Student retention is one of the most important issues facing higher education. The demand for accountability of higher education has pushed the issue of student retention to the forefront of its agenda. Increasingly, state legislatures are tying funding to institutional effectiveness, using graduation rates as measures of academic quality. Though there is an abundance of literature of studies conducted at the four year institution, few studies have examined the community college student. This study attempted to identify 4 specific pre-enrollment variables, (1) parent's education, (2) high school senior grade point average, (3) educational goals and (4) racial origin, as predictors of persistence and retention. The sample included 312 entering freshmen at North Lake College in Irving, Texas who were administered the College Student Inventory (CSI) in the fall semesters of 1995 and 1996. The 1995 cohort consisted of 201 entries, 103 (51.2%) female and 98 (48.8) male. The 1996 cohort consisted of 111 entries, 65 (58.5%) female and 46 (41.5%) male. A data base was constructed by extracting selected data elements from the completed inventory. Each student was tracked for one year following the semester they completed the survey. The Pearson Chi-Square Test of Independence with .05 level of significance as the criterion level of rejection was performed to identify significant variables tied to student persistence. The research found that 3 factors, high school senior GPA, parent's education level and family origin were significant predictors of attrition at the .05 level. These factors represent information that is typically available from the student's prior to entry into the college. All too often an at-risk student is identified once he/she is placed on academic probation prompting the student to leave the college. Institutions need to implement an early warning system to identify students who are at-risk before the problem becomes intractable. The institution can then implement strategies and programs that would foster efforts to increase student engagement and retention. This study has demonstrated that there are important pre-enrollment data available to institutions that can assist potential non-persisters by identifying them early in their educational tenure.

student achievement and attitude changes toward science resulting from three different approaches used in teaching introductory general education biology at Diablo Valley Community College in Pleasant Hill, California , were compared. The three teaching approaches used were the lecture-only, lecture - laboratory and lecture-recitation. The sample was composed of 129 students enrolled in Biology 101 and 102 at Diablo Valley Community College during fall semester 1974-75. Forty-three students comprised the control group taught by the lecture-only method. Forty-three students comprised the experimental group taught by the lecture-laboratory method. Forty-three students comprised a second experimental group taught by the lecture-recitation method. Student Achievement was measured using two subject matter achievement test. One test was the Nelson Biology Test consisting of 65 multiple-choice items. A reliability coefficient of .93 was established using the Kuder Richardson Formula 20. A second achievement test consisting of 100 multiple-choice questions was constructed by the investigator. A reliability coefficient of .89 was established using the Kuder Richardson Formula 20. Student attitude change toward science was measured using a Scientific Attitude Inventory constructed by Richard Moore at Temple University. A reliability coefficient of .73 was established using the Kuder Richardson Formula 20. Analysis of covariance was used to compare mean posttest scores for the three groups involved in each hypothesis. The Scheffe' Test was used to make comparisons between pairs of group mean posttest scores. At the .05 level of significance, it was found that (1) students taught by the lecture-laboratory method had higher mean achievement scores than students taught by the lecture-only method when measured by either the Nelson Biology Test or the teacher-made test, (2) students taught by the lecture-laboratory method did not have significantly different mean achievement scores on the Nelson Biology Test than students taught by the lecture-recitation method, (3) students taught by the lecture-recitation method did not have significantly different mean achievement scores on the Nelson Biology Test or the teacher-made test than students taught by the lecture-only method when SCAT scores were used as the covariate, (4) students taught by the lecture-laboratory method had significantly higher mean achievement scores on the teacher-made test than students in the lecture-recitation group when SCAT scores were used as the covariate, (5) student attitudes toward science were not significantly different for the students taught by the lecture-laboratory method than for students taught by the lecture-recitation method as measured by the Scientific Attitude Inventory, and (6) students attitudes toward science were changed more favorably by the lecture-laboratory and lecture-recitation methods than by the lecture-only method as measured by the Scientific Attitude Inventory. The results of this study suggest that students benefit when they experience a personal involvement with biological materials and laboratory equipment in investigating principles taught in the lecture portion of the course. The personal hands-on experience in designing and carrying out investigations in the laboratory helps students to more closely identify with the biology course and the work of the biologist. Results also suggest that students benefit by the extra time offered by the laboratory experience. Students achieve more and indicate a more favorable change in attitude toward science upon completion of the lecture-laboratory course than do students completing the lecture-only course or the lecture-recitation course.

The problem of this study was a comparison of attitudes toward and achievement in biology between students enrolled in an introductory biology course taught using instructional television and as taught at Tarrant County Junior College South Campus in the spring semester of 1982.

The problem of this study was to assess the concerns and locus of control of black women enrolled in an urban community college district and to answer the following question. What is the relationship between each of those concerns and locus of control and each of the following demographic data: current hourly enrollment, number of college credits earned, age, marital status, number of dependent children, age of youngest child, estimated total annual income, and time of day of classes (whether the majority of their classes are during the day, at night, on Saturdays, any combination of the three or mostly telecourses)?

The stages of motivational readiness to change leisure time physical activity behavior of students from two Mississippi community colleges were investigated. The Stages of Motivational Readiness to Change (SMRC) model postulates that behavior change is a longitudinal process described by five stages that assess an individual?s motivational level relative to changing leisure time physical activity behavior. That is, individuals are positioned in one of the following five stages at any given point in time: (a) precontemplation (i.e., no intention to change); (b) contemplation (i.e., considering a change); (c) preparation (i.e., small changes already made toward an ultimate behavior goal); (d) action (i.e., a desired behavior has been adopted); or (e) maintenance (i.e., working to prevent a relapse). The Physical Activity Stages of Change Questionnaire (PASQ) was used for data collection in this study. The results revealed 35% were completely sedentary (precontemplation, contemplation) and 64.9% were participating in occasional or regular leisure time physical activity (preparation, action, maintenance). To examine the dependency of stage position upon ethnicity, gender, age, and income, the chi-square test of independence was performed. Findings indicated stage position to be independent of ethnicity, but dependent upon the remaining independent variables. This study?s conclusions indicated that stage-matched interventions are necessary to increase and maintain individual leisure time physical activity behavior.

