The relationship between the secondary mathematics curriculum, college persistence, and success at an urban community college

According to Venezia, Kirst, and Antonio (2003) and Barth’s 2002 Thinking K16 Ticket to Nowhere report, the disconnect between K-12 and postsecondary education was a contributing factor to high attrition rates. Since mathematics emerged as a primary concern for college readiness, Barth (2002) called for improving student transitions from K-12 to postsecondary institutions through the use of state or local data. The purpose of the present study was to analyze mathematics course-taking patterns of secondary students in a local context and to evaluate high school characteristics in order to explore their relationships with Associate degree attainment or continuous enrollment at an urban community college. Also, this study extended a national study conducted by Clifford Adelman (The Toolbox Revisited, 2006) as it specifically focused on community college students that were not included his study. Furthermore, this study used the theoretical framework that human capital, social capital, and cultural capital influence habitus—an individual’s or a group’s learned inclination to behave within the parameters of the imposed prevailing culture and norms. Specifically, the school embedded culture as it relates to tracking worked as a reproduction tool of ultimate benefit for the privileged group (Oakes, 1994). ^ Using multilevel analysis, this ex post facto study examined non-causal relationships between math course-taking patterns and college persistence of public high school graduates who enrolled at the local community college for up to 6 years. One school-level variable (percent of racial/ethnic minorities) and 7 student-level variables (community college math proportion, remedial math attempts, race, gender, first-year credits earned, socioeconomic status, and summer credits earned) emerged as predictors for college persistence. Study results indicated that students who enter higher education at the community college may have had lower opportunities to learn and therefore needed higher levels of remediation, which was shown to detract students from degree completion. Community college leaders are called to partner with local high schools with high percentages of racial/ethnic minorities to design academic programs aimed at improving the academic preparation of high school students in mathematics and promote student engagement during the first year and summers of college. ^

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.

Entering an academic discourse community: A case study of the coping strategies of eleven english as a second language students

This case study follows eleven non-English speaking students as they adapt to community college, content courses. The three classes examined are required freshman classes--Humanities, Social Environment, and Individual in Transition. In order to cope with the demands of these classes, students must penetrate the academic discourse community and have effective relationships with their instructors and their peers. The results of the study are based on interviews with eleven non-native speaking (NNS) students and their instructors and on an analysis of student writing assignments, course syllabi, and exams. Three general areas are examined: (a) students' first-language (L1) education, (b) the requirements of their content classes, and (c) the affective factors which influence their adaptation process. The case of these students reveals that: 1. Students draw on their L1 education, especially in terms of content, as they cope with the demands of these content classes. 2. In some areas L1 educational experiences interfere with students' ability to adapt. 3. The content classes require students to have well developed reading, writing, oral, and aural skills. 4. Students must use higher level cognitive skills to be successful in content classes. 5. Affective factors play a role in students' success in content classes. The discussion section includes possible implications of this data for college level English as a Second Language courses.

Making Memorial Student-Ready: Reflections on the First Year Success Experience

In eleven short chapters faculty, academic advising staff and student union representatives discuss aspects of Memorial’s First Year Success Program (piloted as a Teaching Learning Framework initiative 2012-2017). Teaching approaches, curriculum content and policy rationales are covered in a broad view of how and why students identified as least likely to succeed at university can be academically supported. Contributors identify the singular importance of the community that First Year Success provided them and its student participants.

