The role of the community college is constantly evolving. At its inception in the early 1900’s, the community college’s broad focus was to provide quality, affordable education to the members of the community the college serves. Today, that focus remains the same, but has also morphed into one that meets the specific needs of its students. One of these needs that is a critical issue for community colleges relates to developmental education. The assessment of developmental education has been a contentious subject among higher education institutions. Defining college readiness, methods describing how to measure it, and instruments with which to measure it, have all been issues that higher education researchers have debated. Using multilevel modeling, this study evaluated a customized developmental education assessment measure in a single community college in Florida, and its ability to correctly place students in appropriate courses. The Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (PERT) was implemented in Florida in 2010 as the primary gauge of student readiness based on competencies identified by Florida’s high school, college and university faculty. PERT assesses these competencies in the areas of mathematics, reading and writing. The courses of interest in this study were four math courses offered in community colleges across Florida: Developmental Math I (MAT 0018), Developmental Math II (MAT 0028), Intermediate Algebra (MAT 1033), and College Algebra (MAC 1105). The sample for Developmental Math I consisted of 727 students in 64 sections; for Developmental Math II, 900 students in 197 sections; for Intermediate Algebra, 713 students in 328 sections; and for College Algebra, 270 students in 204 sections. Five models were formulated to investigate the predictive validity of the PERT with final grades in the aforementioned math courses. These models also analyzed the relationships with student and course level predictors. Student level predictors included whether student had a first time in college status, student race/ethnicity, gender, student enrollment status (part-time or full-time), age, PERT score, and final grade in the math course. Course level variables consisted of employment status of instructor (part-time or full-time), the number of years the instructor had been employed, time of day of the course (day or evening), and the course delivery method (on campus or online). Results of this study indicated that the PERT score was a significant predictor for Developmental Math I, Developmental Math II, and College Algebra showing a positive relationship with final grade in each of these courses. Four of the research questions inquired as to whether interaction effects with the PERT score and race, and PERT score and gender existed. No interaction were significant, which indicated that no differential predictive validity was evident. The remaining two research questions examined the level of variance associated with the student and course level variables. For Developmental Math I, Black students had lower final grades than White students, and older students performed better than younger students. In Developmental Math II, female students had higher final grades than males, and older students had higher grades. For the credit-level courses, in Intermediate Algebra, full-time students had higher final grades than part-time students, and once again, older students exhibited higher grades. In College Algebra, for the final model, only the PERT score was significant. No other student nor course level variables was found to be significant predictors of final grade. These results are only a preliminary view of how PERT test scores relate to final math grades in only one institution in Florida. Statewide standard setting procedures are necessary in order to properly assess whether cut score for the PERT are appropriate, and to determine if this test is properly measuring the construct it intends in order to verify the reliability of the test items, and the validity of the test itself.

abstract: This action research study, set in a community college in the southwestern United States, was designed to investigate the effects of implementing cooperative learning strategies in a developmental mathematics course. Introductory algebra was formerly taught in a lecture based format, and as such regularly had a low course completion rate. To create a more engaging learning environment, formal and informal cooperative learning activities were integrated into the curriculum. Bandura's self-efficacy theory, Vygotsky's constructivist theory, and Deutsch's social interdependence theory guided this study. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through pre and post self-efficacy surveys, semi-structured student interviews, student journal entries, class observations, focus groups, and pre and post mathematics assessments. Data were analyzed using a mixed methods approach. As a result of implementing cooperative learning practices as a part of my teaching, there was an increase in student attendance as well as a decrease in student withdrawal rates. Students were also more motivated to work with each other on mathematics homework outside of class sessions. There was a strong sense of community that I had not witnessed in previous courses that I have taught. Use of cooperative learning practices served as a vehicle to motivate students to work on their mathematics coursework with their peers. Keywords: cooperative learning, developmental mathematics, constructivism, social interdependence theory, self-efficacy, community college / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Leadership and Innovation 2013

Hinds Community College (HCC) engaged in a study that produced the transitional program. This program was in response to high rates of attrition of the college’s freshmen classes because of poor academic performance. This dissertation evaluated the effectiveness of the transitional program’s main component—the learning community created by placing students in the LLS 1151 College Life course based on their status as residence hall students. HCC’s transitional program is a further elaboration of placement policies that have been a part of the community college landscape for many years. The HCC transitional program incorporates learning communities in combination with HCC’s placement policies and provides an element of structure. This research examined the academic progress of a cohort from its inception in the fall semester of 2006 through 4 years until the conclusion of the spring 2010 semester. This examination included a review and analysis of the performance of the transitional program students who were assigned to learning communities as opposed to the performance of developmental students who were not assigned to learning communities (those who commuted). Specifically, the research evaluated how many students completed programs of study out of those who initially enrolled as residential transitional students and out of those who initially enrolled as nonresidential transitional students, how many credit hours the two groups accumulated over a 4-year period, and performance in basic English and mathematics courses. This study used a causal-comparative design that examined a cohort over a 4-year period while at HCC to examine if there were significant differences between those students who were a part of a learning community compared to those students who were not.

