This paper presents findings from a qualitative case study that investigates how adult learners experience a student success-rich culture within a community college. The data includes 14 semi-structured interviews with ten adult learners and four institutional-academic representatives, in addition to supporting document analysis of national,…

This phenomenological study explored how directors of Texas community college centers of faculty development supported face-to-face instructors as they transitioned to emergency remote instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. The eleven director participants in this study, representing small, medium, and large schools from most of the…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the sense of community experienced by teachers who worked at a middle school in a central southwestern state that employed the middle school concept. The middle school concept was introduced in 1963 as a specific way to meet the needs of students in grades six through eight. The Sense of…

Utilizing sensemaking theory as a theoretical lens, this study attempts to understand the lived experiences of the participants as they navigate a new position and, potentially, a new institution. The interviews conducted provide perspective on how identity formation, understanding of institutional context, change management, and the articulation…

The challenge to improve academic achievement for community college students has generated concern for decades, with renewed emphasis during the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020-2021, known as COVID-19 (Roueche, 1968; West & Fabre, 2021). National and local initiatives for student success have been launched with mixed results from a broad…

This dissertation examines how instructional designers navigate the daily challenges of their work as a group; how do they successfully respond to the changing demands of designing instruction for online learning; and replicate their work and practices in higher education context. This is accomplished by investigating the role of instructional…

Parental involvement in their children's education has been investigated in various ways, mainly regarding governance, the support provided to the children at home, or relationships between teachers and parents. However, parents also might be supporters and/or resources for teaching practices, an aspect which has not been studied in depth. In…

This chapter provides an overview of the history of learning and educational policies and programmes affecting older adults in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past 50 years. It builds on my previous work and draws on a wide body of primary and secondary sources including policy documents and reports from the New Zealand Government's Office for…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder. ASD community-based organizations (ASD-CBOs) underutilize or inconsistently utilize evidence-based practices (ASD-EBPs) despite numerous available EBPs to treat ASD. Nonetheless, ASD-CBOs implement changes to practices regularly. Understanding ASD-CBO's…

This aim of this study was to explore the instructional development experiences of adjunct faculty at one community college in the southeast United States. Researchers have discovered that, generally, adjunct faculty are not provided instructional development resources or opportunities. Therefore, how do they develop their instructional knowledge…

This study used a community-based participatory research approach to examine what adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) view as important topics in sexuality education. A thematic analysis was conducted on questions written by adults with IDD regarding sexuality after attending a sexuality education group. Results were…

Michael Polanyi famously stated that "we can know more than we can tell," but is it possible to know more than we imagine? Or, on the contrary, does imagining play a role in elucidating what we feel we know but cannot fully express? In this article, the author argues that imagining can elucidate knowledge by helping us to name and color…

This study explores how the construct of interest may influence first-year community college students' willingness to engage with academic text assignments. Research on interest theory as presented by Renninger (2009) suggests that students, even those with low self-efficacy or regulation, are more likely to make gains in engagement and/or…

Over the past decade, 113,000 adults with some college but no degree (SCND) have reconnected with higher education at Tennessee community colleges. Most of these students reconnected at community colleges after attending elsewhere, and many had made substantial progress toward a credential before stopping out. However, after reconnecting, fewer…

Professional learning communities have developed into one of the greatest tools of school improvement, along with being a critical component of educational reform. The problem addressed in this study was decreased teacher performance and student achievement in six North Carolina schools resulting from negative perceptions of professional learning…