Exploring the Success of Student Experiential Learning through Entrepreneurial Opportunities

Academic literature has increasingly recognized the value of non-traditional higher education learning environments that emphasize action-orientated experiential learning for the study of entrepreneurship (Gibb, 2002; Jones & English, 2004). Many entrepreneurship educators have accordingly adopted approaches based on Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning cycle to develop a dynamic, holistic model of an experience-based learning process. Jones and Iredale (2010) suggested that entrepreneurship education requires experiential learning styles and creative problem solving to effectively engage students. Support has also been expressed for learning-by-doing activities in group or network contexts (Rasmussen and Sorheim, 2006), and for student-led approaches (Fiet, 2001). This study will build on previous works by exploring the use of experiential learning in an applied setting to develop entrepreneurial attitudes and traits in students. Based on the above literature, a British higher education institution (HEI) implemented a new, entrepreneurially-focused curriculum during the 2013/14 academic year designed to support and develop students’ entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions. The approach actively involved students in small scale entrepreneurship activities by providing scaffolded opportunities for students to design and enact their own entrepreneurial concepts. Students were provided with the necessary resources and training to run small entrepreneurial ventures in three different working environments. During the course of the year, three applied entrepreneurial opportunities were provided for students, increasing in complexity, length, and profitability as the year progressed. For the first undertaking, the class was divided into small groups, and each group was given a time slot and venue to run a pop-up shop in a busy commercial shopping centre. Each group of students was supported by lectures and dedicated class time for group work, while receiving a set of objectives and recommended resources. For the second venture, groups of students were given the opportunity to utilize an on-campus bar/club for an evening and were asked to organize and run a profitable event, acting as an outside promoter. Students were supported with lectures and seminars, and groups were given a £250 budget to develop, plan, and market their unique event. The final event was optional and required initiative on the part of the students. Students were given the opportunity to develop and put forward business plans to be judged by the HEI and the supporting organizations, which selected the winning plan. The authors of the winning business plan received a £2000 budget and a six-week lease to a commercial retail unit within a shopping centre to run their business. Students received additional academic support upon request from the instructor, and one of the supporting organizations provided a training course offering advice on creating a budget and a business plan. Data from students taking part in each of the events was collected, in order to ascertain the learning benefits of the experiential learning, along with the successes and difficulties they faced. These responses have been collected and analyzed and will be presented at the conference along with the instructor’s conclusions and recommendations for the use of such programs in higher educations.

Assessment of student engagement among junior high school students and associations with self-esteem, burnout, and academic achievement

The aim of the study was to investigate the structure of affective and cognitive engagement using the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI; Appleton, Christenson, Kim, & Reschly, 2006) and to examine the associations to behavioral engagement, as well as student-reported self-esteem, burnout, and academic achievement among Finnish junior high school students. The analyses were carried out in the main sample of 2,485 students, as well as in an independent sample of 821 students. The results showed that the original five-factor structure of the SEI construed along three affective and two cognitive engagement factors fit the current data relatively well. Affective and cognitive student engagement correlated positively with an independent measure of behavioral engagement. Furthermore, affective and cognitive engagement were positively associated with student-reported self-esteem and academic achievement, and negatively with school burnout. The findings provided corroborating evidence for the psychometric properties and utilization of the SEI instrument for assessing the engagement of junior high school students. (DIPF/Orig.)

A Retrospective-Longitudinal Examination of the Relationship between Apportionment of Seat Time in Community-College Algebra Courses and Student Academic Performance

During the past decade, there has been a dramatic increase by postsecondary institutions in providing academic programs and course offerings in a multitude of formats and venues (Biemiller, 2009; Kucsera & Zimmaro, 2010; Lang, 2009; Mangan, 2008). Strategies pertaining to reapportionment of course-delivery seat time have been a major facet of these institutional initiatives; most notably, within many open-door 2-year colleges. Often, these enrollment-management decisions are driven by the desire to increase market-share, optimize the usage of finite facility capacity, and contain costs, especially during these economically turbulent times. So, while enrollments have surged to the point where nearly one in three 18-to-24 year-old U.S. undergraduates are community college students (Pew Research Center, 2009), graduation rates, on average, still remain distressingly low (Complete College America, 2011). Among the learning-theory constructs related to seat-time reapportionment efforts is the cognitive phenomenon commonly referred to as the spacing effect, the degree to which learning is enhanced by a series of shorter, separated sessions as opposed to fewer, more massed episodes. This ex post facto study explored whether seat time in a postsecondary developmental-level algebra course is significantly related to: course success; course-enrollment persistence; and, longitudinally, the time to successfully complete a general-education-level mathematics course. Hierarchical logistic regression and discrete-time survival analysis were used to perform a multi-level, multivariable analysis of a student cohort (N = 3,284) enrolled at a large, multi-campus, urban community college. The subjects were retrospectively tracked over a 2-year longitudinal period. The study found that students in long seat-time classes tended to withdraw earlier and more often than did their peers in short seat-time classes (p < .05). Additionally, a model comprised of nine statistically significant covariates (all with p-values less than .01) was constructed. However, no longitudinal seat-time group differences were detected nor was there sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that seat time was predictive of developmental-level course success. A principal aim of this study was to demonstrate—to educational leaders, researchers, and institutional-research/business-intelligence professionals—the advantages and computational practicability of survival analysis, an underused but more powerful way to investigate changes in students over time.

