Previous research has demonstrated that African-American students expend more effort and achieve less gain when compared to White students at Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) (Greene, Marti, & McClenney, 2008; Kugelmass & Douglas, 2011; Watson & Kuh, 1996). This phenomenon, referred to in the literature as the Effort Outcome Gap (EOG) (Greene, Marti, & McClenney, 2008), can be explained by Cultural Capital Theory (Bourdieu, 1986) which describes how inequities for minority students attending PWIs are perpetuated from generation to generation. These inequities require minority students to exert intercultural effort, which speaks to the additional effort that must be put forth to achieve and persist at PWIs (Dowd, Sawatzky, & Korn, 2011; Tanaka, 2002). The purpose of this study was to better understand how course delivery type and student race are related to student engagement and gains for first-year students attending four-year degree granting PWIs in the United States. A conceptual framework grounded in Cultural Capital Theory and the construct of Intercultural Effort was used to interpret the results. This study examined whether or not there are differences in the relationships between course delivery type, student engagement, and student gains for African-American students and White students attending PWIs. Using a sample taken from the 2010 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), multiple regression analysis was used to address the research questions posited by this study. Findings provide further evidence of the EOG between African-American and White face-to-face students attending PWIs. They also suggest that online course delivery may serve to mitigate intercultural effort for African-American students. Additionally, they demonstrate that online course delivery may benefit both African-American and White students in a way that face-to-face instruction does not. Finally, findings suggest that benefits associated with online course delivery are, for the most part, not differentially related to race. These findings have practical implications for higher education practitioners and administrators at PWIs. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / March 26, 2014. / African-American, Effort Outcome Gap, Intercultural Effort, Learning Gains, Online Instruction, Student Engagement / Includes bibliographical references. / Shouping Hu, Professor Directing Dissertation; Vanessa Dennen, University Representative; Robert A. Schwartz, Committee Member; Kathy Guthrie, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_185322 |
| Contributors | Stanley, Bolling Craig (authoraut), Hu, Shouping (professor directing dissertation), Dennen, Vanessa (university representative), Schwartz, Robert A. (committee member), Guthrie, Kathy (committee member), Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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