<p> Since 2010, there has been a measurable difference between online course completion, hybrid course completion, and classroom-based instruction course completion rates. It has not changed from 2010 to 2015 in spite of the awareness of the issue, the research that has been conducted, and the studies that have acted upon past recommendations. This qualitative single case study explored the reasons why students from a large Southwestern community college were not successful in an introductory computer information systems course. One of the Southwestern community colleges was selected for this study. The participants were students who had taken the introductory computer information systems course, did not successfully complete the course, and was currently in the same course. Research findings in this study were consistent with the existing literature that related to online course completion. The seven theme findings were online instructor interaction was important, students&rsquo; believed computer literacy meant they could succeed in an online course, and the instructor was an often-cited factor for the students non-completion of their online course. There are three recommendations for future research. There were three recommendations for future considerations. The first recommendation is the community college administrators should ensure the adoption of a robust early alert system. The second recommendation is online faculty need a careful and methodical training and education review to ensure the faculty have the right skill sets to teach online. The third recommendation is a systemic, repeatable methodology to identify dates, and times students will be available to take a course may give faculty, and administration guidelines on increasing online course completion.</p>

<p> Nearly half of all college students in the United States begin at community colleges, including higher numbers of students coming from backgrounds which have been historically underrepresented in higher education. Despite record numbers of new students enrolling at community colleges, the number of students who are retained at the institution long enough to be deemed successful, either through transferring or graduating remains largely unchanged and is inadequate to reduce the achievement gap. One theory is that some students enter college with little confidence in their ability to be successful and faculty members are in a unique position to impact student self-efficacy, which ultimately may impact student success. A literature review explores the different ways self-efficacy is tied to college student success and ways the classroom can be used before quantitatively assessing whether a relationship exists between confirmation behaviors employed by faculty members in the classroom and changes in reported academic self-efficacy of students. The research was conducted through a causal comparative matched pair design with Midwestern community college students during their first semester. The results support a relationship between change in self-efficacy and perceived faculty confirmation (r_s= .212, n=70, p=.039^*), particularly for female students (r_s=.331, n=35, p=.026^*) and for those students where neither parent completed a degree higher than high school (r_s=.316, n=46, p=.016^*).</p>

<p> The community college mission has always centered on providing higher education opportunities for all people (American Association of Community Colleges [AACC], 2015a; Bailey, Jaggars, &amp; Jenkins, 2015; Dassance, 2011; Dotzler, 2003; Greenburg, 2008; Schuh, Jones, Harper, &amp; Associates, 2011). However, many students who enrolled at the community college level were not college ready and often required developmental coursework to help bridge the knowledge gap prior to taking college level courses. Unfortunately, those students were unlikely to obtain higher education credentials (Bailey et al., 2015; Carnegie Foundation, 2014). On the other hand, the researcher observed a relatively small number of students who began their community college education at the developmental level, successfully completed the developmental course sequence, completed college level courses, and graduated with a degree while maintaining a high GPA. </p><p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of those students, identified as Emerging Scholars, at a large Midwestern community college. Through interviews the researcher analyzed the perceptions of Emerging Scholars, specifically, factors perceived as beneficial to success and factors perceived as barriers to success while the student completed a minimum of two required developmental courses, completed a minimum of 24 credit hours of college level coursework, and maintained a 3.5 or higher GPA (on a 4.0 scale). </p><p> As expected, the researcher found the concept of success to be complex and multifaceted. However, two key factors emerged as contributing to success: the establishment of a personal goal and positive faculty-student interactions; participants mentioned both as being a contributor to success. There were six additional factors identified as valuable to success: academic support services offered by the college, specific classes, support from others, motivation to persist, having an internal drive to be successful, and having the necessary skills to be successful. The only barrier to success identified was termed &ldquo;uncontrollable events&rdquo; in the lives of study participants. </p><p> The data analysis from this study could assist community college leaders as they search for ways to increase the success of students who begin their college at the developmental level and could shed light on the type of support to be offered to students who may be struggling and potentially helpful to all students.</p>

