<p> The current state of community college student engagement literature is that it is rich with journal articles and research but limited on tools with which to measure the construct of engagement. The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), a widely cited survey of community college student engagement, is one way to measure engagement, though this instrument has come under scrutiny for the validity of its benchmarks, its lack of emphasis on cultural considerations, and its length. The present study sought to create and validate a new survey of community college student engagement that would take less than 10 minutes to complete and drew on the most current body of literature on college student engagement. A second aim of this study was to understand community college student engagement by interpreting the results of the instrument created, the Brief Assessment of Student Engagement (BASE), and comparing it to other research on student engagement. The BASE was created and revised based on a literature review, rounds of interviews with students, feedback from higher education administrators and faculty, and a pilot administration. The BASE was then administered to a randomly selected group of students. Several significant, though weak to moderate, relationships were found between questions on the BASE and items from the CCSSE. Significant differences between scores based on age of participants was found, with those participants aged 30-35 scoring higher than those aged 18-24. A significant though weak relationship was also found between score on the BASE and GPA. Implications are discussed. </p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the overall lived experiences of DACAmented Latina/o students enrolled within the California Community College system. Adding to the limited research on the undocumented student population, specifically those who are Deferred Action recipients, findings highlight the experiences of students who have persisted in higher education by drawing on their cultural wealth to pursue their dreams and aspirations regardless of their status. From the voices of 10 students three themes emerged, (a) coming of age as undocumented, (b) navigating higher education, and (c) the impact of DACA. These three themes will demonstrate how this population makes sense of their status and navigates higher education within a time of constant change and uncertainty in our country at both the federal and state level. This study adds to the research on DACAmented Latina/o community college students, offers recommendations for practice and state and federal policy are also discussed.</p>

<p> Colleges and universities in the United States are enrolling a growing number of veterans returning home from military service. Many of these veterans struggle in their transition from military to collegiate and civilian life. To augment college resources provided to assist veterans in their transition, this study offered and assessed the effects of a curriculum intervention associated with expressive writing activities over the course of a semester and within a classroom setting consisting of veterans. Designed as practitioner action research within a constructivist epistemology, the study took place at a community college in California within a for-credit, college-level English composition course designed for veterans. The study&rsquo;s research question was: <i>What are the perceived effects on the well-being of student veterans who write expressively about their military experiences? </i> The study&rsquo;s findings suggest that student veterans who engage in expressive writing activities within a classroom setting are likely to experience improvement in their self-reported well-being relative to their self-efficacy in terms of college, life in general, social support, their future, and gaining perspective to make meaning of their military experiences as they transition from military to civilian life. Key insights are offered for educators interested in offering expressive writing for veterans on college campuses.</p>

<p> There have been multiple studies regarding the levels of satisfaction or self-efficacy of adjunct faculty members; however, there have been few studies examining possible differences between adjuncts who have a positive desire to remain at their jobs and those who reluctantly remain. Secondary institutions are increasingly employing part-time adjunct staff in higher numbers and understanding the job satisfaction and self-efficacy of this changing workforce is valuable. The purpose of this quantitative, descriptive, and causal comparative study was to describe the levels of job satisfaction and self-efficacy of reluctant and enthusiastic stayers, as described in proximal withdrawal states theory, and identify differences between these groups among adjunct faculty at community colleges across California. Forty-seven participants self-reported their job satisfaction, teaching self-efficacy, and desire to remain on the job. Adjuncts respondents were grouped into those who are reluctant stayers and enthusiastic stayers, and found to differ in reported satisfaction and dissatisfaction in aspects of their jobs. While both groups expressed dissatisfaction in pay and opportunities for promotions, significant differences were found in the average responses between the two groups, with reluctant stayers reporting lower levels of job satisfaction and self-efficacy than enthusiastic stayers. Implications from the findings include steps that should be taken by administrators to improve levels of satisfaction of adjuncts. Future research should explore aspects of these findings with random studies with larger sample sizes. The information gleaned from the study should be a starting point for additional research into how job satisfaction and teaching self-efficacy differ between those who are reluctant stayers and enthusiastic stayers among adjunct faculty.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study is centered on health information management (HIM) student learning outcomes and attrition in an online learning environment as compared with that of a traditional face-to-face learning environment. Online education has become mainstream and enrollment continues to grow even though overall enrollment in higher education has decreased (Poulin &amp; Straut, 2016). In addition, colleges and universities retain fewer online students than traditional face-to-face students (Brown, 2017). Furthermore, student satisfaction has been labeled as a measure of quality for online education (Online Learning Consortium, 2017). The Community of Inquiry theory of student satisfaction with an online learning environment was utilized as the theoretical framework for this study (Garrison, Anderson, &amp; Archer, 2000). Quantitative data were collected from accredited two-year associate health information management program directors for analysis in this study. Students currently enrolled in health information management online courses were surveyed with a Community of Inquiry survey instrument to assess their perceptions of satisfaction with online courses. Descriptive analysis methods were utilized to answer the four research questions which guided this study. The findings of the study on differences between the national Registered Health Information Technician final exam scores and domain scores from graduates of traditional face-to-face courses with similar peers enrolled in online courses demonstrated a significant difference with lower overall scores for online graduates. On the other hand, there was no statistically significant difference between attrition rates of traditional face-to-face and online programs. Based on the analysis of the Community of Inquiry data, students of current online HIM courses have an above average degree of satisfaction.</p><p>

