Elaborative processing is important to the study of reading-to-write tasks because of its function in the integration of new knowledge. This study investigated whether assisting students to generate intra- and intertextual elaborations on source texts would (1) result in their writing essays in which textual information was transformed according to a personal purpose, and (2) result in their showing more metacognitive consciousness about their reading/writing processes. The pedagogical methodology was developed through analyzing the think-aloud protocols of six students writing from sources. Subsequently, two intact classes of first-semester freshman composition students attending community college composed essays from three autobiographical source texts. The experimental group was prompted to generate personal associations and new ideas from the source texts as well as to criticize ideas in them. Students in the experimental group were also encouraged to draw a diagram relating the three source texts to each other and to the students' own experiences. Students' annotations, notes, and essays were parsed into idea units and tallied according to categories of elaborations identified by Stein (1990a, c). Essays were also holistically scored for writing quality and organizational plan. Finally, students' free written responses to the task were analyzed and types of comments were tallied. Prompting students to elaborate is associated with their producing greater numbers of elaborations in their annotations. In the present study, however, no significant differences were found between the types of essays each group produced, in the types and percentages of elaborations present in their papers, or in the quality of their papers. However, members of the group receiving training in elaboration were better able to articulate the unifying concepts and organizational plans of their essays. Training in elaboration also seemed to heighten these students' interest in writing from sources. Future research on how elaboration affects the execution of reading-to-write tasks might involve more clearly prompting students to synthesize information from sources as well as giving them more extensive experience with elaboration techniques.

This study presents information gathered from a follow-up survey of 124 female community college honors graduates from the years 1989, 1990, and 1991. Results are intended to provide descriptive information in understanding the role that successful completion of community college education plays in the career development of women. Participants provided information via a questionnaire regarding demographics, factors related to academic success, choice of major, current education and employment status, and career and educational goals for the future. Results indicate that female community college honors graduates are likely to be reentry women who have career related goals. One to three years after graduation, the women are employed full-time, studying for bachelors degrees, or working in the home. It appears that community colleges provide women with an opportunity to achieve formal education at virtually every life stage. Conclusions and implications are drawn for career counselors and community college personnel.

During the Spring 1997 semester, students at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona were surveyed on their use of dial-up access to electronic databases provided by libraries. In addition, the community college and public libraries in Maricopa County were surveyed to determine which electronic databases they provide by dial-up access. Comparison between these two forms of data collection revealed that a rich variety of electronic databases are available to community college students. Many of the students have the equipment required to take advantage of these resources, combined with a desire to use these resources to increase the flexibility of their options for performing research. The greatest barrier to use was a lack of realization that such resources were available. Community college libraries should advertise access information to make students aware of these options.

<p> Studies on the retention of students from one semester to another semester or one year to another year in foreign language study are scant in higher education. Furthermore, these studies are limited to research at four-year colleges and universities. This mixed methods study of first and second semester foreign language students at three community colleges in New England seeks to discover the factors that influence students to continue or not to continue to a second semester of foreign language study upon completion of the first at the two-year schools. Variables such as student gender, age, and race/ethnicity are explored to determine if they influence student decisions to continue to a second semester of foreign language study. Other variables, including curriculum design, teaching materials, and instructional strategies used in first semester foreign language classes, are investigated to determine if they are factors in student decisions to continue to a second semester of foreign language study at the community college level.</p>

The purpose of this study is to investigate gender differences in mathematics anxiety and its relationship to test anxiety, trait anxiety, high school mathematics participation, and mathematics attitudinal factors in community college students. It takes place at a small rural community college in California, in which the majority population is Hispanic. The study relies primarily on quantitative methods, but includes a small qualitative component in the form of focus group interviews to confirm and enhance the findings. There were several main findings in the sample studied. Women scored significantly higher in mathematics anxiety than males among all age groups, ethnicities, and mathematics levels. Furthermore, the size of the gender gap in mathematics anxiety was not affected by age, ethnicity, or mathematics level. Significant relationships were found between mathematics anxiety and test anxiety, worry, emotionality, trait anxiety, self-confidence in mathematics, effectance motivation in mathematics, perceived usefulness of mathematics, and number of years of high school mathematics. Moreover, these relationships appeared to be approximately the same across samples of females and males, regardless of age, ethnicity, or mathematics level. Among the significant predictors of mathematics anxiety of particular importance were a lack of self-confidence in mathematics, a high presence of test anxiety—specifically emotionality—and a low presence of effectance motivation in mathematics. Follow-up focus group interviews suggested additional factors that could be related to mathematics anxiety, among which were an unpleasant experience with mathematics at the elementary or junior high school level, the requirement of having to follow precise steps in obtaining an exact answer, and the perception that the terminology of the mathematical language was confusing.

