Education Commons^™

Life Being An International Student In The United States: Acculturation, Culture Shock, And Identity Transformation, Lai Yan Vivyan Lam

Master's Theses

The population of international students at community colleges in the United States has increased significantly over the past decade. International students play a big role in building the cultural diversity on campus by bringing over different cultures and sharing their global perspective to the local community. However, they often face challenges adapting into American culture due to cultural differences in education system, language, lifestyle, etc. By looking into the acculturation process of international students to analyze the culture shock and cultural identity changes they experienced, this paper intends to seek ways to help this group of students to ease their …

A Case Study Of Community College Faculty Attitudes Toward Students With Disabilities, Mary C. Clark

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this single case study was to explore the attitudes and experiences of faculty at one small, public, community college in the southeastern United States. Of the 180 faculty sampled, 35 completed the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons survey, 13 participated in a one-on-one interview, and a review of 30 institutional documents was conducted. Using social constructivism, disability theory, and the researchers personal and professional experiences as the framework, the data collected helped to gain insight into the faculty's experiences with classroom accommodations and attitudes toward students with disabilities. Five key findings revealed that community college faculty in the …

Native And Community College Transfer Students In Biological Sciences At A Four-Year Institution: A Comparative Study, Nathanial Weber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences between native and community college transfer students and identify factors that predicted upper-level biology course grade-point average and final overall grade-point average at a four-year institution in biological sciences. The results of this study indicated four-year institution persistence was not significantly related to gender, high school grade-point average, or ACT composite score. Persistence was significantly related to transfer status; whether the student was a native or community college transfer student with native students persisting at a higher rate at the four-year institution than community college transfer students. Furthermore, ACT composite score, …

Silent No More: The Formation Of Academic Self-Efficacy Among Black Male Community College Students, G. Eric Styles

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Alarming rates of Black male underachievement in the community college are compelling reasons to explore factors that promote their academic success. Black male community college students have the lowest grade point averages among males across all races and ethnicities, and the highest rates of attrition (Department of Education, 2008; Ross et al., 2012). Sadly, the educational experiences of Black males have been characterized by racial discrimination, negative portrayals, marginalization, and lowered expectations. As academic self-efficacy has been found to promote the academic achievement of collegians, this study investigated the factors which have the greatest influence on the academic self-efficacy beliefs …

The Effect Of Tuition On Graduation Rate At Community Colleges, Carter Brown Youmans

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The community college mission has long included open access through low tuition (Vaughan, 2006). Financial challenges for community college students threaten open access (Shannon & Smith, 2006). Paying tuition plays a part in a student’s ability to graduate. A community colleges’ success is measured in part by graduation rates. President Obama challenged all colleges, including community colleges, to increase their graduation rates 50% by the year 2020 (Obama, 2009). The current study analyzed whether public, community colleges’ tuitions predicted their graduation rates using recent data and if size of enrollment moderated the relations between tuition and graduation rate. A two-block, …

Going The Extra Mile: Successful Transfer Of Latino/Latina Students From Two-Year Institutions To Four-Year, Christopher S. Card

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative dissertation was to provide insight as to the experiences of Latino/a students at community colleges preparing to transfer as compared with those from Latino/a students who had already transferred. The Latino/a population is one of the fastest growing minority populations in the United States yet despite the growth experienced by this population in the United States, particularly in states such as California and Texas, accessing equitable higher education opportunities and achieving educational success have both been a tremendous challenge to this culture (Perez & Ceja, 2010). Eight Latino/a students preparing for transfer from two different …

Co-Enrolling Students In Math Remediation And College-Level Math In A Community College System, Peter Thomas Anderson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to conduct a rigorous examination of co-enrollment of students in math remediation and college-level math. A quasi-experimental, posthoc design examined the outcomes and the relationships of two groups of students who participated in a pilot project the goal of which was to assess the co-enrolled model that is designed to provide students with mathematics support. One group of students enrolled in a traditional model of developmental mathematics. The second group of students co-enrolled in developmental and college-level math.

