Significant importance has been placed on STEM education to encourage students to enter into careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. United States education system is looking ways to provide a positive student-learning environment to improve student achievement, critical and rational thinking, analysis, and synthesis of information. In higher education, the role of community colleges is undergoing a major transformation in the United States education system. Researchers place community colleges as one of the most important innovations for higher education in the 20th century. Community colleges not only provide affordable education, but also offer a wide variety of programs ranging from vocational to transfer. With the growing number of adult/ nontraditional learners across higher education, it has now become an utmost national priority to engage and retain this student population. As per the 2011 data by National Center for Education Statistics, the adult population in undergraduate courses is growing steadily over the last many years to the extent that it could overtake the numbers of the traditional students enrolled in four-year colleges and universities. The AACC (American Association of Community Colleges) released Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation's Future, A report from the 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges in 2012 during the 21st Century Initiative to offer recommendations and ideas to promote skills that are needed for students to be successful in college, careers, and life. Later, in 2014, they released Empowering community colleges to build the nation's future to help community colleges build a stronger community of students. P21's Framework for 21st Century Learning offers 4Cs, of which collaboration is mentioned as an important pedagogical technique, an educational outcome, and a key skill in various levels of education. This guide suggests that students learn best when they are provided collaborative learning environments; student achievements are higher when they are engaged with others in their learning environments. Students collaborate by working in teams; learn content by identifying problems and finding solutions. This can not only help build content knowledge, but can also develop critical thinking and creativity. Collaboration can actually help develop the other 4Cs. By implementing this unique pedagogical mode of instruction, in the form of collaboration in biology classrooms, improved student content achievement could be seen, thus improving STEM literacy across the nation. The purpose of this study was to explore the learning benefits of collaboration in a community college STEM classroom. The participants in this study consisted of students (n= 155) enrolled in Biology 101 or Biology 141 at Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC). A descriptive analysis of the students' assessment scores (pretest and posttest), science vocabulary familiarity scale (SVFS), and demographic surveys were conducted. Results revealed that collaborative learning approach in the community-college classroom results in changes to students' biology science content knowledge. The results of this study have direct implications for the STEM educator within biological sciences, and in future for not only other fields of integrative STEM education, but for non-STEM courses in higher education. Collaboration enables STEM disciplines to increase opportunities for knowledge sharing and exchange, thereby increasing knowledge and competence. In other studies, researchers have found that students who worked in collaborative environments retained information much longer and deeper as compared to students who worked individually in traditional classrooms. In addition, students who studied in an active and collaborative environment scored better in cognition and psychological activities as compared to students taught in traditional classrooms. The results of this study supported that collaboration was an effective means to improve students' learning outcomes in a biology-based classroom at the community college level. / PHD / The purpose of this study was to explore the learning benefits of collaboration in a community college STEM classroom. Collaboration is defined as a “talk, discourse, conversation, communication”, in this case, between two or more undergraduate students in a general biology classroom at the community college (Bush, 2001). It was found that when students learn in collaboration, then they tend to do better in understanding the conceptual process and terms of a subject. They also do better on the assessment test than students who learn in a traditional environment. Collaboration increases opportunities for knowledge sharing and exchange. Researchers have found that students who worked in collaborative environments retained information much longer and deeper as compared to students who worked individually in traditional classrooms. In addition, students who studied in an active and collaborative environment scored better on tests as compared to students who were taught in traditional classrooms. The results of this study supported that collaboration was an effective means to improve students’ learning outcomes in a biology-based classroom at the community college level.

