Community College Leadership Commons^™

Exploring The Impact Of Ungrading On Student Engagement And Motivation In A First-Year Composition Class, Mary B. Gruis

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study investigated the association between student engagement, motivation, and self-efficacy in college-level writing-intensive courses using an ungraded approach. Motivated by disillusionment with traditional grading methods and inspired by texts on equitable grading and culturally responsive teaching, the researcher explored how ungrading could foster deeper learning and equitable educational practices. Grounded in Bandura’s (1997) self-efficacy framework, this qualitative case study examined the lived experiences of first-year composition students at a two-year institution. Data collection included student interviews, student reflections, and an instructor interview. The analysis revealed themes aligned with self-efficacy, engagement, and motivation, suggesting that ungrading positively impacted students' perceptions …

The Perception Of First-Generation Community College Students With Regards To The Academic Impact Of Student Support Services: A Phenomenological Study, Rubinder Garcha

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study is to describe the perceptions first-generation students (FGS) have of the academic impact of student support services (SSS) received while attending community college (CC) in the areas of student academic achievement, student engagement, student persistence, student satisfaction, and development of academic skills.

Methodology: The methodology used for this study was a phenomenological approach in which FGS’ perceptions about the academic impact of SSS while attending CC in the northern region of California were explored. The FGS who were interviewed for this study were consistently participating in the SSS. The study’s findings revealed the …

The Experience Of Faculty Transitioning From Traditional To Non-Traditional Methods In The Community College Classroom, Christina Calentine

Dissertations

There is documented success with the use of active learning strategies in community college classrooms, yet instructors lack the necessary skills and incentives to develop these strategies. While faculty members may have an expertise in a particular discipline they often lack the necessary skills to recognize the specific academic needs of a student and respond and/or adapt to those needs. Many specialized degrees do not include pedagogical training as part of the required curriculum but community colleges are typified by diversity in student backgrounds and learning styles. This has led to increased attention to the implementation of a diverse array …

Successful Community College Students: A Case Study Of The Path To Transfer, Nancy Gartland

Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to expand equity within post-secondary education, and to increase the number of people who acquire a college degree or certificate nationally, depend on community colleges. The rate of success for community college students, measured in persistence and completion rates, is relatively low.

In the U. S. in the fall of 2017, sixty three percent of the 5.9 million community college students attended part-time (NCES, 2019). Outside of class engagement is difficult for these students who spend limited time on campus. A program design that promotes a high level of engagement may contribute to student success. Thus, I set out …

Exploring The Opportunities Of Minority Senior Executive U.S. Federal Government Agency Leaders: A Qualitative Analysis, Crystal Gathers-Whatley, Tyrone Chase

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the opportunities and challenges minority senior executive U.S. federal government agency leaders (MSELs) faced on their path to leadership, and their strategies to manage and overcome these challenges. The phrase minority senior executive leaders refer to individuals who lead U.S. executive departments; individual federal agencies, departments, or commissions; and those that report under the direct leadership of majority or minority leaders. This study explored how MSELs gained entry into leadership positions typically held by majority leaders; how MSELs take advantage of the opportunities presented to them; and what had the most …

An Examination Of Generational Factors On Faculty Engagement In Shared Governance In The Northern California Community College System, Gina Lord

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe the factors that motivated northern California community college faculty of the Baby Boomer, Gen X, and Millennial generations to become engaged in shared governance and campus-wide committees, and to determine what differences existed between the generations.

Methodology: This research used a qualitative methodology and applied a phenomenological approach. The data for this study was gathered by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 16 fulltime faculty members from the Solano, Marin, and Sonoma County community college districts.