The sample for this study was students (N = 7616) from nine community colleges in …

Student Demographic And Academic Characteristics That Predict Community College Student Success In Online Courses, Jennifer L. Davidson

Theses and Dissertations

Online student success is a concern for higher education institutions especially community colleges with open enrollment admission. This study analyzed online student success using online GPA (dependent variable) and both demographic and academic characteristics of online students (independent variables) to determine which characteristics significantly correlated to and predicted student success in online courses. The sample included an unduplicated count of 4,046 online students enrolled in at least one online course during fall 2015 and spring 2016 at a public, Midwestern community college. Six research questions and twelve hypotheses were used to determine which independent variables led online students to a …

Community College Latino Male Student Engagement: A Qualitative Research Study, Becky E. Barabé

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

According to Saenz and Ponjuan (2009), “Latino males are effectively vanishing from the American higher education pipeline” (p. 54). Despite a steady increase of Latino students enrolling over the past several decades, the problem remains that Latino male student persistence and completion rates are not keeping up proportionally with other student population groups (Castellanos, Gloria, & Kamimura, 2006). The purpose of this phenomenological research study was to understand how Latino male students describe their educational experience within the community college system, and provide recommendations for educational practitioners to improve programs and services that support Latino male student persistence and completion. …

Psychological Conditions Of Engagement Among Community College Maintenance Employees: A Cross-Sectional Study, Tammy T. Franks

Dissertations

This dissertation examined the relationship between employee engagement and the factors that may influence the three psychological conditions of engagement: meaningfulness, safety, and availability for the sector of employees classified as maintenance, grounds, and custodial employees in a community college setting. The factors for each of the three conditions are meaningfulness (job enrichment, work role fit, and co-worker relations), safety (co-worker relations, supervisor relations and co-worker norms), and availability (resources, self-consciousness, and outside activities). Further, the researcher used a mediation model to determine if any of the psychological conditions mediated the relationship between its determinants and engagement. All 15 Mississippi …

Enhancing Employability Skill Sets: The Obligation Of Community Colleges To Be Greater Than The Sum Of Their Parts, Linda C. Hill Ms.

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

The pressure upon post-secondary institutions in Ontario to address the persistent gap between the employability skill sets of their graduates and the changing needs of the modern workplace has never been greater. Forces such as the complexities of participating in a globally competitive economy, and advancements in information and communication technologies have shifted workplace expectations. Parents, students, and employers want to be assured that a diploma is indicative of the full range of skill sets necessary to achieve entry into a chosen occupation. The case method of analysis was used to examine one college’s quality assurance strategies for teaching and …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Early Alert On Community College Student Persistence In Virginia, Lori Jean Dwyer

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Student attrition has been a significant challenge facing higher education for decades and is particularly pronounced within community colleges. Specifically, first-time postsecondary students only experienced a 59.3 percent retention rate between Fall 2013 and Fall 2014; at two-year colleges, less than half (46.9 percent) of students were retained during the same period (National Student Clearinghouse, 2015a). As institutional leaders attempt to increase student retention rates, they often invest in early alert systems, which promise to be a key part of a student success solution.

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) implemented an early alert system in 2013. The purpose of …

First Generation College Students In A Trio Program, Katherine S. Marble

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

This research study was completed to explore how a specific population of college students strive to reach their educational goals. The purpose of the study concentrated on how TRiO first-generation college students (FGCs) at a community college perceived their success in accomplishing goals in a college educational setting with the assistance of the TRiO program. Theories guiding the study include Astin’s I-E-O model and Bean’s model. The research utilized interviews and a focus group with TRiO FGCs. Thirteen students participated in an interview and two students participated in a focus group. During the interviews and focus group, participants provided insight …

Understanding Implementation Of Developmental Education Delivery Models In A Community College Setting, Sherry Ann Marlow Ormsby

Doctoral Dissertations

The field of higher education faces many barriers in providing quality education to students, with educating underprepared students as one of the most challenging and complex (Parker, 2007). Although developmental education may have found a permanent home in community colleges exclusively, the greater concern is not the location of remediation education, but rather the impact on student success (Parker, Bustillos & Behringer, 2010).

Until students arrive at higher education institutions academically prepared to be successful in college-level courses, developmental education will continue to be a critical mission of community colleges (CCA, 2012). Too many students are lost in the developmental …

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 …

Perception Of Factors That Facilitate Or Inhibit Associate Degree Completion At The Community College Level: A Case Study, Cathryn J-C Hughes Miss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of students, administrators, and faculty of one community college on the factors that facilitate or inhibit collegiate student success toward associate degree completion. Degree completion was defined as graduating with an associate degree. The following research questions guided this study:

1) What support systems or resources are in place at the community college to assist students with degree completion?

