eLearning continues to be the fasted growing segment of higher education. With this growth, challenges for higher education institutions have arisen. One of these difficulties is preparing students for learning online. A qualitative case study examined what strategies and processes contributed to student success in eLearning at a Florida public college based on the views of eLearning educators, faculty teaching online courses and the students who have taken online courses. The aspects reviewed were: 1. what contributed to student success, 2. what hindered student success, 3. what prepared students for learning online, and 4. what assistance was available for students that face challenges with online courses. The interviews and questionnaire were examined and compared from the perspectives of educators (eLearning staff and faculty teaching online courses), and students taking the courses, and documents reviewed from the site chosen, to show what are the most significant contributors and hindrances to eLearning success for participants at a Florida public state college. The findings of this study show what helped student success, what hindered student success, what prepared students for eLearning, and what support was available to students while taking an eLearning course from the data collected through the student questionnaire, faculty and staff interviews, and document review. The data supports the finding that student motivation, student time management skills, eLearning course design, and the responsiveness and supportiveness of faculty contribute to the success of the student in eLearning courses. The data supports the finding that what hinders student success is when the student is overwhelmed, distracted, or lacks motivation or time management skills. Additionally, the design of the eLearning course can hinder the student and if there is a lack of faculty communication. The data supports the finding that what prepared students for eLearning was the College’s free eLearning orientation course that explains how to use the Learning Management System and the best practices of learning online. The data supports the finding that the support available to assist students that are enrolled in eLearning is College “Support”, Tutoring (both online and on campus), and their course professor. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Many different parties are involved in trying to promote student success: faculty, student affairs professionals, parents, mentors, and students themselves. All may speak of their endeavors to work toward the goal of "student success", but if success is defined differently by each party, then each pursues a different goal. With this in mind, this study was designed for three purposes. First, the researcher sought to define student success based on the perspectives of student and faculty populations within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. Second, the researcher sought to identify the barriers to student success. Finally, the researcher sought to identify strategies that would foster student success. Qualitative methods were employed to conduct this research within the population of undergraduate students and faculty within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. Eight focus groups were conducted in the spring of 1997 with a total of 27 students participating and two focus groups were conducted the following spring with 7 faculty participating. Questionnaires and the transcripts of the focus groups were analyzed for this study. Findings showed that faculty and students have somewhat dissimilar perspectives on student success. Faculty participants were more interested in the academic elements of being successful, while students placed more weight on what they felt were personal indicators of success, such as happiness. In terms of the barriers to student success that were discussed, students were much more likely to discuss barriers that were outside of their control, such as the classroom environment. Faculty, on the other hand, concentrated on the personal characteristics of students, feeling that students ultimately had personal responsibility for their own success. Based on the questionnaires, the groups were fairly well balanced and represented a fairly wide range of collegiate experiences. Faculty and students have demonstrated through this study that they are quite valuable as a resource to consult when conducting needs assessments or developing student interventions. Many of the solutions that were suggested, interestingly, dealt not with the creation of new programs but with improving communication within the university to ensure the awareness of programs that already exist. Participants also felt that orientation activities for new students should be extended well into their first semester at the university. From a research perspective, this study provided a great deal of insight into the ways that faculty and student perspectives are both similar and different. It would be interesting to see whether perspectives are similar across colleges within the university, or even similar between universities with similar characteristics. In trying to determine the nature of the collegiate experience, few would deny that no groups are more intimately involved in that experience than the faculty and students. Ultimately, then, the answers concerning the nature of student success must lie with them. / Master of Science