<p> This study was designed to investigate an accredited dental assisting educational program at a Midwest community college. The Bureau of Labor of Statistics (2015) claimed the profession of dental assisting is one of the fastest growing occupation, along with ongoing research that good oral health is linked to overall general health, thereby increasing the need for more dental assistants in the workforce. The aim of this study was to determine if dental assisting students taking courses in a face-to-face traditional format performed differently from students taking courses in a hybrid (a combination of face-to-face and online) format. The researcher invited a total of 92 students from cohorts in 2012, 2013, and 2014 to participate. Of the students who elected to participate, 62% were from the traditional cohort, and 39% were from the hybrid cohort. Data collected from a cross-sectional survey focused on the tenets of the theory of Communities of Practice. De-identified data were collected to compare students&rsquo; progress between the traditional and hybrid cohorts with retention rates and national examination scores using a t-test for data analysis. The results confirmed no statistically significant performance differences were apparent between the two groups of students. The hybrid delivery format was as effective in educating dental assisting students as the traditional educational format.</p>

<p> Community colleges nationwide struggle with retention and completion of students. The role of two-year institutions is further complicated by the multigenerational diversity of learners. Community college instructors should be prepared to educate students ranging from the traditional-age digital native to a life-long learner 80 or more years in age. Creating a learning environment inclusive of generational learners is central to the mission of the community college. This quantitative study was grounded in two theoretical frameworks. First, Bandura&rsquo;s (1986) social cognitive learning theory provided an understanding for student learning in the social environment. Second, Sch&ouml;n&rsquo;s (1973) organizational learning theory provided an understanding of how educators and administrators use prior experiences to change and improve the learning environment. Five research questions guided this study. The data for these questions were collected from an immediate content recognition task and student engagement survey following a weeklong teaching demonstration. During the demonstration, two groups were taught identical material, one group in a tradition lecture format and the other received in an active learning format. Weeks later, both groups completed a delayed content recognition task to determine retention of information. The results indicated no statistically significance difference when comparing scores of the passive lecture group. However, the results indicated a statistically significance difference for active learners when analyzing overall retention. Scores for active learners decreased on the delayed content task when compared to the immediate task. The findings of this study may be used to assist two-year colleges in determining effective uses of active learning for the multigenerational classroom.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> The purpose of this mixed methods study is to examine the degree to which Washington State community and technical college workforce education administrators perceive their institutions to be labor market-responsive based on the Community College Labor Market Responsiveness assessment&rsquo;s seven dimensions of labor market responsiveness (leadership and governance, organizational structure and staffing, organizational culture, resources and funding, information and data, relationship-building, and partnerships) and to explore the factors impacting each of the seven dimensions. </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> This mixed methods study described 39 Washington State community and technical college workforce administrators&rsquo; perceptions of community college labor market responsiveness. An explanatory design was employed to collect quantitative data to describe, followed by qualitative data to further explain. Data was collected using a web-based survey instrument with fixed-choice Likert-type and open-ended questions. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Overall, 62% of workforce educational administrators perceive the community colleges in Washington to be somewhat or almost always labor market responsive. The two most displayed dimensions were leadership and governance and organizational culture, however, the weakest dimension was organizational structure. The most impactful factors identified were: resources, leadership, workforce focus, organizational factors and external engagement. An unexpected finding was the absence of the practitioners&rsquo; reference to entrepreneurial characteristics, even though this is emphasized by scholars. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> Washington State community and technical colleges are experts in workforce development although many factors impact their ability to effectively respond to labor market needs. This study concludes that Washington State community and technical colleges are perceived to be moderately labor market responsive, yet committed to external relationships and partnerships, and in need of more adequate financial, human and information resources to reach their full potential. Secondly, although there is strong leadership supporting labor market responsiveness efforts, unsupportive organizational structures limit their impact. In addition, entrepreneurial approaches are necessary to navigate resource-limited environments and this is not adequately supported by community colleges. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> Further research is recommended to include other populations, correlate perceptions with other indicators, and compare perceptions between more than one sample. An exploration of entrepreneurial characteristics and vocational program review processes of community colleges should also be studied.</p>

