students from one urban community college were interviewed and asked to identify and describe someone on campus who had been most influential in their ability to persist. The twenty-six community college faculty and staff personnel identified by these students were interviewed to learn what they do to help students succeed and persist. Four themes emerged …

Best Laid Plans: How Community College Student Success Courses Work, Deryl K. Hatch, Naomi Mardock-Uman, Crystal E. Garcia, Mary Johnson

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Objective: Beyond understanding whether first-year student success interventions in community colleges are effective—for which there is mixed evidence in the literature—this study’s purpose was to uncover how they work to realize observed outcomes, including at times unanticipated undesirable outcomes.

Method: This qualitative multiple case study used cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) to unpack interactions and tensions among programmatic-level features and individual-level experiences and actions. We conducted classroom observation, document analysis, and interviews with instructors and students in four student success courses across diverse contexts.

Results: Regardless of particular designs and course emphases, we found in all cases a blurring of …

How To Measure Student Success? Toward Consideration Of Student Resilience As A Metric Of Success In Institutional Accountability Frameworks, Elvira Abrica

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Rates of student success—four-year transfer, degree, and certificate completion— are frequently discussed. Less frequent, however, are opportunities to reflect on how these outcomes are measured. In this paper, I reflect on how rates of success—specifically for men of color—are calculated based on two California institutional accountability frameworks. First, I compared measures of success for men of color using the methodologies outlined by each framework. Secondly, I explored enrollment data of men of color who did not transfer or complete a degree or certificate after six years, those who would not be counted by either framework. Findings indicate that some students …

Effect Of Technology On Community College Developmental Mathematics Course Completion Rates, Mandi Leigh Bradford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students who enter community colleges in need of developmental education are often at high risk of failure due to identities or perceptions of self, that do not conform to college expectations that can be problematized by age, gender, and ethnicity. Additionally, students' efficacy for using technology may affect completion rates which was examined at Midwest Community College (MCC) through observing a program shifting from teacher-directed course designs with greater teacher-student interaction to technology-directed course designs with greater technology-student interactions. The theoretical foundation of this study was Tinto's theory of student retention based on the belief that student success is facilitated …

An Assessment Of The Financial Literacy Of Undergraduates At One Community College In Texas, Melissa J. Weathersby

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a Texas community college, stakeholders wanted to strengthen the financial literacy module offered in the student development course for undergraduates. The problem was that no formative data existed on students' financial literacy, and it was not known if knowledge of financial literacy for students who participated in a prior financial literacy class in high school differed from students who had not. The purpose of this study was to obtain formative data regarding students' needs for financial literacy education and to examine whether the knowledge of financial literacy for college students who participated in a prior financial literacy class in …

Perspectives Among Successful Adult Learners In Two Diploma Completion Programs, Cheryl Rice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

More than 24,000 U.S. high school students drop out each year, contributing to the approximate 1.1 million U.S. adults who have not earned the high school diploma or General Education Development. This failure in educational attainment contributes significantly to the lack of economic and workforce development opportunities as well as the standard of living for more than 10% of the statewide population of a midwestern state. In response to this problem, the state entered into model programming in 2015 with 2 new approaches for adult education to diploma programs. The purpose of this basic qualitative interpretive research study was to …

Community College Professors' Engagement And Perceptions Of Professional Development In Remote Environments, Norma-Jean J. Nielsen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research shows that consistent, supportive, and relevant professional development (PD) is an action that empowers educators to change. In the east central region of Canada, the sustainability of community colleges had been linked to program collaboration and internationalization which requires implementation of high-quality PD for its professors. Guided by Mezirow's adult transformative learning theory, the purpose of this study was to understand the PD practices of full-time professors by investigating the connections between professors' level of engagement in PD and their perceptions of the resources and processes that may improve their instructional practices. This single-phased, concurrent mixed-methods study was conducted …