Research in kinesiology suggests college students' sedentary behavior and habits increase the risk of premature chronic disease. Physical literacy has been proposed as a possible solution to increase physical activity participation. Participants in this study were community college students (n = 13) enrolled in a required kinesiology wellness and…

Student participation and engagement in online classes can have significant effects on academic performance. This study examines this relationship using survey data obtained from 2 online economics classes at the Community College of Baltimore County. A cursory exploration of the data shows that a large percent of students (33.33%) allocates 3-5…

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of older adult students who learn in a community college academic environment. The rationale for the study stemmed from a lack of knowledge regarding this group's experiences. The research question asked in this study was the following: "How do older adult students in a community…

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the academic performances of first-time freshmen vs transfers using affordability and the Heckman's model of self-selection. The method employed in this study is a quantitative research approach, which applies the regression analysis framework to test the main hypotheses that native students…

The work in this dissertation aims to support a more equitable science education culture that better supports students who have historically and continue to be inequitably pushed out of science. Our equity-oriented and anti-deficit research agenda led us to study community college and transfer students as well as their self-efficacy and…

The landscape of higher education has changed considerably over the past several decades as a more diverse population of students seeks higher education. Nontraditional students--those who are not entering college as first-time, full-time students immediately after college--are increasingly the norm on college campuses. Student-parents are a…

More than 100,000 adults with some college but no degree (SCND) have reconnected with higher education at Tennessee community colleges over the past decade. However, only 21% graduated within three years of reconnecting. In Pathways to Success for Students with Some College, No Degree, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) seeks to build a body of…

The role of racial diversity at college campuses has been debated for over a half a century with limited quasi-experimental evidence from classrooms. To fill this void, I estimate the extent that classmate racial compositions affect Hispanic and African-American students at a large and over-subscribed California community college where they are…

A significant number of students enter community colleges with developmental education (DE) needs in reading, writing, and mathematics. Many of these students are typically referred to more than one level of DE courses before they can enroll in a college-level course. This has led to lower than desired success rate of DE students over the years.…

This study examines the influence of varying levels of online enrollment on community college students' likelihood of degree completion, with a particular focus on completion outcomes among traditionally underserved subgroups of students. Using institutional transcript data from a high-enrollment community college and a propensity score weighting…

Objective: Six-year cohort completion rates calculated for California community college students--who declared their goal to obtain a certificate, associate degree, or become university transfer ready--averaged just below 50% for cohorts entering the fall semesters between 2007 and 2011. The range of this completion rate varied from 23% to 67%.…

This quasi-experimental study compared various outcomes of team-based-learning (TBL) (n = 67) and more traditional lecture-based instruction (n = 66) in a community college introductory psychology course and found no differences in knowledge of course content, attendance, or course retention. However, student self-reports indicated that, compared…

Background: Critical thinking is an important student learning outcome in all psychology courses and included in the American Psychological Association's (APA's) goals for the undergraduate major. Objective: The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of integrating a general model of critical thinking into the instruction,…

Gateway science courses are an ongoing obstacle to recruitment into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields, in part due to the large gains in vocabulary that are fundamental to scientific literacy. Students also struggle to achieve the technological literacy necessary for a STEM career. We implemented an ePortfolio-based…

For far too long in California, remedial courses in California Community Colleges meant costly barriers to student success. Fortunately, recent legislation -- Assembly Bill 705 signed into law in 2017 -- requires these colleges to eliminate remedial courses and instead use research-backed strategies like corequisite support to help students…