This qualitative study was designed to understand the experiences of General Educational Development (GED) graduates enrolling into a community college. Research had not been conducted to explore the experiences of GED graduates completing the 2014 version of the exam and transitioning to college. Guided by Schlossberg's college transition theory and Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, this phenomenological study included 11 participants who described their experiences through written narratives and interviews. Participants described their experiences of being an adult education student while preparing for the exam, the steps within the GED test preparation they considered important to matriculation toward college enrollment, and their points of view of the enrollment experience into a community college. Data analysis included analytic induction and participatory analyses for discovering patterns and clarification of statements made by the participants. Narratives, interviews, and field notes were transcribed, member checked, and reviewed for interaction, continuity, and situation prior to coding. The realization of motivation, determination, and self-efficacy, established around supporting relationships assembled during the transition to college, were common experiences among these participants. A deeper understanding of these factors for adults matriculating through GED and into college hopefully instills awareness and sparks discussion for improvements in educational support services.

Most Kenyan high school dropouts do not have a school reentry option, and without a high school diploma, they lack access to tertiary or higher education institutions for training and career development. This case study was an investigation of how an adult learning center in Kenya educated high school dropouts and helped them to gain access to vocational training or higher education. The research questions addressed the pedagogy, learning experiences, and curriculum of the Baraka Adult Learning Center (BALC) and also focused on how the BALC met students' aspirations, needs, and goals based on the perceptions of teachers and adult learners. The conceptual framework was based on liberatory education theory, transformative learning theory, and andragogy. Data collected from classroom observation s, curriculum review, and interviews with 9 current students, 3 former students, 5 teachers, and the principal were analyzed inductively by sorting and coding to generate emergent themes. The results of the study indicated that instructors followed the regular high school curriculum with little adaptation and lacked training about teaching adult learners and self-directed learning approaches. The adult learners perceived returning to school as getting a second chance. A professional development project for BALC instructors was developed to address some of the needs identified in the study. This training could have an impact on the adult learners by better assisting them to gain access to vocational training and higher education.

This qualitative case study addressed the problem at a West Indies theological college that lacked the ability to provide courses for spiritual care training by using the teaching methodology of clinical pastoral education (CPE). CPE is an experiential process using a clinical method of learning to interpret human conditions. Spiritual care training through CPE teaches clerics how to help persons find meaning in life's situations and make connections with their God. Guided by the frameworks of transformative learning and critical theological reflection, this study explored the lived experiences of 5 purposefully selected CPE students who participated in 1 unit of CPE training at the college. Interview data were coded and analyzed to uncover emergent themes. The findings revealed these overarching themes: (a) personal empowerment, (b) increased pastoral care competencies, (c) increased sensitivity to suffering, and (d) connectivity to self-care and ministry. The interview data provided the impetus for the developed CPE Orientation (CPEO) to help students obtain basic skills in pastoral/spiritual care and critical theological reflections. It is recommended that persons with advanced CPE training could conduct the CPEO training, negating the need for a certified CPE supervisor expertise. Positive social change may occur when pastoral/spiritual care training is provided to clergy and laity to improve basic pastoral/spiritual care skills by helping clergy and parishioners respond to stressors in a healthy manner. Theological education that promotes spiritual care for persons in crisis may benefit the world and presents an avenue for social change to occur in the communities where clergy serve.

