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Community colleges have utilized distance education to reach previously underserved populations. Considering the educational opportunities afforded by increased Internet access and the history of community colleges of providing open access to all individuals, it is no wonder that distance education has grown as a means of extending education in rural areas. Along with taking advantage of these opportunities, community colleges must also be committed to the success of students in the online environment. There is a need to identify individual student characteristics that predict success in the online environment in order to provide appropriate course enrollment advising. This study examines demographic and educational variables of online students at Bevill State Community College, with the goal of identifying the predictive ability of student characteristics on success in online courses. Online learners at Bevill State were mostly females and roughly half had completed an introductory computer course before enrolling in an online class. The average age of the participants was 25.57. These individuals had an average GPA of 3.07 and had completed an average of 4.56 semesters of college. Overall, 71.1% of the participants were successful in the online course in which they were enrolled, having achieved a grade of D or higher. The logistic regression model of five predictor variables was 72% accurate in predicting student success and non-success. Results show that the major factors influencing whether a person is successful in online classes are: age at the time of enrollment, overall GPA before enrollment, and the number of semesters of previous college experience. These findings indicate that students who are older, have more experience in college, and who have had more success in the traditional classroom may be more likely to be successful in the online environment. As online education continues its growth, identifying factors that help to distinguish between those who may be successful and those who may not will help students, advisors, and administrators make informed decisions about course enrollments. Future research should include a variety of methodologies to further explore the variables identified here as well as others that may influence student success in the online environment.

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This investigation examines college success in freshman and sophomore level biology courses for students with biology AP credit by addressing the following questions: One, Does AP biology experience increase academic performance in freshman biology? Do AP students with scores of 3 significantly outperform non-AP students? Do AP students with scores of 5 significantly outperform non-AP students in sophomore level biology courses? Two groups of college freshman and sophomores, those with AP biology scores and those without, were matched in regards to gender and SAT scores and instructor of record. Results suggest that students with biology AP scores of 3 may not, as suggested by the College Board, be adequately prepared to enroll directly into sophomore level biology courses. Results from this dissertation suggest the following implications: (a) AP students with final AP exam scores of 1 and 2 have derived little if any benefit from their yearlong AP biology course and the AP final exam in regards to Freshman Biology I; (b) AP biology students with scores of 3 and 4 on their end-of-the-year biology AP exam appear to be well prepared to be successful, based on mean final grades, in Freshman Biology I; (c) There is no supporting evidence that suggests AP students with AP final exam scores of 3 or 4 are adequately prepared to enroll directly into sophomore level biology courses and be successful; and (d) AP students with scores of 5 who have enrolled directly into sophomore level biology courses did not significantly outperform, based on mean final grades, non-AP students who have taken the two semester sequence of freshman biology courses. Further research needs to be done at each college and university participating in the Advanced Placement program to set appropriate cut off scores for the end-of-the-year AP exam score in regards to awarding college credit. Moreover, a considerable amount of research carried out thus far fails to capture many of the variables known to be associated with college success. Therefore, further research done in this area needs to control for these other variables. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to determine appropriate content objectives for a human anatomy and physiology course for associate degree nursing students. To accomplish the purpose,of the study, it was necessary to achieve the following goals: 1. Starting with an initial set of objectives for a course in human-anatomy and physiology for associate degree nursing students, obtain the opinions of three groups of nurse educators in regard to the importance value of each objective. 2. Rank order the objectives according to mean value of importance, based on the ratings given by each group of nurse educators. 3. Determine the extent of agreement of ranking across the three groups of nurse educators. 4. Use the mean ratings of the objectives produced by the three groups of nurse educators to make recommendations concerning the selection of objectives for a course in human anatomy and physiology for associate degree nursing students. / Ed. D.

The problem of this thesis is to determine what affiliated courses are most frequently offered to the students who attend the regular four year high schools in Texas, and to determine the relationship of the subjects taught to the scholastic population of the school.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management