Findings: The findings from this study identified factors that motivated faculty to engage …

The Road Taken That Has Made All The Difference: A Narrative Inquiry Of Student Engagement And Success In Butler Community College's Accelerated Learning Program In English, Troy Nordman

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate whether students who completed the accelerated learning program (ALP) in English at Butler Community College in fall 2016 perceived a three-part, structured approach to the course as having been a significant factor to their persistence and successful completion of the course. These perceptions were gathered during the spring 2017 semester through one-on-one, face-to-face interviews with 12 students from the fall 2016 cohort. Utilizing the conceptual framework of narrative inquiry proposed by Clandinin (2006) allowing the individual student narratives to weave a common, thematic context, this study examined the specific factors associated with …

Ending The Silence On Mental Illness, Anna L. Tamulonis

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

NAMI on Campus at Purdue University is a collegiate branch of the national, grassroots organization called the National Alliance on Mental Illness. As an effort to address the growing need for mental health education, our organization piloted Indiana’s first Ending the Silence program. It is an educational outreach program focused on teaching local junior high and high school students about mental health through an informative and interactive curriculum. There are five volunteers, myself included, who providd this presentation to the local community. The lead presenters share 30 minutes' worth of mental health information, including warning signs of a mental health …

The Structure Of Student Engagement In Community College Student Success Programs: A Quantitative Activity Systems Analysis, Deryl K. Hatch

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Community colleges increasingly implement various student success programs, including 1st-year seminars, college skills courses, learning communities, and orientation, in an effort to boost degree completion. However, it is unclear how success programs’ curricular designs may contribute to these and associated student outcomes. Such inquiry is limited, in part, by the lack of methodological frameworks for program impact heterogeneity research. This study proposes a new conceptualization of nominally different student success programs as instances of a broader activity, which also provides a way to operationalize their curricular structures in comparable ways. Second, to briefly illustrate this approach, the study leverages matched …

Engagement Behaviors' Impact On Course Success And Persistence Rates Of Community College Students, Van F. Whaley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As enrollment in U.S. community colleges increased, both the percentage of students successfully completing courses and the percentage of students persisting to their second year decreased. This study focused on the problem of low student course success and persistence rates at a community college. The purpose of the study was to determine whether students who demonstrated engagement behavior by visiting a Center for Academic Success (CAS) either passed more courses, persisted more often, or both, than students who did not visit a CAS. Tinto's engagement theory was the theoretical framework as it postulated that students who interacted with school support …

Assessing The Relationship Between Student And Faculty Perceptions Of Student Engagement At Central Mountain College, Brandi R. K. Atnip

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study compared the perceptions of students versus faculty at Central Mountain College with regard to the issue of student engagement. Central Mountain College participated in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and the Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement during the spring semesters of 2009, 2011, and 2013. The institution was provided with aggregate results from these survey administrations by the Center for Community College Student Engagement. Prior to this study, the survey results had not been accumulatively evaluated by the institution.

The study aimed to determine areas where there was congruence and incongruence between the students …

The Impact Of Participation In A Virginia Community College Orientation Program Course On Student Engagement, Satisfaction, Academic Achievement, And Retention, Wendy L. Tighe

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Participation in an orientation program course and several student engagement and satisfaction factors have been identified as positively related to desirable student outcomes. This study explored student engagement, satisfaction, academic achievement, and retention for students based on their enrollment in an orientation course at Tidewater Community College (TCC) in Virginia. This study used a cross-sectional, static group comparison secondary data analysis approach to explore four research questions. The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) data used for this study came from the TCC spring 2005 Community College Student Report (CCSR) this study determined whether or not participation in an …

An Examination Of Differences Between Occupational-Technical Student And Transfer Student Engagement At Small Community Colleges In Virginia, Janet T. Laughlin

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the differences in levels of student engagement between occupational-technical students and transfer students in an attempt to gain insight into why so many students fail to attain their educational goals. Students' engagement or involvement with their educational institution and program of study is considered a major contributor to persistence and graduation. Research on student engagement as it relates to persisters and leavers includes the five student engagement variables benchmarked by the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE): (a) active and collaborative learning, (b) student effort, (c) academic challenge, (d) student-faculty interaction, and (e) support for learners. …