2) What factors in the college student success course at this community college facilitate or inhibit successful degree completion?

The case study was conducted in a single community college inNorth Carolina. …

Being Retained: Perspective Of The Online First-Year Composition Student, Catrina Marie Mitchum

English Theses & Dissertations

Keeping students in college classrooms can be a struggle, but keeping them in an online classroom is an even more difficult feat. While the field of retention research has expanded its focus beyond traditional four-year students to include a variety of non-traditional student situations, including online, it has yet to focus efforts on online first-year composition at the community college. The first-year of college has been shown to be the most critical in student retention at the institutional level, which puts first-year composition in a potentially influential position. The fact that fewer students are retained in online courses than face-to-face …

Leadership Competency Perceptions Of Rural Community College Presidents In The Coastal Southeast Region, Keith A. Harkins

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

In a 2012 study, the American Association of Community Colleges noted over three quarters of community college presidents surveyed planned to retire in the next ten years. The rural community colleges in the Coastal Southeast Region face additional and unique challenges beyond the growing leadership shortage. Rural community colleges in the Coastal Southeast Region are often the focus of both educational and cultural development within the community. The rural community college president must lead the effort to advance the mission of the college and ensure the college leads the community in a positive direction. This study explored the perceptions of …

An Examination Of African American Male Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Success And Their Experiences At The Community College, Shashuna Jenean Gray

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this research is the perceptions of academic success held by African American male students attending a community college. Community colleges often serve as the gateway for unprepared, at-risk students. However, this group of students frequently fails to persist and matriculate even after six years of attendance. Understanding the perceptions of academic success within two defined groups of students, pre-enrollment and probationary, would allow community college leaders to efficiently allocate resources to ensure high levels of engagement within the college classroom.

Student Perceptions Of The Honors Program At An Appalachian Community College, Melissa Renee Helton

Online Theses and Dissertations

Gifted students in the United States are often underserved. Collegiate honors programs are a proven way to provide for gifted students' special needs. Many gifted students attend community colleges, and these institutions have a set of challenges to starting and maintaining thriving honors programs, including accusations of elitism and lack of resources. Community colleges in Appalachia have an additional set of challenges to face, including high proportions of first generation students, rurality, and poverty. Efforts for thriving honors programs need to be effective and efficient at meeting gifted students' needs, but there is little research on the programs at these …

Relationship Between Active Learning Methodologies And Community College Students' Stem Course Grades, Cherish Christina Lesko

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Active learning methodologies (ALM) are associated with student success, but little research on this topic has been pursued at the community college level. At a local community college, students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses exhibited lower than average grades. The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of ALM predicted STEM course grades while controlling for academic discipline, course level, and class size. The theoretical framework was Vygotsky's social constructivism. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression were performed on data collected through an anonymous survey of 74 instructors of 272 courses during the 2016 …

Women In Stem: The Effect Of Undergraduate Research On Persistence, Jodi Christine Wilker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers constitutes a major issue in postsecondary science education. Perseverance of women in STEM is linked to a strong science identity. Experiential learning activities, such as undergraduate research, increase science identity and thus should help keep women in STEM. Most studies on research program development are from 4-year institutions, yet many women start at community colleges. The goal of this study was to fill this gap. Science identity and experiential learning theories provided the framework for this case study at a local institution (LECC). Semistructured interviews determined college science …

The Relative Effectiveness Of Course Delivery Methodology On Student Success, Retention, And Persistence In Remedial Mathematics, John P. Eveland

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

There are a substantial number of studies that consider the effectiveness of online instructional methodologies in general, but there is sparse previous work specifically targeting developmental mathematics students in community colleges. This study examines the relative effectiveness of online versus traditionally delivered developmental mathematics courses at Somerset Community College (SCC) in Somerset, Kentucky. At SCC, developmental mathematics is divided into three consecutive courses, MAT 055, MAT 065, and MAT 085, and this study considered each of these courses separately.

