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This study used semi-structured interviews of athletic directors to present a descriptive narrative of academic support provided to student athletes in five Southern California high schools. These interviews highlighted what supports were provided as well as structures that would better support student athletes. The impetus of this study was the mixed findings regarding the academic performance of student athletes in comparison to their non-athlete peers. While high school students must satisfy academic requirements to remain eligible to participate, California high schools are not required to provide academic support to their student athletes (California Interscholastic Federation, 2017). Without an obligation to provide academic support, some schools may not (or cannot) invest in the resources needed to ensure that student athletes remain academically eligible, causing further disparate outcomes. The purpose of this research was to investigate what academic supports were being provided by five Southern California high schools to ensure that all student athletes were eligible to play their sport while achieving academic success. Additionally, the study further uncovered what structures athletic directors believed would better support their student athletes. This study applied the Total Person Program (TPP), a framework utilized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), as a basis of holistic supports for student athletes. Through analysis of the interviews, the researcher curated strategies that were being used to support the academic performance of student athletes and synthesized the ideas about structures that would better support student athletes. The results revealed that a collaborative approach is needed to implement various academic supports. The athletic directors identified that structures need to change to address the variance in academic performance and support student athletes with applying to college. Findings also point to the leadership capacity of athletic directors.

<p dir="ltr">This thesis details the design and development of "Weknow," a service design platform engineered to improve the process through which college students access peer tutoring within their academic environment. The application aims to enhance the educational landscape on college campuses by enabling robust connections between students seeking academic support and those equipped to offer tutoring. College students often require timely guidance to navigate academic challenges, yet existing solutions fall short in providing precise and prompt services, and they lack mechanisms for ongoing inquiry and enhanced comprehension. Moreover, seeking answers online often fails to guarantee accuracy or sustain dialogue necessary for deeper understanding.</p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">This article introduces the "Weknow" service platform, which encompasses a mobile application and two associated physical product designs. "Weknow" features a user-friendly interface, real-time communication tools, and advanced matching algorithms to ensure students can efficiently locate the academic assistance they need. Additionally, it includes the "Flexy," a versatile recording camera designed to record essential course content and provide users with opportunities for subsequent learning and review.</p><p><br></p><p dir="ltr">This paper outlines the entire design process, including the secondary research, primary research, ideation, UI/UX design, physical product development, and evaluation. The research phase involved interviewing potential users to identify prevalent issues and develop timely solutions for the academic challenges faced by college students. The design process section details the development progress and resultant interfaces through user flows, journey maps, prototypes, and user testing. The paper concludes with a heuristic evaluation that assesses the usability and user experience of the finalized project.</p>

Community colleges are pivotal in bridging high school education to four-year universities, especially in rural areas, and they play a critical role in economic and workforce development. In Mississippi, these institutions offer accessible education to diverse populations, many of whom are underprepared, which leads to lower retention and success rates. This study focuses on student retention and success in English Composition I courses at a rural community college in Mississippi. The study compares the retention and success of students who attended supplemental instruction (SI) sessions against those who did not. SI, a peer-led academic support program, aims to enhance student outcomes by offering additional, informal instruction outside the traditional classroom. There is limited research on SI's impact on retention and success in gateway courses like English Composition I. These findings address this gap by examining the influence of SI on retention and success in English Composition I, using administrative data from the fall semesters of 2021, 2022, and 2023. Grounded in Tinto’s student retention theory, which highlights the importance of student engagement and learning communities in retention, the study employs a chi-square test of independence to statistically compare the outcomes of SI participants and non-participants. The research questions focus on whether SI attendance leads to statistically significant differences in retention and success in English Composition I. The results provide insights for community college administrators to make informed decisions about academic support programs. This study used a quantitative evaluation approach through a comparative statistical design at a rural community college in Mississippi. The findings showed that students who attended at least one SI session were more likely to be retained in English Composition I than those who did not attend an SI session for the fall 2021 and fall 2022 semesters. This was not the case for the fall of 2023. The conclusions drawn from the examination of success and SI attendance showed that for students enrolled in English Composition I, attendance in SI sessions did not influence the students' success for fall 2021 and fall 2022. SI sessions' attendance significantly influenced success in English Composition I for the fall 2023 semester.

