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Full-Text Articles in Education
Using Reflection To Promote Success In Community College Mathematics, Sherilin Ruth Heise
Using Reflection To Promote Success In Community College Mathematics, Sherilin Ruth Heise
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Community college mathematics faculty have instituted changes to address inadequate preparation of incoming students to learn college-level mathematics. However, they could do more to develop student cognitive capabilities to enable underprepared students to successfully learn college mathematics. This basic qualitative study examined the perceptions of community college mathematics instructors who made their classrooms more reflective, including using reflection as an instruction activity for students entering college underprepared to learn college-level mathematics. The conceptual framework consisted of Baxter Magolda’s epistemological reflection model of college student development and Schoenfeld’s theoretical model for teaching mathematics. Open coding of interviews with 10 community college …
Classroom Accommodations For Student-Veterans Attending Community Colleges, Terry Dionne Mc Quay
Classroom Accommodations For Student-Veterans Attending Community Colleges, Terry Dionne Mc Quay
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Soldiers have returned from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) and have enrolled in post-secondary education in large numbers, especially at community colleges because of flexible course scheduling. The problem explored in this study was the need for 1 community college to have better information regarding classroom needs for student-veterans with PTSD or a TBI. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of both student-veterans with PTSD or a TBI and faculty concerning classroom accommodations for student-veterans at the study site. Knowles' theory of the adult learner served …
A Program Evaluation Of A Community College’S New Faculty Seminar, Kari Mclean Proft
A Program Evaluation Of A Community College’S New Faculty Seminar, Kari Mclean Proft
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
A community college (CC) in the midwestern United States launched a New Faculty Seminar (NFS) in 1999 for new tenure-track faculty. The problem that prompted this project study is that the NFS has been implemented yearly since 1999 without a formal evaluation. Without an evaluation plan, college leadership cannot determine whether the program is meeting stated goals. The purpose of this program evaluation was to explore how faculty described the NFS inputs and processes they experienced and how they perceived the outcomes and impact of the NFS on their understanding of the CC environment and the development of their instructional …
Instructional Behavior And Its Impact On Student Engagement, Debra Joan Crumpton
Instructional Behavior And Its Impact On Student Engagement, Debra Joan Crumpton
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
The purpose of this quantitative study was to expand understanding of leadership behaviors and their influence on follower engagement. Researchers have shown that engagement is a predictor of retention and organizational performance. Leadership theory and the conceptual framework of worker engagement were the study's theoretical anchors. Despite a proliferation of leadership studies, engagement antecedents are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to narrow the gap in the literature by examining the extent to which there may be a relationship between college instructors' behaviors and student engagement. Although not traditionally regarded as frontline leaders, extant leadership literature affirmed college …
Community College Transitioning Experiences Of Dual Enrollment Students, Sandra Lucille Fuline
Community College Transitioning Experiences Of Dual Enrollment Students, Sandra Lucille Fuline
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Dual enrollment transitioning experiences of students are poorly understood, leaving higher education stakeholders without the proper information to smooth the transitioning process and keep students in college. This basic qualitative study using interviews explored how 10 dual enrollment students described their transitioning experiences from high school to community college by investigating their motivations, ability to acknowledge self-efficacy, and understanding of social interactions using Badura's self-efficacy model and Keller's motivational theory and the attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction model. Data were analyzed through an open coding method to categorize themes and patterns as well as discrepant information. Key findings indicated that …
Relationship Between Active Learning Methodologies And Community College Students' Stem Course Grades, Cherish Christina Lesko
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
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 …
Type Of First Term Course Failure And Community College Degree Completion, Jill Stearns
Type Of First Term Course Failure And Community College Degree Completion, Jill Stearns
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Community colleges are the largest segment of higher education institutions in the United States providing access to historically underserved populations and growing numbers of first generation college students. Increasing college degree attainment is a national priority with new expectations of accountability. Despite decades of educational research, community colleges have startling low completion rates. Within the framework of Tinto's theory of retention, a predictive analytics model could provide community colleges the opportunity to drive custom intervention and support services to students. The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of Biglan's taxonomy for categorizing courses for potential use in …
Strategies For Organizational Sustainability In Higher Education, Angela D. Reese
Strategies For Organizational Sustainability In Higher Education, Angela D. Reese
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