This study examined changes in funding and expenditures for the forty-seven public community college districts in Texas from 1974 through 1983. Expenditures data were subdivided into three parts: state reimbursable operating costs, nonreimbursable operating costs, and the cost of bonded indebtedness. Data on income for operations were aggregated in four parts: state appropriations, tuition and fees, local property taxes, and miscellaneous funds. For the purpose of determining differences in expenditure and income trends by institutional size, each of the forty-seven public community college districts was categorized as small, medium, or large in size. The findings indicate that for the period of the study some changes occurred in both expenditures and funding. In the area of expenditures, nonreimbursable operating costs increased as a proportion of total expenditures while the proportionate cost of bonded indebtedness declined. Small colleges experienced the largest increase in nonreimbursable costs, diminishing the dollars available for instructional costs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate what contributes to Hispanic student engagement and success. The research was twofold, and included 1) a review of highly-engaging and Hispanic-serving community colleges’ programs, practices, and services that contributed to Hispanic student success; and 2) an investigation of Hispanic students’ experiences and relationships that contributed to their success. This was a qualitative investigation to illuminate quantitative data on four colleges across the United States that scored above-average on three or more CCSSE Benchmarks in 2007. Eighteen Hispanic students who were near degree or certificate completion and transfer were interviewed. This research also included Recommendations for Research and Practice, all for the purposes of promoting Hispanic student engagement and success in community colleges. / text

During the last decade the term "economic development" has been widely used in community college policy statements and literature, but the meaning of the term has lacked clarity and consistency in interpretation. Additionally, there is little empirical information regarding the design of community college economic development programs. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, to determine community college faculty and administrator perceptions of the term "economic development". Second, to analyze the actors, processes, organizational structures, role of faculty and external forces affecting economic development programs at community colleges. A political/pluralistic framework and qualitative research methods were selected to capture the dynamics of a complex, multi-college community college district. The study found that college constituents hold varying interpretations of the term "economic development". Full-time faculty define economic developments in terms of employable skills and job training for students. Administrators, almost without exception, perceive economic development as serving the needs of business, primarily large, corporate businesses. The organizational structure for economic development programs includes a centralized district economic development department and some college-level business and industry institutes. These structures are primarily "stand alone" entities, largely administratively run, operating parallel to but separate from the traditional, main educational functions of the college. The purpose of the district economic development department is to help recruit large, corporate businesses and to hire and train a work force for relocating or expanding companies. The economic development role of the community colleges is primarily industrial training. Few full-time faculty participate in the development and implementation of economic development courses or programs which are primarily designed and taught by independent contractors, many times employees of the company receiving the training. The study raises the question of whether community college economic development programs are driven by state or local interests because of the emphasis on serving primarily large, corporate companies in lieu of small to middle size local companies. Also, in light of diminishing state and local resources and additional demands placed on community colleges, policymakers must reevaluate their role in economic development and existing methods of funding such programs.

The overall purpose of this case study has been to examine how the dominant mission of the community college was selectively interpreted or modified. Through interviews of nine faculty members and nine members of the administration of institutional records, and newspaper accounts, an analysis was made, using three perspectives, history and tradition, resource dependency, and social interpretation of reality. From the perspective of history and tradition the organization was examined to see what aspects of the mission were "deposited" from the past in terms of program emphasis and changes over time in the formal mission statement. Politics could not be separated from history. Examining funding from outside sources of revenue demonstrated that shifts in resources were congruent with changes in the composition of the Board and with changes in interpretation of the mission. Resources seemed to influence the interpretation of the mission of the college, but were interwoven with history and politics so it was difficult to separate out which influence predominated. The perspective of selective interpretation demonstrated that the forces determining the selective interpretation of the mission were all conflated. Although the overall force that was the most powerful was the political economic force, the minorities and the human development voices maintained an influence. My research has shown that the mission is socially and politically constructed over time.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which marginal costs of instruction vary by curricular area at two-year higher education institutions in the U.S. A subordinate objective was to determine the extent to which these costs vary for similar curricular areas among (1) "public" institutions versus "private, not-for-profit" versus "private, for-profit" institutions, and (2) "junior colleges" versus "community colleges" versus "technical colleges." The curricular areas targeted for marginal cost generation in the study were (1) arts and sciences, (2) business and data processing, (3) health, (4) service, (5) trades and (6) technical. Marginal costs were estimated in the study by means of regression analysis. Three different classes of cost function and quasi-cost function regression models were utilized: (1) enrollment-based models, (2) degree-based models, and (3) award-based models. These differed as to the types of measures utilized to account for "output" at institutions. In all models, some version of "total expenditure on instruction" served as the dependent variable. Variables pertaining to costs of input factors and to technologies of production served, along with "output" data, as independent variables in the study. Virtually all data used in the study were obtained from 1989-90 Integrated Postsecondary Educational Data System (IPEDS) surveys and were cross-sectional in nature. Four different regression model specifications were attempted in the study: (1) linear, (2) double-log, (3) linear with second order and interaction terms ("linear translog-like"), and (4) logarithmic with second order and interaction terms ("translog-like"). The effectiveness of each of these functional forms varied by institutional sector. Statistically significant marginal cost estimates were obtained in the study for all six curricular areas in most institutional sectors, but conflicting sets of estimates often were observed. As a result, the investigation was only partially successful in determining whether marginal costs of instruction for similar curricular areas varied systematically by institutional sector. In addition, a lack of data regarding quality of output rendered cross-sectoral comparisons tenuous. It was concluded that disaggregation of institutions into more homogeneous units of analysis in future studies held potential for the generation of more definitive marginal cost results.