<p>The California community college system is the largest in the country and is a crucial part of the higher education system. The ESL population within that system is a significant one in terms of size and needs. In order to successfully educate this population, the language-learning instruction must be appropriate, current, and effective. In today&rsquo;s technological world, that means it must incorporate the technologies of the modern world in which these community college ESL students live and work. While technology use in language learning and teaching has been the subject of many studies, the use of technologies by community college ESL faculty in credit courses has been less investigated. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to investigate technology use within community college credit ESL classes in three areas: (a) the best and most frequently used technologies, (b) the way technologies are used, and (c) the barriers to technology use. The methodology for the study was a modified electronic Delphi survey. Two rounds of the survey were conducted with a panel of experts in order to reach consensus on the areas under investigation. </p><p> The study revealed that: (a) the most frequently used technologies in the community college ESL classroom are desktop computers, ESL websites, the Internet, and smartphones; (b) technologies are being used in traditional ways; (c) technologies are being used to teach independent learning and collaboration, and to teach technological skills; (d) technologies are being used to support and enhance the learning environment; (e) the primary barriers to technology use in community college credit ESL courses are training, funding, and time, the State, students&rsquo; language abilities, and students&rsquo; technology abilities. These findings add to Dobransky&rsquo;s (2015) recent research on ESL in community colleges and the broader work of Kessler (2013) and Fuchs and Akbar (2013). </p><p> The findings of this study may be utilized as a call to further investigation on the practical applications of technology use that is or is not happening in community college ESL classrooms. It may also be utilized to inform and inspire new leadership at all levels within the community college system to set priorities and policies to eliminate barriers to technology use and to broaden technology use to go beyond on-site traditional uses. </p>

This study evaluated the attributes, teaching effectiveness and educational commitment of part-time faculty in enrollment-funded community colleges. The Student Instructional Rating instrument was used to measure student perceptions of instructors in the community college. Twenty four community colleges were randomly selected from North Carolina. Within each college, four full-time and four part-time faculty were randomly selected to participate in the study. Attributes of part-time faculty were compared to attributes of full-time faculty. Teaching effectiveness was assessed from dimensions on the Student Instructional Rating instrument. Various dimensions on the SIR including Faculty/Student Interaction, Overall Quality of the Course, Course Difficulty, and Lectures were used to evaluate instructional effectiveness. A regression model was used to evaluate the attributes of teaching effectiveness for both full-time and part-time faculty and the slopes of regression coefficients were evaluated to determine how effective part-time instruction differed from effective full-time instruction. Part-time faculty were perceived as effective when compared to their full-time counterpart on the dimensions of Faculty/Student Interaction. Other demographic attributes of part-time faculty were evaluated with no significant difference between full-time and part-time faculty. However, full-time faculty were perceived more effective on Overall Quality of the Course, Lectures, Textbooks, and Reading Assignments. Part-time faculty commitment to non-instructional tasks was assessed and the implications for teaching effectiveness were examined. This study also discussed the shift in instructional workloads from part-time to full-time faculty as the number of part-time faculty increase.

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of general education and occupational program articulation efforts and practices as they existed between community colleges and the public secondary and vocational schools in Virginia. The problem was to also determine if a positive climate existed which was necessary for the planning of articulated programs between the secondary, vocational, and community college systems. The climate was determined by the perceptions reported by administrators toward articulation activities. The population studied included the academic deans from 10 Virginia community colleges and the principals of representative public secondary and vocational schools from each of the selected college service areas. Paired questionnaires were utilized to assess the status of articulation activities and to determine the attitudes of administrators toward articulation activities. Chi square statistics were used to analyze the data. Seven null hypotheses were tested in the study. Comparisons were made based on the responses of the three administrative groups as related to the type of institution, the geographical setting (rural or urban), the geographical location, and the size of the community college. It was concluded that community college administrators, secondary school principals, and vocational school principals indicated overall positive attitudes toward articulation activities. Overall participation of secondary and vocational schools in articulation activities with community colleges was well below the 50% level. Administrators involved in articulation activities felt very positive about the overall benefits of such involvement. Administrators not involved in articulation activities tended to hold positive feelings toward the initiation of most articulation practices. Significant attitudinal differences were identified in administrators' opinions concerning college level courses being offered in the high schools, the sharing of educational resources, and the utilization of college faculty in the high school. Significant differences in the participation of adminstrators in articulation activities were identified in the areas of cooperative program development, the offering of college level classes in high schools, sharing of educational resources, the formulation of written articulation guidelines and policies, and attendance at articulation meetings. Nearly all administrators felt the high school programs were providing the type of preparation needed by students to succeed in community college programs, and they felt positively that high school vocational programs should be designed to allow students to continue in their specialty area at the community college as well as to enter the labor market.

No description available.

A local community college is experiencing low level student retention. . The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of administrators, faculty and students regarding the low student retention rate. The participants for this qualitative case study included 6 former students who withdrew from the local community college before completing their degrees, 2 faculty members, and 2 administrators. The conceptual framework was constructivism. Research questions were designed to elicit perceptions of understanding retention issues in terms of adult learning and documenting the problem of retention. Data were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews and document review to answer the research questions. Interview data were coded, and 10 themes were identified. Themes included lack of socialization, cost of tuition, lack of online options, class scheduling, student self-discipline, quality of faculty, institutional support, high schools not preparing students for college, 2 year degree implications, and parental pressure. Document review showed that minimal efforts were present to track students or educate faculty regarding adult learning through the 2 year degree process. The key results showed that student retention was a problem that needed to be addressed at both the faculty and administrative levels. The themes resulting from data analysis served as the basis for creation of a 3-day professional development training project for faculty and administrators at the college. This study and resulting project might encourage positive social change for the students, faculty, administration, and college by improving retention rates and graduating more students into the workforce.