From the workplace to the classroom:examining the impact of self-leadership learning strategies on higher educational attainment and success

Self-leadership is a concept from the organisational and management literature broadly combining processes of self-goal setting, self-regulation and self-motivation. Research has typically focused on the impact of self-leadership on work performance outcomes, with little attention to potential benefits for learning and development. In this paper, we employ a longitudinal design to examine the association of a number of processes of self-leadership with higher educational attainment in a sample of business students (N = 150). Self-reported use of strategies related to behavioural, cognitive and motivational aspects of self-leadership were measured in the first semester of the academic year, and correlated with end-of year grade point average. We found that in particular, self-goal setting, pro-active goal-related behaviour, behaviour regulation and direction, motivational awareness, and optimism were all significant predictors of educational attainment. We discuss implications for educational research and for teachers and tutors in practice.

Factors influencing success in introductory programming courses.

This study looked at the reasons why Vanier College students in computer programming are encountering difficulties in their learning process, Factors such as prior academic background, prior computer experience, mother tongue, and learning styles were examined to see how they play a role in students' success in programming courses. The initial research hypotheses were the following : Computer science students using understanding and integrating succeed better than students using following coding, or problem solving. Students using problem solving succeed better than those who use participating and enculturation. Students who use coding perform better than those who prefer participating ans enculturation. In addition, this study hoped to examine whether there is a gender difference in how students learn programming.||Résumé :||La présente étude a examiné les raisons pour lesquelles les étudiants en informatique du Collège Vanier rencontrent des difficultés dans leurs études en programmation. Les facteurs tel que le niveau des études précédentes, l'expérience en informatique, la langue maternelle e les méthodes d'apprentissage ont été considérés pour voir quel rôle ces facteurs jouent pour promouvoir la réussite dans les cours de programmation.Les hypothèses initiales de recherche ont été formulées comme suit : 1. Les étudiants en informatique utilisant la compréhension et l'intégration réussissent mieux que ceux utilisant «suivre», le codage ou la résolution des problèmes. 2, Les étudiants utilisant la résolution des problèmes réussissent mieux que ceux qui utilisent la participation dans la culture informatique. 3, Les étudiants utilisant le codage réussissent mieux que ceux qui utilisent la participation dans la culture informatique.

SAP-Related Education - Status-Quo and Experience

Integrating Enterprise Systems solutions in the curriculum of not only universities but all types of institutes of higher learning has been a major challenge for nearly ten years. Enterprise Systems education is surprisingly well documented in a number of papers on Information Systems education. However, most publications in this area report on the individual experiences of an institution or an academic. This paper focuses on the most popular Enterprise System - SAP - and summarizes the outcomes of a global survey on the status quo of SAP-related education. Based on feedback of 305 lecturers and more than 700 students, it reports on the main factors of Enterprise Systems education including, critical success factors, alternative hosting models, and students’ perceptions. The results show among others an overall increasing interest in advanced SAP solutions and international collaboration, and a high satisfaction with the concept of using Application Hosting Centers.