Doctor Of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Rosemary Talab / The purpose of this study was to learn the perceived training needs of the support staff in the six Kansas Board of Regents’ (KBOR) university libraries. Based on data from field and pilot studies and advice from an expert panel, a survey instrument was designed to assess library support staff’s perceptions of their train needs on computer skills, interpersonal skills, supervision/management skills, important library/organizational support, helpful training delivery methods, and training sources. The survey instrument was administered to the entire 167 support staff in the six KBOR university libraries, with a return rate of 83 percent achieved through two mailings and two postcard reminders. Quantitative data from the responses to closed-ended questions were analyzed through descriptive measures and one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Qualitative approaches to code answers from open-ended questions were utilized in order to allow stakeholder themes to emerge. Quantitative analyses indicated that the respondents viewed the most important training topics for each area of the study to be: database searching and MS Office suites for computer skills; working with difficult people and managing priorities for interpersonal skills; training new employees and supervising student employees for supervision/management skills; being supplied with appropriate software, release time, and technical support were viewed as the most important library support that would help their training. The respondents perceived classroom instruction with a teacher and interactive classroom discussions as being the most helpful delivery methods. The respondents considered in-house trainers, supervisors, and co-workers as being the most helpful training sources. A series of MANOVA tests were conducted on the six areas of the study. At the alpha = .05 level, statistically significant differences were found in the respondents’ perceptions of training needs on computer skills measured by their work units, supervision/management skills measured by their work units and level of job responsibilities, the respondents’ perceptions of important library/organizational support measured by their total years in the library filed and age range, and the respondents’ perceptions of helpful training sources measured by their total years at current positions. Qualitative analyses provided 314 units of information on 32 themes on additional training topics, library/organizational support, delivery methods, and training sources. The top 10 themes were related to “Software programs,” “Windows operating systems,” “Release time,” “Supervisor/management support,” “Relevance/applicable training,” “Promotion/opportunities,” “Training for motivation,” “Classroom with feedback,” “Training materials,” and “One-on-one and in-house training.” Based on the findings, summaries, and conclusions of this study, the researcher made recommendations for further study that focuses on job training needs of support staff at university libraries, including a broader scope of training topics, motivating factors, the perceptions of library administrators on the support staff’s training needs, training needs on supervision/management for non-supervision support staff, differing views on library/organizational support, different training delivery methods, etc.

Math anxiety, defined as feelings of apprehension and fear of courses involving mathematics, often interferes with student learning in a variety of college-level courses. A related phenomenon, statistics anxiety, affects the performance of many students in statistics courses. Researchers have found evidence that including collaborative problem solving as an instructional methodology is effective at reducing the negative effects of statistics anxiety. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore adult perceptions of collaborative problem solving as an instructional methodology focused on improving the learning environment in a business statistics course. Behaviorist, constructivist, and adult learning theories provided the foundation for this study that gathered narrative interview data from 14 adult students. The narratives were analyzed by first coding responses to questions into 7 frames of reference. Further refining of the data was accomplished by grouping responses in each frame of reference into common realms of response. Findings indicated that the adult participants perceived collaboration to be effective at reducing stress levels and improving course performance. Additionally, the participants identified weekly learning tasks, collaborative partner selection methods, and student resource materials that could benefit from redesigning. The project that stemmed from this research involved restructuring the instructional methodologies, learning tasks, and student resources to better align with adult learning preferences identified by the participants. The benefits to positive social change resulting from this project study included improving the course learning environment for adults and identifying adult preferences for implementing collaboration as a learning methodology.

The enrollment of military/veteran students at U.S. colleges and universities is growing steadily; however, factors affecting their academic success need further investigation. Guided by Tinto's student integration model and Bean and Metzner's model of nontraditional student attrition, the relationships between student characteristics and academic success for military/veteran, and civilian students were investigated. For this nonexperimental study, preentry characteristics (military/civilian status, race/ethnicity, age, gender, transfer credits) as well as 1st-year academic performance (total terms attended and grade point average [GPA]) archived in 393 students' records were examined to determine whether these variables predicted 4 student success measures: retention after 1 year, associate degree (AA) within 4 years, bachelor's degree (BA) within 8 years, and final GPA. Binary logistic regression and ordinary least squares multiple regression were conducted for the 3 retention/graduation measures and GPA, respectively. Significant findings indicated that Black students were more likely than White students to complete both AA and BA degrees and military, but not veterans, were more likely than civilians to earn AA degrees. Age was a positive predictor for earning a BA degree and a higher final GPA; transfer credits and total terms attended predicted student retention and AA degree completion; first-year GPA only predicted final GPA. Based on outcomes from this military-focused college, which showed the academic potential of two student groups often deemed less academically successful (military and Black students), colleges that focus on military students' success can better prepare these students for degree completion.