This study investigated the use of alternative performance instruction delivery methods on student achievement in a Principles of Marketing course taught at New River Community College during the 1993 fall semester. The study sought to determine if alternative delivery methods of performance instruction would influence students' achievement in the course. The design of the study was quasi-experimental. Two treatment groups were engaged by this study. One group received performance instruction using group-directed lecture methods. The other group received performance instruction using distance-learning methods. The planning and evaluation of course content goals were held constant utilizing an expert system, artificial intelligence (AI) application software suite developed by Instructional Performance Systems, Inc. Delivery of course content goals was controlled, in that, the same instructor taught both sections of the course. Student achievement in the course was measured with teacher developed criterion-referenced mid-term and final examinations. The study tested the null hypothesis that performance instruction delivery methods have no significant effect on student achievement at the 0.05 level. The study was enhanced by the collection and analysis of qualitative student data. A Student Profile Data Survey was developed and piloted. The student data provided the basis to profile the student groups and accent study habits. Descriptive statistics and unpaired t-tests were used to analyze student achievement on the mid-term and final examinations. The analysis found no significant difference in student achievement resulting from performance instruction delivery methods. Descriptive statistics and unpaired t-tests were also used to profile student groups and accent study habits. It was concluded, if course syllabi and evaluation are held constant; and delivery is controlled, one can reasonably expect achievement will be the same for group-directed and distance learners. / Ph. D.

This study examined community college students’ educational goals at the time of first enrollment in college and the status of attainment of those goals two and four years later. A comparison of the traditional definition of success for community college students - on time graduation or transfer to a four-year institution - and a definition reflecting Southern Association for Colleges and Schools criteria for institutional effectiveness was conducted to determine what effect changing success criteria would have numbers of students who are considered successful. Between 1985 and 1989, 11,553 student attending community colleges in southwestern Virginia were tracked to determine the degree to which they attained entry level educational goals. Students who enrolled for the purpose of attaining a credential were more likely to graduate and to exceed their educational goals than their non-degree-seeking counterparts. Non-degree-seekers were more likely to attain their educational goals exactly and then discontinue their community college enrollment. Differences among demographic groups are discussed and suggestions for policymakers are given. / Ph. D.

Virginia's mandated student outcomes assessment program, as created by Senate Joint Resolution No. 83 in 1986, allowed community colleges in the Commonwealth latitude in developing their own assessment strategies. These strategies have developed slowly and with some inconsistency. The purpose of this study is to determine the congruency of beliefs about the implementation of Virginia's student outcomes assessment program between purposefully selected members of the Virginia General Assembly and community college assessment practitioners. Data for this study were derived from the review of public documents, and the execution of a survey instrument, the results of which were used to develop interviews with designated state legislators and community college assessment practitioners. The interviews became the primary data source for the study. Findings indicate that the legislative participants believe that used by all community colleges across Virginia would be more appropriate than approaches specifically geared to individual institutional missions. Practitioner respondents differ on this issue. The legislators generally believe that the use of a standardized testing approach administered across all community colleges could be beneficial. The practitioners beliefs differ, though not markedly, from the legislative group. Legislators are evenly divided on the issue of using assessment results for institutional comparison. The practitioner group express reservations concerning this prospect. There exists modest differences of belief between the groups concerning the appropriation of general funds to support individual community colleges based on assessment results. The study findings point to congruence of belief among legislative and practitioner respondents when considering the implementation of outcomes assessment in the area of general education. Agreement of beliefs is also found among the practitioner and legislative groups in the implementation of assessment guidelines affecting the communication of assessment results with the citizenry, accountability issues relating to discontinuance of programs, quality assurance, etc., and the role of assessment in Virginia’s college transfer processes. / Ed. D.

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a training program in summarizing textbook articles on developmental English community college students’ ability to summarize text. Although previous research has documented improvement in reading recall when subjects were taught a hierarchical summary procedure, the study constitutes the first attempt to test whether this procedure can be used to train students to write better summaries. Developmental English students were chosen for study because students in this population typically do poorly at this important academic task. Because summary notes are often considered an aid to recall, the study also measured recall protocols of students who were trained in summary writing in contrast to those who received alternative training. Experimental group students were taught to identify the top three levels of importance and had guided practice with feedback once a week for five weeks. Control group students were given training in vocabulary and comprehension techniques. Passages were at least 1200 words. Scoring was based on inclusion of information from the top three levels of hierarchical structure in each passage. The basic questions of the study were: (1) Is there an interaction between group status and cognitive abilities on summary writing posttest scores? (2) Are students who received training in summarization more proficient at summarizing text than students who received another type of training? (3) Are students who received training in summarization more proficient at recalling text than students who received another type of training? (4) Do students trained in summarization score higher than students trained with other methods on a standardized reading test? Regression analyses indicated the following results: (1) There was no interaction between type of training and cognitive abilities on summary writing posttest scores; high and low students profited equally from instruction. (2) Students trained in summarization performed significantly higher than control group students on the summary writing posttest. (3) Treatment group students did not score significantly higher than control group students on the delayed recall test, but there was a trend towards Significance. (4) There was no significant difference between treatment and control group students’ standardized reading test scores. / Ed. D.

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