For this study, each student enrollment in any of SCC’s developmental mathematics courses was obtained for students in the Fall 2011 …

Impact Of The Accelerate You! Instructional Model On Student Success, Tyra F. Henderson

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

This study examines a multi-faceted instructional model used in Applied Technologies programs at a medium size community college. The model accelerates students who have not met placement test benchmarks into college level math with the support multiple strategies utilized in the model, specifically team teaching in the technical and math courses, a learning community structure, weekly tutoring, and a first year experience course. This study examined the impact of the instructional model on student success, specifically course grades and semester-to-semester persistence, and on students’ personal qualities, specifically mindset, grit, and study skills self-efficacy. Mixed methods research design examined statistical significance …

Developmental Education Redesign: An Analysis Of Cooling Out In A Community College Mathematics Assessment Preparation Program, Megan Rector

Higher Education: Doctoral Research Projects

Developmental education is a critical issue in higher education, particularly within community colleges. Each year, thousands of students enroll in community colleges, yet many are unprepared for college-level work. These students are often required to enroll in developmental courses before they can enroll in college-level courses, and these courses are often a barrier to student success. In recent years, a number of community college systems across the United States have redesigned their developmental education programs in an attempt to improve student outcomes.

This project examines one such statewide redesign that uses a qualitative case study analysis to apply Burton Clark’s …

Effect Of Response To Intervention On Developmental Education Students' Persistence, Retention, And Completion, Cheryl Garayta

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2012, national rates of degree or certificate completion for students beginning college in developmental education courses were 35%. At a Midwestern state community college completion rates were even lower, with only 27% of developmental reading/writing (DRW) students completing their program. Therefore, the purpose of this causal- comparative study was to compare success rates for DRW students beginning college in a multileveled (MLI) program and in a response to intervention (RtI) based program. The MLI program was grounded in a scaffolded learning framework, and the RtI program was grounded in a transformative learning framework. Four research questions were posited to …

Investigating The Effects Of Student Engagement On Latina/O Community College Students, Manuel Salgado

Dissertations

As the growth of the largest ethnic minority group, Latina/os, continues to grow there is an increasing concern that the current educational system is not effectively meeting the academic needs of this group of students. The community college sector has gained greater recognition for its potential to meet the needs of a much broader scope of students, particularly low-income and students of color. This study aims to contribute to the understanding of the Latina/o experience and the factors that contribute to college success among community college students. Specifically, this study used hierarchical multiple regression and logistic regression analysis to investigate …

Testimonios Of Latino/A Students In Hispanic Serving Institutions: Lessons For Community Colleges, Luz Briceno Moreno

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study was conducted at a Northern California community college with eight Latino/a student’s and the utilization of their testimonios to bring awareness to their academic experiences, successes and needs as first-generation college students. A large majority of Latino/a students who do enroll in college begin at community colleges, this stands to be the first point of entry into higher education for current and future Latino/a student’s (Santiago & Stettner, 2013). Community colleges graduating mostly vocationally trained Latino/a student’s continue to feed into a history of limited educational and societal mobility, which is vastly different from the white students …

Successful African American Community College Student Athletes’ Perceptions Of Factors Of Academic Success, Tanika Lee Byrd

Doctoral Dissertations

California community colleges are facing serious obstacles in relation to students of color achieving academic success. African American men see the community college as a pathway toward economic and social mobility; however, collectively they have disparate outcomes in every conceivable marker of success; persistence, achievement, transfer, completion. The live experiences of academically successful community college student athletes may hold key factors that can assist all African American males in their journey toward academic success. Even though research is limited, it is suggested that student athletes at the community college achieve their academic goals at higher rates than their nonathlete peers. …

The Influence Of Academic Momentum And Associate Degree Credit Requirements On Community College Student Degree Completion, Daniel Knox

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study addresses gaps in the theoretical and policy literature by examining the relationship between associate degree program credit requirements and four student outcomes: associate degree attainment, time to degree, final associate degree grade point average, and persistence. Using student unit record data, a longitudinal quantitative study of a cohort of community college students was conducted for the observational period of fall semester 2011 through winter semester 2016, in order to determine if community college students enrolled in academic programs with higher minimum credit requirements have different outcomes than students in programs with lower minimum credit requirements.