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between the “atoms first” and the “traditional” curricula. Specifically focusing on which curriculum better aligns to curricular expectations, leads to higher student success when students are grouped together, and when students are differentiated based on several factors. The main difference between the two approaches being the sequence of topics presented in the first semester general chemistry course. This study involves more than 9,500 general chemistry I and II students over 7 semesters with about half of them being taught using the “atoms first” approach. Student success was measured using the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) final examination scores and the final letter grades. Alignment to curricular expectations was determined via a qualitative review of textbooks written for each of the approaches. This showed that the “atoms first” approach better aligns to research supported best practices. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to determine if there is a significant difference between the “atoms first” and the “traditional” curricula. The “traditional” approach was found to lead to higher student achievement for both measures of student success in both chemistry I and II courses. Lastly, multiple linear, multinomial logistic, and binary logistic regressions were run using all of the subgroups – gender, race/ethnicity, major, ACT composite, math ACT, overall GPA, and classroom size – as predictor variables to determine if any significant interactions between the curricular methods and the different subgroups existed. Results found that the relationship between gender, GPA, and classroom size groupings significantly impact student achievement in general chemistry. Specifically, the “traditional” approach lead to higher student success compared to the “atoms first” approach for males, females, below average GPA students, above average GPA students, and students in large classroom settings. However, there are several factors – final examination content, new teacher impact, teacher’s view of science, and withdrawal rate and timing – that need to be taken into account when implementing these findings. Overall, the results of this study provides a cautionary reminder of the many impacts affecting curriculum implementation and the importance of professional development and training during a curriculum transitional period.

This study examined the correlation between the proportion of full time mathematics faculty with formal pedagogical training at eight Mississippi public community colleges named to the Aspen Foundation list of the top 150 community colleges in the United States and the proportion of developmental math students who successfully completed a college algebra course in their 1st year, the proportion of students who graduated within 4 years, and the proportion of 1st-time full-time students who returned for the 2nd year. After collecting data from 6 of the 8 colleges, a correlational analysis revealed no statistically significant relationships between the proportion of pedagogically trained math faculty and the proportion of students who successfully completed developmental math, the proportion of students who successfully graduated, or the proportion of students who were retained. There may be some relationship between the faculty preparation and student success (p = 0.1441).

This dissertation investigates the possible association between admission with an Associate of Arts (AA) degree or no-AA degree, gender, and ethnicity with graduation GPA, probation, and persistence of community college transfer students admitted to the University of Central Florida in the 2001-2002 academic year (N = 5283). The literature review found that the majority of studies related to transfer student success compared transfer students to native university students. Little evidence of an association between success rates of transfer students as compared to native university students was indicated in the literature. The literature also did not indicate an association between gender and success rates or ethnic group and success rates. The results of this study suggest that admission degree, gender and ethnicity all had little to no impact on the success rates of the transfer students in the sample. The data for the students in the AA admission group indicated that receipt of an AA degree is related to student persistence. However, the test results indicated that this relationship was very weak. Due to the ever-increasing numbers of transfer students in this country, this study can be an informational tool for administrators at community colleges and universities in relation to transfer student success.

Many institutions use placement tests as a method to assess students’ readiness for college-level coursework. With the increased use of technology in testing, many institutions have transitioned placement test administration to an online format in an unproctored setting. While unproctored placement tests may provide financial and logistical benefits for institutions and students, it is important to examine if there are differences in academic outcomes when tests are administered in this format. Guided by the literature on test administration modality (i.e., proctored versus unproctored examinations), I examined if there are differences in math course performance and college student enrollment persistence between students who completed a proctored or unproctored math placement test. To investigate these important educational outcomes, I analyzed data collected as part of a 2018 randomized control trial conducted at a large, urban public institution in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in which incoming, first-year students were randomly assigned to a proctored or unproctored group to complete a math placement assessment. The current study affirmed findings from a pilot study, which suggests that students tend to place approximately one course level lower when placed using a proctored math placement test compared to an unproctored placement test and that students tend to have higher final grades in their initial math course when placed by a proctored math placement test.The current study analyzed final grades in the second math course taken between proctored and unproctored groups as well as student persistence. Analyzing mean course grades, I found that differences in grades between students who take a proctored and unproctored math placement test continue in some cases into the second math course. The percentage of F’s and withdrawals for initial and second math course final grades between students who take a proctored and unproctored math placement assessment also show differences between groups. Applying hierarchical linear regression, suggests that test administration modality does not account for a significant amount of variance in course grades. When controlling for demographic characteristics and academic factors, performance from the initial course taken, was found to be the most significant factor of grades in second math course taken. Results from the current study suggests that test administration modality during math placement tests while not a statistically significant variable in academic performance in second math course taken, may still be helpful as it is a statistically significant variable in academic performance in the first math course taken. Since initial math course grades were statistically significant in explaining the difference in grades between groups, institutions should consider using proctoring during math placement tests as a practice. Further research should be conducted, however, to understand how test administration modality during placement tests affects students in different programs, including programs that do not require courses along the institution’s math course sequence. Additionally, further research on types of proctoring would provide a more comprehensive understanding of the proctoring options available to institutions and whether they result in the same outcomes for students. / Educational Leadership