The purpose of this study was to describe the factors that helped to increase the academic success of 13 low-track Hispanic students who attended a local community college. The participants graduated from a nearby high school within the service district of the community college in 1991 or 1992. They were chosen from among other low-track students at the community college using the following criterion: At the conclusion of their freshman year in college, they had completed at least 24 units with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. These students, who were designated as "outlying students," provided the data for the study. Data were collected using (1) the students' high school and college permanent records, (2) a personal survey form, and (3) a personal interview with each student. The data provided the researcher with evidence that the students perceived the following factors as key to increasing their academic success at the community college: (1) The students' high personal perceptions of themselves and their high regard for receiving a postsecondary education and a degree. (2) The college instructors' concern for them, which provided a support system that enabled them to complete their courses successfully. (3) The college's remedial program, which provided the outlying students with a means for bringing their academic skills up to a level that would allow them to cope successfully with college academic demands. (4) The support system provided by their parents, which furnished not only "human support" (money, clothing, etc.), but also "emotional support" (encouragement and purpose). Although this research was limited in sample size, it provided the researcher, a community college instructor, with several suggestions for helping the community college to provide services to help low-track students to achieve academic success.

This study was conducted to ascertain whether or not the opportunities for developing competencies in descriptive geometry needed by draftsmen in the Dallas -Fort Worth area are being provided in Texas junior colleges. Findings concerning the knowledge, skills, and equipment associated with descriptive geometry as it is presented in Texas junior colleges were compared with competencies in descriptive geometry that representatives of industry believe are important for successful draftsmen in companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The purpose of the study is to compile information which will be of use to school officials and teachers in developing courses of study that will enable students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for success in industry.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

As the high failure rate in developmental mathematics remains a national concern (Bonham et al., 2011), community colleges have begun experimenting with alternative delivery and design for remedial mathematics sequences. One approach was to implement mathematical literacy in their program, focusing on quantitative reasoning. Mathematical Literacy is an individual’s ability to formulate situations and reason mathematically, employ mathematical tools, concepts and procedures as well as to explain, apply and evaluate mathematical results (OECD, 2017). The intent of this study was to observe and evaluate learner attitudes regarding mathematics in a community college mathematical literacy course. Two groups of students from two different courses were part of the study; one group was in a mathematical literacy course and another group in an elementary algebra course. To measure students’ growth in self-confidence and in the perceived value and usefulness of mathematics, quantitative data were collected with an anonymous pre- and post-mathematics attitudes survey from the mathematical literacy course and the elementary algebra course. In addition, qualitative data were gathered with an open-ended question administered to participants in the mathematical literacy sections during the last week of the semester to offer richer insights into the findings from the attitude survey. Findings from the quantitative data revealed statistically significant effects for participants in the mathematical literacy course compared to their counterparts in the elementary algebra course in the area of attitudes regarding the perceived value and usefulness of mathematics, real-world problems, working in groups, as well as using computers in mathematics courses. Qualitative data were aligned with the findings from the quantitative data and indicated participants’ positive views on working in groups, the usefulness of the mathematical literacy course, and improvement of their attitudes regarding mathematics thanks to the course. The study suggested further research to improve our understandings of mathematical literacy and its impact.