In designing online and hybrid courses, instructors should consider structure, student motivation, and interaction (per Moore's 1993 Theory of Transactional Distance). To motivate students to interact and to build course community, instructors may assign student introductions. However, after examining students' introductions in a hybrid…

In response to strikingly low completion rates in public 2-year colleges, including for students who are well-prepared academically, most community colleges across the country offer student success courses as one approach to improving outcomes for students. Some colleges have begun to revise these courses in response to research indicating that…

Objective: This study examined the critical race pedagogy of the Summer Transfer Enrichment Program (STEP) over a 5-year span and how the curriculum and supplemental academic programming aided in the development of a positive transfer identity for its participants. Method: A mixed method convergent parallel design approach was used to collect…

The purpose of this study was to inform policymakers on current gambling beliefs, motives, and behaviors of both community college and university students in an effort to evaluate the extent of problem gambling in the overall college student population. To examine differences in gambling and problem gambling between community college and…

Technology plays a vital role in education by linking students to resources around the world. In the past three to five years, community colleges in the southeast region of the United States have received funding through various initiatives, allowing them to make significant changes. In 2013 North Carolina Community College System website listed…

There is a need for science education research that explores community college student, instructor, and course characteristics that influence student interest and motivation to study science. Increasing student enrollment and persistence in STEM is a national concern. Nearly half of all college graduates have passed through a community college at…

Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms…

This is an extended conference proceedings report [Long Paper] based on a shorter contributed report at the same conference. A variety of computerized learning platforms exist. In mathematics, most include sets of problems to complete. Feedback to users ranges from a single word like "Correct!" to offers of hints and partially- to…

Summer bridge programs support post-secondary success by providing intensive, short-term academic and social resources while introducing college expectations and the cultural contexts of the institution. They typically are offered in the summer between high school graduation and the first term of college and vary in content, program size and…

The purpose of this study was to determine what life is like for foster youth pursuing postsecondary education. At a time when few foster youth are pursuing and completing higher education, this study attempted to gain an understanding from foster youth about 1) the reason(s) for their success in pursuing postsecondary education, 2) how they were…

The purpose of this project was to conduct a gap analysis from the perspective of Black male students at a community college in the Los Angeles area to examine the knowledge, motivation, and organizational elements that interfere with their graduation and transfer rates. The analysis began by generating a list of possible or assumed interfering…

Research has shown that first attempt performance on the TOEFL exam can have an extremely low rate of success (Esmail, 2013). The TOEFL and IELTS exams have become gatekeepers into English language institutions and society. This case study utilizes a gap analysis framework to try and understand why students have such low performance rates on such…

Community colleges are facing a demographic shift in their student bodies with significant consequences for how they can utilize instructional innovations such as online education. On the one hand, community colleges are educating an increasing number of adult learners, with a set of psychological, academic, and personal characteristics that make…

November 2012 was an anxious time for California community colleges. Proposition 30 promised to stop the bleeding of funds from the state's 112 two-year career and technical institutions--if voters would pass it. That was a big if, especially in California, where voters are notoriously tax averse. When the measure passed with 54 percent of the…

Even as the economy appears to have turned a corner, high unemployment persists. Strangely, as millions nationwide struggle to find work, there are millions of jobs that remain unfilled. High unemployment rates may therefore have less to do than commonly assumed with an economy that is not healthy enough to produce jobs or employers who are…