A study of the effects of a service-learning experience on student success at an urban community college

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a service-learning experience on student success as measured by class attendance, course completion, final course grades, and end-of-term evaluation data.^ Though many outcomes of service-learning experiences have been studied, including ethical values, self-esteem, student personal development, and career preparation, relatively few studies have been conducted on the effects of such experiences on academic achievement, and the studies that have been done have primarily studied students at traditional, four-year, residential universities.^ The study consisted of 286 students enrolled in six paired courses taught by five instructors at a community college in the Fall term 1996. One section of each pair (the control group) was taught using traditional subject matter and course materials and the other section of each pair (the treatment group) participated in a 20-hour required service-learning activity in addition to the regular course curriculum. The courses in the study included American History, Sociology, College Preparatory English, and Introduction to English Composition.^ The results of this study indicate that, overall, students who participated in a class in which service-learning was a requirement, achieved higher final course grades and reported greater satisfaction with the course, the instructor, the reading assignments, and the grading system, and the treatment section of one course pair had fewer absences. In addition, the faculty members reported that, in the treatment sections, class discussions were more stimulating, the sections seemed more vital in terms of student involvement, the students seemed more challenged academically, more motivated to learn, and seemed to exert more effort in the course. ^

Invisible but not forgotten: The Afro-Argentine and Afro-Uruguayan experience from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries

The problem to be examined in this thesis involves the supposedly overlooked history and contributions of Africans and their descendants in the River Plate countries of Argentina and Uruguay. Therefore, the primary purpose of the study is to narrate the social history of Afro-Argentines and Afro-Uruguayans from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. A secondary purpose, moreover, is to synthesize the academic literature on Blacks in the Rio de la Plata and their many cultural and other contributions to the current nation-states of Argentina and Uruguay. This thesis thereby challenges the regnant historiographical argument that African Argentines and African Uruguayans have been “forgotten” as historical actors by scholars both inside and outside the Rio de la Plata. By synthesizing the large body of historical and social science scholarship on Africans in the River Plate, as well as providing a thorough bibliography on the subject, this study attempts to proffer (to borrow the subtitle of Marvin Lewis' 1996 study of Afro-Argentine literature) “another dimension of the Black Diaspora” to the Americas. ^

Gender across cultures: The immigration experience/Bulgarian immigrants in South Florida

During the last decade, the United States has witnessed a high increase in its immigration flow. Despite recent surge of interest in numerically small ethnic groups, data on Bulgarian immigrants in the United States is almost non-existent. This is the first comprehensive study on the Bulgarian ethnic group in the United States. ^ This study examined the impact of immigration upon the negotiation of cultural prescriptions by Bulgarian immigrants in the United States. Several fundamental Bulgarian prescriptions for daily behavior, such as emphasis on stability rather than mobility, preference for collectivism instead of individualism, and wide use of social critique rather than social approval were tested on U.S. soil. Furthermore, the impact of gender upon cultural appropriation and retention was considered. The study made use of a comprehensive historical analysis of Bulgarian immigration to the United States, statistical descriptions of contemporary Bulgarian immigrants in the United States, and over a three-year long qualitative study of Bulgarian immigrants in South Florida. ^ The results of the study indicated that the transferring of cultural prescriptions due to immigration did not occur unaffected by gender. Bulgarian and U.S. cultural models clashed, intermingled, and resisted each other in various ways depending on the immigrants' gender. At the same time, gender did not solely determine the validity of prescriptions for daily behavior, but it rather acted in concert with other principles of everyday life. In addition, gender impacted significantly the method, type, and structure of the immigration journey. Gender was a very significant variable in the determination of these features of the immigration process, but it did not account independently for historical variations. Other factors, such as larger contexts of reception and rejection also played an important role. ^

The Experience of “Bottoming”: Considerations for Identity and Learning

Bottoms—Gay men who prefer to be penetrated, sexually—are more stigmatized than other gay men, and may develop and experience identities differently than other gay, bisexual, or heterosexual men. This paper explores intrinsic dispositions and extrinsic motivations that may lead bottoms to perform and embody psychosocial and sexual identities in intimate, interpersonal, and social contexts.

A study of the effects of a service-learning experience on student success at an urban community college

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a service-learning experience on student success as measured by class attendance, course completion, final course grades, and end-of-term evaluation data. Though many outcomes of service-learning experiences have been studied, including ethical values, self-esteem, student personal development, and career preparation, relatively few studies have been conducted on the effects of such experiences on academic achievement, and the studies that have been done have primarily studied students at traditional, four-year, residential universities. The study consisted of 286 students enrolled in six paired courses taught by five instructors at a community college in the Fall term 1996. One section of each pair (the control group) was taught using traditional subject matter and course materials and the other section of each pair (the treatment group) participated in a 20-hour required service- learning activity in addition to the regular course curriculum. The courses in the study included American History, Sociology, College Preparatory English, and Introduction to English Composition. The results of this study indicate that, overall, students who participated in a class in which service-learning was a requirement, achieved higher final course grades and reported greater satisfaction with the course, the instructor, the reading assignments, and the grading system, and the treatment section of one course pair had fewer absences. In addition, the faculty members reported that, in the treatment sections, class discussions were more stimulating, the sections seemed more vital in terms of student involvement, the students seemed more challenged academically, more motivated to learn, and seemed to exert more effort in the course.

Access to Better Education: The School Choice Experience of Families Served by Low-Performing Elementary Public Schools in Miami-Dade County

Public school choice education policy attempts to create an education marketplace. Although school choice research has focused on the parent role in the school choice process, little is known about parents served by low-performing schools. Following market theory, students attending low-performing schools should be the primary students attempting to use school choice policy to access high performing schools rather than moving to a better school. However, students remain in these low-performing schools. This study took place in Miami-Dade County, which offers a wide variety of school choice options through charter schools, magnet schools, and open-choice schools. This dissertation utilized a mixed-methods design to examine the decision-making process and school choice options utilized by the parents of students served by low-performing elementary schools in Miami-Dade County. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with the parents of students served by low-performing schools. Binary logistic regression models were fitted to the data to compare the demographic characteristics, academic achievement and distance from alternative schooling options between transfers and non-transfers. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted to the data to evaluate how demographic characteristics, distance to transfer school, and transfer school grade influenced the type of school a transfer student chose. A geographic analysis was conducted to determine how many miles students lived from alternative schooling options and the miles transfer students lived away from their transfer school. The findings of the interview data illustrated that parents’ perceived needs are not being adequately addressed by state policy and county programs. The statistical analysis found that students from higher socioeconomic social groups were not more likely to transfer than students from lower socioeconomic social groups. Additionally, students who did transfer were not likely to end up at a high achieving school. The findings of the binary logistic regression demonstrated that transfer students were significantly more likely to live near alternative school options.