<p> Due to civil rights legislation, advances in technology, disability support services on college campuses, medication therapy and increased public acceptance of disabilities, students with disabilities are one of the largest minority group on college campuses (Pryor, Hurtado, DeAngelo, Palucki, Blake, &amp; Tran 2010). According to the 2016 U.S. National Center for Education Statistics Fact Sheet, &ldquo;11.1% of the college students attending college in the 2011-2012 academic year reported a documented disability.&rdquo; The U.S. Department of Education also indicates that nearly &ldquo;60% of students with disabilities attend two-year schools due to their open enrollment policies&rdquo; (U.S. Department of Education 2002).</p><p> This qualitative study focused on understanding the faculty-student perceptual divide between students with disabilities, faculty and administration in open enrollment environments. The study examined interview data of both full and part time community college faculty, students with differing disabling conditions, and disability support directors at two different community college institutions in New York State. The study found multiple themes in which a faculty-student perceptual divide was observed. The theme that caused the most stress and conflict between faculty and students was accommodations. Other themes included: students with disabilities in as an independent learner, the teaching-learning process, obstacles to learning, and perceptions of disabled students strengths and weaknesses. The findings suggest that the lack of disability awareness can precipitate faculty prejudicial attitudes and biases towards students with disabilities. Similarly, students&rsquo; lack of understanding of college culture, academic standards and resources on campus can cause stress and suboptimal learning experiences. This study offers recommendations to alleviate these problems.</p>

<p> Community colleges are increasingly accountable for student outcomes and have been focused on closing outcome gaps among groups of students. Nevertheless, Native American students have continued to be among the lowest performing ethnic groups. Yet there has been a dearth of studies on Native American community college student experiences. This dissertation addresses the lack of research by presenting perspectives of Native American community college students. Native American students&rsquo; perspectives on their educational experiences and how those experiences supported or hindered achievement of their educational goals provide a foundation for understanding why outcome gaps persist. Further, these perspectives suggest ways the gaps can be closed. The interviews and focus group conducted with 10 Native American community college students resulted in qualitative data that revealed factors that influenced students&rsquo; educational experiences and educational goals. This study finds that students&rsquo; pathways through community college, factors within the community college (faculty, campus environment, students, services, staff), student development, factors external to the community college (family, work, financial aid, &ldquo;significant life challenges,&rdquo; tribal community), and cultural factors (identity, symbols, behaviors, expectations, &ldquo;rez life,&rdquo; racism, curriculum, historical trauma, Native American classmates) influenced educational experiences and goals. This study posits that by supporting the positive factors and mitigating the negative factors, community colleges can better support Native American students in achieving their educational goals and thus move closer to closing equity gaps. Further, this dissertation recommends further research on each of these factors and how the factors influence and impact Native American community college student success.</p>

<p> The current state of community college student engagement literature is that it is rich with journal articles and research but limited on tools with which to measure the construct of engagement. The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), a widely cited survey of community college student engagement, is one way to measure engagement, though this instrument has come under scrutiny for the validity of its benchmarks, its lack of emphasis on cultural considerations, and its length. The present study sought to create and validate a new survey of community college student engagement that would take less than 10 minutes to complete and drew on the most current body of literature on college student engagement. A second aim of this study was to understand community college student engagement by interpreting the results of the instrument created, the Brief Assessment of Student Engagement (BASE), and comparing it to other research on student engagement. The BASE was created and revised based on a literature review, rounds of interviews with students, feedback from higher education administrators and faculty, and a pilot administration. The BASE was then administered to a randomly selected group of students. Several significant, though weak to moderate, relationships were found between questions on the BASE and items from the CCSSE. Significant differences between scores based on age of participants was found, with those participants aged 30-35 scoring higher than those aged 18-24. A significant though weak relationship was also found between score on the BASE and GPA. Implications are discussed. </p>