It is believed that purposefully constructed learning communities can have academic, social, and motivational advantages for its participants. In an effort to improve graduation and retention of students, some HBCUs have sought new ways to construct learning environments that are conducive to the learning styles of students of color. This study sought to investigate the impact of a learning community on pre-college level students standardized test scores and final grades. The Repeated Measures One-Way ANOVA revealed a statistically significant difference in COMPASS score change between groups with the comparison group demonstrating a greater change than did the learning community group. In addition, Analysis of Covariance test was used to answer the research question regarding differences in final grades between the two groups. After adjusting for the COMPASS pre-test, there was no difference in final grades between groups. Using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), a Likert-type scale based on the Eccles et al. (1983) expectancy-value motivational model, three components of students motivation were investigated: task value, extrinsic value, and test anxiety. The Independent Samples t-Test was used to compare the means. There was a statistically significant mean difference in extrinsic value with the students enrolled in traditionally taught pre-college level English courses demonstrating more extrinsic motivation. There was a statistically significant mean difference in task value with students enrolled in the learning community demonstrating higher task value than the comparison group. Finally, there was a statistically significant mean difference in affect with students in the learning community group demonstrating more test anxiety. Conclusions and recommendations were presented for future research.

No description available.

This quantitative study assessed student success by examining the academic progress of Act 101 summer bridge program subjects who completed two semesters in a suburban mid-Atlantic community college. The study compared qualified students who participated in the Act 101 program to Act 101 students who did not participate in the seven week academic experience in order to determine whether the program made a significant difference in the academic progress of these first year participants by reviewing the number of developmental courses required, assessing their semester one and semester two grade point averages, end of year credits, and retention rate over a five year period of time. A third group of students who did not qualify for the Act 101 program but met the admission requirements because of similar socio-economic and academic demographics were included for comparison purposes. The study also determined whether there were any significant differences in the level of success among the three groups based on student demographics including age, gender, ethnicity, and educational attainment of both the mother and the father. The outcomes of the study provide insight and infer policy implications: whether Act 101 students are likely to increase or reduce the prevailing pattern of proclivity for social reproduction. Act 101 summer bridge programs, targeted at college-bound freshman who are not college-ready, has a long history. Over forty years ago Honorable K. Leroy Irvis, then majority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, recognized that many residents of the Commonwealth were unable to pursue higher education due to prevailing social conditions. With the support of the State Black Conference on Higher Education, he created the 1971 Higher Education Equal Opportunity Act, frequently referred to as Act 101, to provide additional assistance. The summer experience is focused on academics including writing, reading, mathematics, study skills, time management, counseling and computer literacy. Act 101 bridge students are low-income, mostly first generation learners who have experienced limited success in high school and must enroll in two or more developmental classes. Research data documents that the more barriers that students face, the more unlikely it is that they will obtain a credential. Many of these students lack adequate high school preparation which will inhibit them from attaining their goals. The more developmental courses these students take, the less likely these students will earn a degree as they expend their finances and lengthen their timeline. The ethical question is raised as to whether these students should incur indebtness if they are at high risk for non-completion of their goals. However, going to college represents the best option for escape from poverty and it increases opportunity for upward mobility. The findings of this study show that the semester 2 grade point average for the summer bridge students was significantly higher compared to the grade point average of the non-summer bridge students. The summer bridge subjects also had significantly more credits at the end of year 1 compared to subjects in the non-summer bridge group. In addition, the summer bridge students had the highest rate of retention among the three groups. Among other findings, the Act 101 subjects were older, predominately African American and female whose parents had graduated from high school. Older students needed more developmental courses. Subjects in the non-summer bridge group, all of whom elected not to participate in the SBP, needed the most developmental courses among the three groups. Their year 1 credit total of 3.57 credits suggested that their decision to decline the tuition-free summer opportunity was not in their best interest. The outcomes support policy implications that subjects in the summer bridge group took a small step forward in reducing the prevailing pattern of proclivity for social reproduction but subjects in the non-summer bridge group did not make enough strides by the end of year one to indicate that their educational experience thus far is impacting their social mobility status. / Educational Administration

