Education Commons^™

An Autoethnograpy Of A Baby Boomer In Higher Education: Challenges And Catalysts For Change, Deborra Finlan

Theses & Dissertations

Higher education as a baby boomer brings mental, physical, and economic adjustments, concerns, and insecurities. Additionally, life delivers unexpected challenges and barriers which can cause hardships requiring various types of motivation. Fortunately, there are also catalysts which can contribute toward successes. Literature from four major elements were the focus in this study: motivation, adult learning, challenges, barriers, and catalysts. Theorists and theories included Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation with the added factor of cost, and Ryan and Deci’s theory on self-determination; Mezirow’s transformative learning and Knowles’s self-directed learning; Cross’s theory on educational barriers—situational, dispositional, and institutional; and Cobb’s social support …

Innovating For Student Success: A Course-Integrated Approach To Delivering Academic Skills And Competency Resources, Danielle Palombi

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) explores student academic support delivery in Burns College (a pseudonym), a large postsecondary institution in Central Canada. The Problem of Practice (PoP) addresses a gap in the consistent and equitable delivery of academic supports, and the increasing need to meet students within the classroom in their first year. The problem responds to nontraditional student needs, but the solution is meant to be beneficial for all students. Nontraditional students are the majority in higher education today, with competing responsibilities that impact their ability to access academic supports outside of the traditionally structured classroom. By integrating skills …

The Impact Of Distance Learning On Nontraditional High School Students' Attendance And Dropout Prevention, Teresita De Saro

Theses and Dissertations

High school dropout rates have long been a problem for school districts, and various contributing factors have excavated the problem. Most of these students have been plagued by the inability to integrate into the mainstream of school life, due to socioeconomic standing, lack of parental support, and many other problems. This qualitative study examined how distance learning courses have the potential to increase high school graduation rates and attendance rates. The research perspective was conducted at an alternative high school where the primary goal is to ensure nontraditional students' academic and personal support needed to graduate from high school …

Enrolling And Matriculatiing Adult Learners At A Public Community College In Illinois, Christina J. Coclanis-Loding

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Christina J. Coclanis-LodingDepartment of Higher Education and Student Affairs Northern Illinois University, 2021 Carrie A. Kortegast, Director

There are 44 million adults over the age of 24 who hold a high school diploma, and another 35 million adult who have some college credit, but have not earned their college degree. These numbers make adult learners a viable population to attract and matriculate at community colleges. Considering the impact adult learners would have on enrollment in a time when enrollment numbers have been declining and the benefits to the local economies by providing skilled workers, the recruitment of adult learners is …

Nontraditional Student Risk Factors And Gender As Predictors For Enrollment In College Distance Education, Tammy Crews Pao

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine whether nontraditional student age, female gender, and the possession of nontraditional student risk factors predict enrollment in distance education college courses. This dissertation used data from the most recent National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:12), which consisted of approximately 95,000 undergraduate students who were enrolled in higher education in 2011-2012. The results of a logistic regression analysis indicated that both nontraditional student age and female gender were strong predictors of enrollment in distance education, whereas the number of nontraditional student risk indicators was a partial predictor. As leaders in higher education are …

Student Retention In Bsn Programs, Katherine Pittman Hensley

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This study examined, by use of a researcher-developed survey instrument, perceptions between three groups on reasons why students drop out of nursing programs. Also examined are recommendations from the three groups on how to try to avoid nursing student attrition. Specific groups surveyed included native BSN students, RNB students, and a mixed group of nursing faculty. Survey items were divided into two general groups: student-related issues, and institutional issues. Since RNB students (which include a larger number of non-traditional students) and BSN students (which include more of the native university population of traditional students) have many differences, the author attempted …