<p><h1>Abstract</h1></p> <p><strong>Succeeding in Level 1 of a BScN Program: A Grounded Theory Inquiry</strong></p> <p>This research is an inquiry into the journey of student success as experienced by Level 1 nursing students in a BScN program. It is a qualitative study using a constructivist grounded theory methodology that looks at the psychosocial processes that are integral to the nursing student’s experience of Level 1. Fifty 1 to 1 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Level 1and Level 2 nursing students, experienced level 1 faculty and academic advisors (n=46). Participants were asked to define student success, and discuss their experience of success. The constant comparison method and theoretical sampling informed the findings. The result was an emerging substantive theory for student success entitled: <em>Succeeding in Level 1 of a BScN Program (Succeeding Substantive Theory or SST).</em> There are four conceptual processes that make up the <em>SST</em>: Learning, Balancing, Connecting and Becoming. Each concept has several categories that summarize the codes reflected in the data. The <em>SST</em> offers a fresh and novel perspective on student success as it reflects the processes involved in a comprehensive and integrated way. The insights and understanding that result from the <em>SST</em> can be used to direct policy and resources for student success, inform curricular revision, and suggest further research.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

For over 70 years, researchers have been attempting to unravel the complexities associated with enhancing student success in higher education (Berger & Lyon, 2005). This research has resulted in a better understanding of why some students decide to leave while others persist on to graduation. Despite a sizable body of knowledge that has identified the various factors associated with student success in higher education, little work has been devoted to translating the various theoretical findings into specific strategies that will guide institutions in improving student success outcomes (Tinto, 2005; Tinto & Pusser, 2006). This study, therefore, represents a unique attempt to bridge the gap between research and practice. Specifically, it integrates relevant findings on student success with a growing body of knowledge on system design and performance improvement in order to address the following pressing need: How can institutional leaders in higher education translate theoretical concepts into actionable solutions that will facilitate student success? In order to provide a concrete course of action for institutional leaders to design practices that meaningfully impact student success, this dissertation describes the development, application, and evaluation of a Student Success-Oriented System Design (S2OSD) methodology. The proposed methodology shifts the focus from trying to understand why students leave or stay, which is a well-researched topic in the literature, to examining how to satisfy student needs in ways that will improve student success outcomes. By doing so, this study focuses on assessing, understanding, and satisfying student needs within the context of student success theoretical perspectives. Moreover, this research proposes a methodology that institutions can use to tailor their practices to fit the unique needs of their students (Berger & Lyon, 2005). In summary, this research study was devised to achieve the following goals: • Develop a research process that combines empirical and design methods in order to create, apply, and evaluate a system design methodology; • Develop a guiding framework that provides practitioners with a set of mutually reinforcing principles, which is supported by a methodology designed to meet student needs; • Develop a participatory design method and supporting tools to execute each phase of the methodology; • Develop a performance-based evaluation framework to evaluate the usability of the S2OSD methodology; and • Develop a validated questionnaire to assess engineering student success needs. / Ph. D.

No description available.

The single-mother college student population has quietly grown to over two million undergraduate students over the last two decades, but most of them will not attain a degree. What has been missing is a better understanding of the lived experiences of successfully persisting single-mother college students as told by the women themselves. This phenomenological case study interviewed 11 students from a regional university in the southwestern portion of the United States. Four themes emerged as expressed by the participants themselves: "Just because you have a baby doesn't mean your life is over" (Rebekah); "In the middle of a test, my kid throws up" (Sarah); "They're building me to be independent" (Anna Maria); and "I'm really doing this" (Juno). Their synthesized lived experiences were expressed through the simile of a seasoned gymnast. Overall, they shared adeptness at resource management and problem solving, strategically using support while building resiliency and self-efficacy. This study of successfully persisting single-mother college students can aid institutions in improving their support mechanisms for these students.