The academic and social integration of first-generation college students into institutions of higher education continues to be a topic of concern for university administrators, faculty, and staff. Students enter college with different background traits and experiences as well as have different college experiences that can either permit or prohibit their ability to integrate into the college environment (Choy, 2001; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1983). Academic and social integration are two key factors used in predicting whether or not a student will persist from one academic year to the next (Cabrera, Nora, & Castaneda, 1993; Ishitani, 2003). This is especially important for first-generation college students. A student's ability to navigate the college system determines their ability to academically and socially integrate. By understanding how the different background characteristics, pre-college experiences, college experiences, college environments, and academic performances of first-generation college students can influence academic and social integration, universities could increase retention and graduation rates. The development of comprehensive academic support programs by institutions of higher education has been one strategy used to improving the integration of first-generation college students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal impact of comprehensive academic support programs on the academic and social integration of first-generation college students during the 2008 academic year at a large public research university. This study employed a quantitative research design using variables from the 2008 CIRP Freshman Survey and the 2009 YFCY Survey. Astin's Input-Environment-Outcome model (1991) was used to examine the impact of the independent measures selected. The analysis plan utilized statistical weighting, factor analysis, descriptive statistics, and multivariate regressions. The results of this study indicated: 1) first-generation FYE students were not academically integrated into college by the end of the first year but participation in a comprehensive academic support program did have a positive impact on their academic integration; and 2) first-generation FYE students were socially integrated into college by the end of the first year and participation in a comprehensive academic support program did have a positive impact on their social integration. These findings have implications for theoretical frameworks, secondary education, and large public research institutions. / text

<p>The research findings are grouped according to the three themes identified which includes the relevance of the module, the effectiveness of the teaching and learning approaches and methods, and the integration of generic and discipline specific academic literacy. The researcher hopes this study will help illuminate perceptions of part-time students&rsquo / about the Academic Literacy for Commerce course and also how it can be improved to better serve the needs of part-time students.</p>

<p>The research findings are grouped according to the three themes identified which includes the relevance of the module, the effectiveness of the teaching and learning approaches and methods, and the integration of generic and discipline specific academic literacy. The researcher hopes this study will help illuminate perceptions of part-time students&rsquo / about the Academic Literacy for Commerce course and also how it can be improved to better serve the needs of part-time students.</p>

Magister Artium - MA / The research findings are grouped according to the three themes identified which includes the relevance of the module, the effectiveness of the teaching and learning approaches and methods, and the integration of generic and discipline specific academic literacy. The researcher hopes this study will help illuminate perceptions of part-time students' about the Academic Literacy for Commerce course and also how it can be improved to better serve the needs of part-time students. / South Africa

A generally untested assumption within the stereotype threat literature is that it is only those individuals who are highly identified with a domain who will be susceptible to stereotype threat. Further, many of the studies on stereotype threat have been confined to artificial laboratory settings and have been conducted on American samples. The current study aimed to develop a measure of domain-identification in order to test this central assumption of stereotype threat theory on a sample of students in a humanities access programme in a South African university. Results indicate that the experience of stereotype threat varies with respect to the combination of 1) the degree of domain-identification, and 2) the degree to which students are aware of negative domain-relevant stereotypes. That is, students who were highly domain-identified and were highly or moderately aware of negative stereotypes performed worse than highly domain-identified individuals who had low levels of awareness of others negative stereotypes about their in-group. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

The main aim of the study was (1) to identify errors committed by learners in financial mathematics and (2) to understand why learners continue to make such errors so that mechanisms to avoid such errors could be devised. The following has been hypothesised; (1) errors committed by learners are not impact upon by language difficulties, (2) errors committed by learners in financial mathematics are not due to prerequisite skills, facts and concepts, (3) errors committed by learners in financial mathematics are not due to the application of irrelevant rules and strategies. Having used Polya’s problem-solving techniques, Threshold Concept and Newman’s Error Analysis as the theoretical frameworks for the study, a four-point Likert scale and three content-based structured-interview questionnaires were developed to address the research questions. The study was conducted by means of a case study guided by the positivists’ paradigm where the research sample comprised of 105 Grade-10 Mathematics Literacy learners as respondents. Four sets of structured-interview questionnaires were used for collecting data, aimed at addressing the main objective of the study. In order to test the reliability and consistency of the questionnaires for this study, Cronbach’s Alpha was calculated for standardised items (α = 0.705). Content analysis and correlation analysis were employed to analyse the data. The three hypotheses of this study were tested using the ANOVA test and hence revealed that, (1) errors committed by learners in financial mathematics are not due to language difficulties, as all the variables illustrated a statistical non-significance (2) errors committed by learners in financial mathematics are not due to prerequisite skills, facts and concepts, as the majority of the variables showed non-significance and (3) errors committed by learners in financial mathematics were due to the application of irrelevant rules and strategies, as 66.7% of the variables illustrated a statistical significance to the related research question.