This qualitative study examined online teaching and learning in a rural community college setting from the instructors' points-of-view. The research questions focused upon what the instructors viewed as the benefits and detriments of online teaching and learning, both for them and their students, their views of the effects of online learning on their students, the nature of teaching online in a rural community college, and the interaction between instructors and students, and among students, in online classes. Constructivist learning theory served as the theoretical framework of this study. The findings are based on an analysis of the data collected from two rounds of in-depth interviews with nine participants, observations of the participants' online courses, and the review of related documents.The key findings related to the rural setting dealt with the lack of sophisticated Internet infrastructure in rural service areas and a lack of student readiness for online instruction. A gap in theory and practice also exists; with one exception, online instruction was not grounded in any theoretical framework. The interaction in online classes varied from class to class, with e-mail correspondence and discussion threads constituting the bulk of the interaction. The lack of face-to-face contact emerged as a troublesome issue, with no instructor believing that the online course was superior to the traditional, seated course. Several instructors cited practical and learning benefits specific to online courses, and all recognized the need to offer courses online.The benefits of online teaching and learning included both practical and learning benefits. Flexibility and convenience were cited as key practical benefits, and learning benefits included additional opportunities to reflect and interact online, to draw from personal experiences, and learn at one's own pace. The acquisition of time-management, reading, writing, research, technological, and problem-solving skills on the parts of the students were also viewed as learning benefits. The negative aspects included feelings of isolation, a lack of academic preparedness to learn online on the part of the students, the problems related to dial-up Internet access in rural areas, and the increased amount of preparation required to teach an online course.The study discusses patterns in the data as well as contradictions to these patterns. Limitations of the study and recommendations for the community college and for future studies are also addressed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Rosemary Talab / The purpose of this case study was to explore the online learning environment through the experiences of the individual learner and to gain more insight into the elements of Business online courses, as framed by the Keller ARCS Model of Motivation. This study explored the following three Research Questions: 1. How do undergraduate first-year Business students perceive online course elements as being motivational? 2. How do the online courses that Business students perceive as being motivational use the Keller ARCS Motivational Model? 3 How do exemplary online Business faculty use the Keller ARCS Motivational Model in online instruction? The population was students enrolled in first-year for-credit online classes taken during the Fall 2010 semester in a Midwestern community college. A sample of required Business online sections was purposively selected in order to investigate Business student motivation. The participants in this study were 18 first-year Business students enrolled in Business courses. Based on student interviews, the instructors of the three courses that were most often nominated by students as being most motivational were interviewed. Interviews of students and instructors were conducted at the end of the Fall 2010 semester. Seven themes were identified for Research Question 1: 116 units for theme “Course Communication,” 83 units for theme “Course Requirements,” 71 units for theme “Grades,” 60 units for theme “Course Organization,” 50 units for the theme “Learning Online,” 48 units or the theme “Course Element Availability,” and 46 units for the theme “Track Course Progress.” For Research Question 2, the ARCS model categories were used as a framework for understanding and interpreting student motivation: “Attention,” “Relevance,” “Confidence,” and “Satisfaction.” The components of the Keller ARCS themes were then analyzed according to the components that students perceived as being most motivational. The ARCS Themes found were: 31 units for theme “Satisfaction,” 25 units for theme “Relevance,” 24 units were found for theme “Confidence,” and 20 units were found for theme “Attention.” The significant theme findings were: The Satisfaction theme was found to include practice prior to graded activities. The Relevance theme was found to include the use of “choices” as a key motivational component to what was perceived as being relevant. The Confidence theme was found to include a progression in difficulty of activities and access to review and practice new material. The Attention theme was found to include variability of instruction and course elements. To answer Research Question 3, faculty interviews focused specifically on the Keller ARCS Motivational Model and components. The ARCS themes found were: 36 units for theme “Confidence,” 25 units for theme “Relevance,” 24 units for theme “Satisfaction,” and 22 units for theme “Attention.” The significant findings from the themes were: The Confidence theme was found to include providing key information upfront to students. The design of the course must allow for student success and become progressively more difficult for students. Also, the time and effort required to complete activities should be provided to students. The Relevance theme was found to include the use of “choices” and to relate the course to the student’s situation as key motivational components. The Satisfaction theme was found to include negative consequences that are handled within the course, and practice that offers immediate feedback. The Attention theme was found to include students asking students questions within the course. Recommendations for further studies included a qualitative study to uncover how online Business students are motivated in their second and later years and a study to understand student motivation through various settings and technologies used in learning management system course elements.