Thesis advisor: Laura M. O'Dwyer / Students who take postsecondary remedial courses graduate from college at lower rates than other students, but the relationship between remedial education and college outcomes is not well understood. This study analyzes the association between remediation and the odds of degree attainment in two- and four-year colleges, after controlling for other student and institutional factors related to persistence. Using generalized multilevel mixed modeling, it examines variation in these relationships across institutional contexts. Data are drawn from the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (2004/2009), a nationally representative sample that tracked students through interviews and transcript data for six years from their first enrollment. Additional institutional variables are incorporated from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Comparisons are made among remedial course subjects, higher and lower numbers of remedial courses taken, and different postsecondary credentials. For students who first enroll at a four-year college, this analysis finds that remediation has a negative association with completing a Bachelor's degree or higher, particularly among students who take remedial Mathematics or three or more remedial classes. While students at two-year institutions who take three or more remedial courses have lower odds of completing a certificate or Bachelor's degree, English as a Second Language coursework emerges as a positive factor for Bachelor's attainment in this population. By contrast, remediation has a positive relationship with attaining an Associate's degree but no higher for two-year college students. This relationship varies significantly across two-year institutions, but institutional factors are not predictive of the variation. No other significant cross-college variation is found in the relationships between remedial variables and outcomes. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

Community colleges are tasked with helping all students regardless of their academic background to receive a degree, certificate, or other form of education. Many of these students need support in learning the mathematical content necessary to take college-level courses. Since a large proportion of students in these developmental classes are students of color, and unlikely to be successful, developmental courses are not leveling the playing field of higher education. In-class computer-centered (ICCC) classes are a possible solution to this social justice issue because they provide students with flexible learning opportunities. Students can work independently on a schedule that matches their needs and can access the multiple learning tools embedded in the software in ways that make the most sense for their own learning. Research on ICCC mathematics courses has primarily compared success rates with those of traditional lecture classes. These quantitative studies provided a limited view of student activity in an ICCC class and did not demonstrate how students were navigating these courses or the nature of their experiences. This study uses a qualitative research design to explore student actions and their experiences relative to their success. In my analysis, I utilized Bandura's construct of agency, defined as the capacity to understand, predict and alter the course of one's life's events (Bandura, 2008). My framework also considers agency as a temporal phenomenon residing in the past, present, and future (Emirbayer & Mische, 1998). Agency is operationalized temporally and by using four characteristics, intention, forethought, reflection, and reaction. This study uses case study research design where students are interviewed and observed in an ICCC class. In it I illustrate the various forms of agency students bring and leverage in the ICCC mathematics classroom in their attempts to be successful. Findings indicate that the students who were successful were most adept at leveraging a variety of resources to help them work towards their goals. There is the assumption that students need flexibility and individualized learning in developmental courses; these needs are addressed by ICCC and are a way in which the ICCC format perfects the traditional lecture. However, this research demonstrates that the question of how to best help developmental students remains open.

The student success rates for three developmental mathematics courses (prealgebra, elementary algebra, and intermediate algebra) taught through four instructional methods (lecture, personalized system of instruction [PSI], hybrid, and online) were examined. The sample consisted of 9,211 students enrolled in a large Texas community college from fall 2009 through spring 2011. Student success was defined as a grade of C or better. Chi-square tests were used to compare the three developmental mathematics courses success rates. Statistically significant differences in student success were found between all four methods of instruction for all three mathematics courses (prealgebra: χ2 [df = 3] = 107.90, p < 0.001; elementary algebra: χ2 [df = 3] = 88.39, p < 0.001; intermediate algebra χ2 [df = 3] = 254.18, p < 0.001). Binary logistic regression modeling was used to determine to what extent age, gender, ethnicity, residency, Pell eligibility and mode of instruction accounted for the community college students’ course success for each of the three developmental mathematics courses. For prealgebra, the independent variables of gender, race, age, residency, and mode of instruction made statistically significant contributions to the model (χ2 [df = 14, n = 1,743] = 159.196, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = .119), with greater success among female, White, younger, out of country students taking the course through lecture. For elementary algebra, the independent variables of race, age, residency, and mode of instruction made statistically significant contributions to the logistic regression model (χ2 [df = 14, n = 2,731] = 816.223, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = .358), with greater success among , younger, out of country students taking the course through lecture, hybrid or PSI. For intermediate algebra, only race and Pell eligibility made a statistically significant contribution to the logistic regression, with greater success among White, Pell-eligible students, and mode of instruction did not contribute significantly to the model (χ2 [df = 14, n = 3,936] = 53.992, p < .001; Nagelkerke R2 = .019). Recommendations for research and implications for practice are provided.