The history, philosophy and mission of community colleges uniquely qualify them for developing partnerships with business, industry and other public and private agencies through contractual agreements for training courses and programs. To uncover the management problems encountered by contract directors at Florida public community colleges, the Delphi Survey Method and Case Interviews were utilized. / To introduce contract training, a recent educational entrepreneurial activity, the issues, problems and present and future trends are discussed. Also included is a literature review of the historical and philosophical evolution of community colleges nationally and in the state of Florida. / Round One of the Delphi Methodology included the contract directors at Florida public community colleges submitting problem issues in each of the management areas of planning, organizing, budgeting, staffing, directing and evaluating. Rounds Two and Three of the study addressed the one hundred fourteen variables submitted by the panelists. Each of these management problems was rated by the respondents on a degree of difficulty scale. A final tabulation of mean, standard deviation and consensus rating is presented on each of the management problem issues. Consensus resulted when the tabulated responses on a problem issue showed a 75 percent or higher selection for a specific rating. However, there were variations in the degree of consensus achieved. The magnitude of the sample standard deviation determined the strength of the consensus rating. / A Framework for Management Analysis and the management problem issues that achieved a high consensus rating of moderately or extremely difficult provided the structure for the Case Interviews. Three Florida community college contract directors of successful and nationally recognized training programs provided background information on their contract program and suggestions for solutions to the most problematic issues. / The study concludes with recommendations for future study which may be derived from other creative uses of the techniques involved in the Delphi Methodology and recommendations for possible solutions to the most problematic contract training management issues uncovered by the study. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-08, Section: A, page: 2083. / Major Professor: William Deegan. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

This study was undertaken to examine the staff development provisions for part-time instructors in the public community college system in Florida, including: funding; commitment to staff development activities; desired and actual content of programs; important delivery systems for implementing desired provisions; problems that have occurred in the past, are currently being faced, and are projected for the future. / A questionnaire designed to answer the research questions was conducted with 17 Florida public community colleges included in the survey. All staff and program development administrators and the college officials in charge of staff development activities for part-time instructors were respondents. The findings showed that about half of the community colleges in this survey offered formal staff development programs with most of these occurring once per term. Almost 60% of the institutions reported that Staff and Program Development funds were utilized in staff development activities. / While the most desired content, delivery systems, and past, current and future problems, were essentially the same for the credit and non-credit instructor, both the college administration and full-time faculty showed a greater commitment to staff development for part-time credit faculty than did part-time faculty themselves. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-04, Section: A, page: 1092. / Major Professor: Marion Neil. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

This study determined the specific inservice faculty development needs of part-time instructors as perceived by the part-time instructors and their supervisors at three selected community colleges in Florida. It also provided insights and basic information to be used by the administrations of community colleges, as well as other institutions of higher education, to plan and effectively implement formalized, collegewide programs of faculty development for part-time instructors. / The study confirmed previous studies and showed that the responding part-time faculty represented nearly every facet of educational experiences. They were nearly equally male and female and had every level of education from the high school diploma to the doctorate. Their teaching experiences ranged from 1 to 80 terms, being at their present institutions from 1 to 22 years. The part-timers showed an interest in participating in many development activities, although they were nearly equally split on their willingness to attend with or without pay. / The study also showed part-timers and department heads being significantly similar in their perception of part-timers' needs. Both the part-time faculty and their supervisors perceived the top inservice needs to be in the areas of instruction, learning, student motivation, and understanding community college philosophy. / However, the evidence indicated a statistical significance in four of six categories of need. In each of the four categories, the supervisors indicated a significantly higher level of need for the activities than the level indicated by part-timers. The amount of education of part-time faculty was the only variable which produced a significant difference in the perception of the part-time faculty of their instructional development needs. Neither sex nor terms of teaching experience nor any combination produced a significant difference. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-07, Section: A, page: 1657. / Major Professor: Allan Tucker. / Thesis (Ed.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 32-12, Section: A, page: 6720. / Thesis (Educat.D.)--The Florida State University, 1971.