The defunding of higher education at the state and national level following the 2008 recession created the need for administrators of public higher education institutions to develop and implement funding strategies to maintain organizational sustainability. State government administrators reduced spending approximately 26% per student across the nation, leaving higher education administrators challenged with adjusting organizational budgets to compensate for the reduction in state monetary support. A multiple case study design was used to explore funding strategies that community college business leaders used to support budget decisions that maintain organizational sustainability. Four leaders from 3 community colleges in Central Texas participated …
Influence Of Nontraditional Students On Traditionals In The Community College Classroom, Angela J. Richart-Mayfield
Influence Of Nontraditional Students On Traditionals In The Community College Classroom, Angela J. Richart-Mayfield
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
An increase in nontraditional student enrollment continues in community colleges nationwide. Little is known about the interactions between mixed-age groups of students. This qualitative collective case study explored the academic and social influences of non-traditional students on their traditional peers in the community college classroom at a large, midwestern 2-year college. Tinto's interactionalist theory framed the study. Purposeful sampling was used to select 30 participants (13 traditional students, 13 non-traditional students, and 4 instructors) who represented the college population in terms of gender and racial and ethnic diversity. Interview questions were guided by the research questions, and data were also …
Improving Math Performance In Adult Female Community College Students: An Evaluation Of Project Independence, Robin Tim Frodsham
Improving Math Performance In Adult Female Community College Students: An Evaluation Of Project Independence, Robin Tim Frodsham
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Project Independence (PI) is a community college immersion program dedicated to assisting women returning to college. The focus of this study and associated summative evaluation was to understand how the PI program addresses anxiety and other learning deficiencies associated with math. Knowle's andragogical models portray adults as motivated and self-directed, and the American college campus fosters a culture of independence. This culture is foreign to many minority, first-generation, and working class adults who learn through interdependence. This qualitative instrumental case study and evaluation is the first to examine the efficacy of PI. The guiding questions of this study concern early …
A Comparison Of Preservice Teachers' Responses To Bullying Scenarios, Cynthia Louise Davis
A Comparison Of Preservice Teachers' Responses To Bullying Scenarios, Cynthia Louise Davis
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
This nonexperimental study was conducted to determine differences that exist between PreK to 4th grade preservice teachers' beliefs about the severity of bullying, their empathy with victims of bullying, beliefs about their ability to cope with bullying in the classroom, and their ability to intervene in bullying issues. Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Ajzen's theory of planned behavior provided the study's theoretical base and demonstrated a connection between participants perceived ability to cope with bullying behavior and willingness to intervene. The participants (N = 112) were students in a 2-year community college PreK to 4th grade education transfer degree program. Data …
The Role Of Local History In The Curriculum At A Rural, Southeastern Community College, Sandra Lee Walker
The Role Of Local History In The Curriculum At A Rural, Southeastern Community College, Sandra Lee Walker
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
Local history knowledge informs citizens of the political, social, economic, and cultural aspects of their communities. Community colleges are uniquely situated to address citizens' educational needs because of their historic mission to serve local people. The problem at a rural college located in a southeastern region of the United States was the perception of a lack of local history in the curriculum. Dewey, Schon, Brookfield, and Mezirow's perspectives on reflection guided this case study. Two research questions focused on how faculty and staff at the college perceived the role of local history and its relationship to the curriculum and how …
Nontraditional Hispanic College Students' Perceptions Of Their Sense Of Belonging At A 2-Year College In Southwest Texas, Ronald Eugene Zawacki-Maldonado
Nontraditional Hispanic College Students' Perceptions Of Their Sense Of Belonging At A 2-Year College In Southwest Texas, Ronald Eugene Zawacki-Maldonado
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
The purpose of this study was to understand how a sense of belonging contributes to graduation persistence among nontraditional Hispanic college students. The collectivist culture among these adult learners often results in family and work obligations that curtail their pursuit of higher education. The voices of these students are mostly absent in the current literature and warrant the current research study. Sense of belonging and retention theory formed the conceptual framework for this phenomenological study. A purposeful sample of 16 nontraditional Hispanic students enrolled in a 2-year community college in Southwest Texas participated in interviews. Data analysis focused on themes …
A Professional Development Approach To Improve Practice At An Upstate Community College, Lisa K. Antalek
A Professional Development Approach To Improve Practice At An Upstate Community College, Lisa K. Antalek
Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies
A federal Call to Action was mandated to reform community colleges across the nation, challenging college officials to enhance instructional methodology on college campuses towards increasing student completion rates. In addressing this mandate, college officials at the upstate NY community college identified a need for professional development that would increase student learning and enhance the instructional methodologies of facilitating faculty through improved alignment. Accordingly, this study investigated the alignment of faculty instructional effectiveness with the institution's core mission. The purpose of this study was to examine faculty perceptions of the instructional methodologies used to facilitate student learning. Informed by Knowles's …