Submitted by admin tede (tede@pucgoias.edu.br) on 2016-11-09T18:11:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 SÉRGIO RICARDO ABREU REZENDE.pdf: 4879377 bytes, checksum: 6b991b6231db5dedcca7d3e93404baaf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-09T18:11:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SÉRGIO RICARDO ABREU REZENDE.pdf: 4879377 bytes, checksum: 6b991b6231db5dedcca7d3e93404baaf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-24 / The research sought to identify the contributions of the theory of developmental education combined with mathematical research for the teaching and learning of Thales' Theorem. This question stems from the problems in which it operates the teaching of mathematics in the context of Brazilian school today, especially in high school, where there is little student learning in relation to fundamental concepts of this discipline. This study was based on principles of developmental teaching theory of Davydov and mathematics research from the bridge of ideas. The Geogebrasoftware was used on the student activity for the study of Thales' Theorem. Thus, the overall objective was to clarify what are the contributions of developmental teaching theory to teaching and learning of Tales theorem when combined with mathematical research, with the support of the Geogebrasoftware. The specific objectives, we sought to identify the changes presented in student learning over the completion of the formative educational experiment on the Thales' Theorem; what mathematical research with Geogebra can add the classes and expand conceptual basis of the students, develop the geometric vision in the plan as well as expand the ability to make conjectures, interpret and solve problems related to Thales' Theorem. The research was qualitative in nature, through training teaching experiment, with the empirical field a school of state schools of the State of Goiás. In this school was searched a second grade high school class, with the participating students, their parents and the math teacher who also worked as a collaborator of the research. Data were collected through non-participant direct observation, questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, organizedand analyzed according to the procedures of qualitative analysis. The results show that the combination of principles of developmental teaching theory to mathematics research and the use of the Geogebrasoftware potentiated the investigative aspect of the theorem study activity of Tales by the student. The introduction of the Geogebrasoftware enabled realize dynamically integration between algebra and geometry, allowing the student to the active work with the theorem of Thales object, facilitating the identification of its conceptual core and relationships that involve. Students expressed that the study of Tales theorem, as proposed, contributed to the understanding of the most significant geometry, facilitating learning. It is concluded that the Tales theorem teaching structured based on the Davydov theory and mathematics research through the Geogebrasoftware , can result in better learning of this concept by the students. Therefore, it is essential that the teacher be aware of developmental teaching theory and mathematical research, as well as the features of the Geogebrasoftware . / A pesquisa buscou identificaras contribuições da teoria do ensino desenvolvimentalcombinada à investigação matemática para o ensino e a aprendizagem do teorema de Tales. Essa questão decorre da problemática em que se insere o ensino de matemática no contexto da escola brasileira atualmente, sobretudo no ensino médio, em que se verifica pouca aprendizagem dos alunos em relação a conceitos fundamentais dessa disciplina. Este estudo fundamentou-se em princípios da teoria do ensino desenvolvimental de Davydov e da investigação matemática a partir das ideias de Ponte. O softwareGeogebra foi utilizado na atividade dos alunos para o estudo do teorema de Tales. Desse modo, o objetivo geral foi esclarecer quais são as contribuições da teoria do ensino desenvolvimental ao ensino e aprendizagem do teorema de Tales quando combinada à investigação matemática, com o apoio do software Geogebra. Como objetivos específicos, buscou-se identificar quais as mudanças apresentadas na aprendizagem dos alunos ao longo da realização do experimento didático formativo sobre o teorema de Tales; o que a investigação matemática com o Geogebra pode agregar nas aulas e ampliar a base conceitual dos alunos, desenvolver a visão geométrica no plano, bem como ampliar a capacidade de fazer conjecturas, interpretar e resolver problemas relativos ao teorema de Tales.A pesquisa foi de natureza qualitativa, por meio de experimento didático formativo, tendo como campo empírico uma escola da rede estadual de ensino do Estado de Goiás. Nesta escola foi pesquisada uma turma de 2o ano do ensino médio, tendo como participantes os alunos, seus pais e o professor de matemática, que também atuou como colaborador da pesquisa. Os dados foram coletados por meio de observação direta não participante, questionários, entrevistas semiestruturadas, organizados e analisados conforme os procedimentos da análise qualitativa. Os resultados mostram que a combinação de princípios da teoria do ensino desenvolvimental com a investigação matemática e a utilização do softwareGeogebra potencializou o aspecto investigativo na atividade de estudo teorema de Tales pelo aluno. A introdução do software Geogebra possibilitou concretizar de forma dinâmica a integração entre a álgebra e geometria, permitindo ao aluno o trabalho ativo com o objeto teorema de Tales, facilitando a identificação do seu núcleo conceitual e das relações que o envolvem. Os alunos expressaram que o estudo do teorema de Tales, da forma proposta, contribuiu para a compreensão da geometria de forma mais significativa, facilitando a aprendizagem. Conclui-se que o ensino do teorema de Tales estruturado com base na teoria de Davydov e na investigação matemática, por meio do software Geogebra, pode resultar em melhor aprendizagem desse conceito pelos alunos. Para isso, é indispensável que o professor tenha conhecimento da teoria do ensino desenvolvimental e da investigação matemática, como também as funcionalidades do software Geogebra.