K-12 schools are more commonly using online learning to supplement traditional classroom learning. Previous online adult education researchers have found no significant differences between traditional and online learning outcomes. However, little research has been done with regard to online General Educational Development (GED)-level learning for adults. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the effect of the Skills Tutor program compared with traditional learning on GED student achievement in reading/language arts. The Skills Tutor program was used as a means to address the low GED graduation rates at an adult education program through Memphis City Schools. This research was based on the constructivist learning theory. The research question examined the effect of an online skills program on English/language arts scores among GED students. Scores from the pretests and posttests of 40 adult education students were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to determine statistical differences between 2 groups. One group (n = 20) received the intervention of the online skills program, Skills Tutor, along with traditional instruction, whereas the other group (n = 20) received traditional instruction delivered by the teacher only. The results indicated the traditional group's adjusted mean scores were significantly higher than the Skills Tutor group scores. Recommendations included additional research with larger samples of students, for a longer period, and focused on the fidelity of implementing of the Skills Tutor program at the local site. Implications for positive social change include providing research findings to the local administration on the current GED program and recommendations for continued research on the instruction that best supports adult learning.

Simulation training has been implemented at a small nursing school in the eastern United States to improve the currently low content exam scores in nursing courses. With the guidance of Kolb's experiential learning theory, differences in 8 course content exam scores were investigated for students who received simulation training in the content area before the exam and students who received simulation training after the exam, using a quasi-experimental, comparative design. Archival exam scores from 424 content exams, 212 completed by students who received simulation training before the exam and 212 completed by students who received simulation training after the exam, were used in a multivariate analysis of variance. The difference of the group means was not statistically significant (p = .69) for the pediatric assessment, meningitis, respiratory deviations, and gastrointestinal nursing content exams. However, there was a significant difference, F (4, 47) = 5.192, p = .00; λ = .694; η2 = .316, for the postpartum and neonatal assessment, preeclampsia, and cardiovascular nursing content exams. The results are split, which may be due to inconsistency in the conduct of simulation training across the 8 content areas. The varied outcomes led to the development of a white paper with policy and implementation recommendations for simulation training. Positive social change may occur in the planning of simulation training to promote consistency and best practices, enhancing students' ability to perform safely and competently at the patient's bedside and thus supporting improved patient outcomes.

Community college instructors are responsible for creating learning opportunities for all students, including adult students affected by emotional disorders (ED). Concerns in the literature have grown over how invested part-time instructors are in their teaching; however, limited data were available regarding instructor knowledge of ED, instructor-efficacy, and the impact of employment status. The purpose of this study was to address the gap in the literature and analyze relationships between instructor knowledge of ED strategies (as assessed by Teaching Students with Emotional Behavior Disorders scale) and instructors' efficacy beliefs (as assessed by the Ohio State Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale). It also evaluated the impact of employment status (part-time versus full-time) on instructor-efficacy beliefs and knowledge of classroom management strategies for adult students affected by ED. A convenience sample of 104 community college instructors across 2 colleges in the Midwestern United States with a population of 201 instructors chose to complete either paper or online surveys. This study was guided by Bandura's self-efficacy theory. The data analysis included Pearson correlation, ANOVA, linear regression, Kruskal-Wallis, and LSD post hoc tests. Key findings included a statistically significant association between knowledge and instructor-efficacy scores and a statistically significant difference in ED knowledge between part-time and full-time instructors. The study findings promote positive social change by providing information for use by community college administrators for professional development programs to improve ED instructional practices, improving the quality of instruction and experience for community college instructors, students affected by ED, and the community at large.

Many community college students, especially those who are required to take developmental education courses, do not complete course and degree goals. Research shows that constructive feedback practices used by instructors improve academic achievement while destructive feedback practices diminish student learning. Using a constructivist framework, the purpose of this qualitative, instrumental case study was to understand how faculty who teach developmental education and entry level college courses perceive and use feedback in a large urban community college in the Southwestern United States. Data were collected through 17 in-depth, face-to-face interviews and written feedback examples submitted by the faculty members. Interview transcripts were open coded and thematically analyzed and feedback examples were coded and typologically analyzed to identify type of feedback used. Interview findings indicated that faculty used feedback predominately to provide information to students, believing that all types of feedback benefit student learning. Analysis of the written feedback indicated that instructors used both destructive and constructive feedback. Recommendations include designing a professional development training to equip community college instructors with research-based constructive feedback strategies that will support student learning. Implications for positive social change include increasing the use of constructive feedback practices, particularly in developmental and entry level college courses, which may lead to increased course and degree completion for all students.