Education Commons^™

Best Practices In Tutoring Services And The Impact Of Required Tutoring On High-Risk Students, Lara Kristin Vance

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the best practices in tutoring high-risk, first-year students. The study was conducted in three phases. First, the study investigated the tutoring practices at two four-year universities with similar admissions standards as Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) but with higher retention rates: Austin Peay State University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The qualitative and quantitative results of that phase of the study revealed five best practices.

The second phase of the study focused on the extent to which EKU’s tutoring practices align with the best practices found in phase one. The data revealed that, at least to …

Faculty Of Color At The Kentucky Community And Technical College System: A Survey Of Ethnic Diversity, Geographic Location, And Personal Perspectives, Linda Karen Ballard

Online Theses and Dissertations

Rural universities and colleges with traditionally homogeneous ethnic and cultural populations have to work especially hard to ensure faculty diversity. Despite efforts to increase the number of faculty of color in Kentucky's statewide system of community colleges, minority representation remains proportionally low, especially on the state's rural college campuses. The purpose of this study was to investigate how faculty of color in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) perceived their work climate and resident communities in order to distinguish if these faculty members were content and therefore more inclined to remain at their jobs and offer the degree …

Graduating Associate Degree Nursing Students: Keeping Students On Track, Marisa Ellen Greer

Online Theses and Dissertations

The national job outlook for registered nurses, according to a News Release for Employment Projections 2012-2022 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2013), will continue to increase in job growth from 2012 to 2022 by 19.4%. This increase will result in an additional 526,800 registered nursing positions that will be available nationwide by 2022. This qualitative dissertation investigated associate degree nursing students and the strategies they employed to be successful and graduate from their respective nursing program. According to a report entitled The Registered Nurse Population by the US Department of Health and Human Services (2008), associate degree nursing programs …

Developmental Education: Resilience And Academic Success In Rural Appalachian Students, Sandy Holbrook

Online Theses and Dissertations

The need for developmental education is ever present in higher education as more students annually enter college underprepared for entry level college coursework. Underpreparedness is a pervasive concern in higher education. Community colleges in particular are the primary means of shepherding developmental education. Academic underpreparedness is just one of the many obstacles students face, however, when endeavoring to obtain a college education. Students often have additional challenges such as those frequently accompanying first-generation college status, rural status, low socioeconomic levels, low levels of self-efficacy, and the lack of resilience which can pose threats to their academic success. Despite these adverse …

Factors That Affect Developmental Education In Rural Appalachia, Erin Leigh Reasor

Online Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation depicts the lives of ten students who are enrolled in developmental education courses at a rural community college in Appalachian Mountains. They share their home life, life experiences and struggles faced; however, they want to better themselves and that motivation keeps them going. This study is important study due to the fact little qualitative research has been conducted in the past reflecting the lives of the Appalachian student. Also, this dissertation provides a historical background of developmental education and how it plays an essential role in community colleges. The problem is that students are coming to college unprepared …

Assessing The Impact Of First-Year Experience Courses On Student Success In Community And Technical Colleges, Luv'tesha L. Robertson

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact first-year experience courses have on first-year student performance when enrolled in these courses at public community and technical colleges in Kentucky. The target population for this research study was composed of freshman students participating in the course compared to students not participating in the same course in the same public community and technical colleges across the Bluegrass Region. Roughly 2,000 students were selected from the 2014-2015 fall academic year for this quantitative research study.

This study will aim to determine the effect of a first-year experience course on student performance and outcomes of first-year, at-risk …

Transitioning An On-Campus Graduate Nursing Program To A Distance Learning Environment: Do Online Students Perform As Well?, Brandi Stocker

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the academic success rates of online graduate nursing students by comparing them to the on-campus cohort of students prior to the program transitioning online. Analysis was conducted by identifying and comparing final course grades in four required MSN courses. Data was extracted from the university’s BANNER system. Results reveal that both cohorts of course delivery modes yield academically successful MSN students. The study also shows that online students are performing almost nearly as well as the on-campus students in the program once did. Each course is different and yielded different results, but it can be concluded that …

The Effect Of Learning Communities On Freshman Student Retention Rates And Gpa At A Public 4-Year Institution Of Higher Education, Ashley Matthews Sweat

Online Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of GSD 101 Learning Communities (a cohort program for freshmen at Eastern Kentucky University) on the retention and first-year grade point average of first-time, full-time freshmen at the university. The study specifically examined students enrolled in GSD 101Z and ENG 101Z (the learning communities sections) in the Fall 2014 semester versus the students enrolled in the regular GSD 101 and ENG 101 classes during the same semester. A large institutional database was used to identify the students in the study and their demographic differences. Results showed that participation in learning communities did not make a …