Most institutions maintain institutional guidelines based on specific professional beliefs in order to establish social order within the setting and accomplish their institutional goals (Heritage, 2005; Heritage & Clayman, 2010). Therefore, a key research issue in institutional Conversation Analysis (CA) is to examine how institutional…

The problem investigated in this study was the trend of decreasing student retention of first-year, degree-seeking college students at an independent community college located in northeastern New Mexico. The purpose of the study was to examine the association between student retention and program utilization. The research question was to determine…

Writing is an essential skill for success in many academic and professional settings. Despite receiving individualized feedback on their writing, many students struggle with writing in postsecondary education. This dissertation addresses this gap by focusing on the writing process--the moment-by-moment actions taken during writing--rather than the…

Institutional assessment in higher education often restricts measurement of learning to outcomes that elide the complexity of learning processes and contexts in favor of data that is tidy and manageable. Moreover, such outcomes are frequently written to express an economic value for the learning to justify the purpose of education as a personal…

This dissertation focuses on strategies and techniques to enhance code comprehension skills among students enrolled in introductory computer science courses (CS1 and CS2). We propose a novel tutoring system, "DeepCodeTutor," designed to improve the code comprehension abilities of novices. DeepCodeTutor employs scaffolded self-explanation…

While systems of support are used in schools to assist students' academic growth, parents are not always informed of the support process or the academic goals set for their child (RTI Action Network, n.d.; Troisi, 2014; Weingarten et al., 2020). In the aftermath of the pandemic, students present a wide variety of academic needs (Lewis et al.,…

High-impact tutoring also known as high-dosage tutoring (HDT), is distinct from general tutoring. As a model, it consists of practice guidelines around training, frequency, and length of tutoring sessions. This approach is integrated with the school curriculum and ideally conducted during the school day. There is a resurging interest in tutoring,…

This dissertation investigates the experiences of multilingual writers in a writing center at a major research university based in the United States. It includes interviews with the writers and with the tutors who serve multilingual writers, to understand if these writers are getting what they need in the writing center to be successful in their…

In the United States, students often graduate from high school unprepared to succeed in college. In Alabama, fewer than 25% of high school graduates are college ready. Frequently, unprepared students enroll in community colleges, which are tasked to help them transfer to a four-year institution or to enter the workforce. However, students who need…

No matter whether privately or school-funded, if appropriately provided, tutoring is beneficial for students and to the educational culture of learning. And yet, we do not see it offered as a resource in all school settings to build equity in impacting all students and subjects. This qualitative case study aimed to examine the confidence, levels…

Students with learning disabilities are attending postsecondary institutions at a much greater rate than they have in the past. Although these students can receive accommodations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the graduation rate for these students is much lower than for their nondisabled peers. This data suggests that traditional…

This quantitative study intended to assess the overall effectiveness of online student services at Northern Kentucky University as perceived by students in the online accelerated RN-BSN program. The awareness, ease of access, utilization, and perceived value of academic advising, tutoring, and technological (IT) services were specifically…

Modern classrooms are increasingly diverse. Students vary in their academic abilities, personal interests, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and previous experiences (Allen et al., 2013). To meet the varied needs of students, educators must adapt their instruction so all are able to find success. Modifying lesson plans and changing instruction…

The problem in the 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) afterschool program was that 40% of the students enrolled performed below the proficiency level in reading on the state assessed exams during the past 3 school years. This was of great concern for the teachers and administrators in this Title I middle school, Grades 6-8. This…

There is an increasing demand for change in mathematics education to combat deficit-based assumptions towards students of color and promote culturally affirming learning environments (Celedon-Pattichis et al., 2018). Equity-centered mathematics research provides a powerful opportunity to resist these deficit constructions towards marginalized…