Learning communities (LCs) provide an ideal context for civic learning because they foreground the integrative and interactive nature of learning and skills development. While the academic benefits of LCs have been well documented, their potential to promote civic learning and engagement has received less attention. Indeed, the potential of LCs to…

This study has three primary objectives. First to provide insight into possibilities for moderation/mediation analysis in education research by discussing analytical methods based on the counterfactual and developed in other disciplines. Second is to highlight specific issues related to mediation and the estimation of effects when the outcome is…

Community college teaching is a complex endeavor requiring not only the mastery of disciplinary knowledge but also the pedagogical skills needed to serve this diverse population of students. While many community college faculties are hired with advanced academic degrees, professional experience or both, many often have not had formal pedagogical…

This document provides the technical appendix that accompanies the study, "Student Experiences in English Corequisite Remediation versus a Standalone Developmental Education Course: Findings from an Experimental Study in Texas Community Colleges. Research Report. RR-A810-1" (ED612531). Between fall 2016 and fall 2018, the authors…

This case study research examined employee job satisfaction best practices at three community college receiving recognition through the Chronicle of Higher Education Great College to Work For designation. The leadership and human resource practices at these institutions were explored through employee interviews, collection of documents, and…

Objective: This study probes the reasons for high attrition rates and sense of community among students enrolled at a technical institution serving low-income students in Bogotá, Colombia. Although sense of community on campus is the strongest predictor of a student's thriving, scholars in higher education have studied mainly minority students'…

Objective: Beyond understanding whether first-year student success interventions in community colleges are effective--for which there is mixed evidence in the literature--this study's purpose was to uncover how they work to realize observed outcomes, including at times unanticipated undesirable outcomes. Method: This qualitative multiple case…

The purpose of this research study was to explore the process, implementation, and impact of a BI strategic system at Lone Star College-Tomball Campus (LSC-T), Texas, to determine the effectiveness of BI on community college decision-making. This research study (a) explored the process of implementing a new BI strategic system model at LSC-T, (b)…

This research examined correctional and community college administrators' perceptions of collaboration and the public value impact of a PSCE partnership through a systems thinking conceptual framework. Through interviews, observations, and document reviews, I determined how these perceptions aligned with the public value of a PSCE partnership.…

Objective: With both policy pressures from state governments, including states' funding behaviors, and the logic of the institution deeply ingrained over decades, community colleges face considerable challenge in reconciling conflicting values and requirements. Yet, as organizations they adapt to survive, and outcomes of adaptation may lead to an…

This article explores the learning experiences of two students in the same college-level English course at Urban Serving Community College (USCC) (pseudonym). The objective was to understand how one student met with success and the other failure despite both successfully completing their developmental English course the semester prior. I observed…

Issues of instruction and assessment at community colleges are influenced by the high percentage of classes taught by adjunct faculty. In 2014 for the Virginia Community College System, part-time instructors comprised 70.3% of instructional faculty. This dissertation describes the instruction and assessment technique choices of adjunct instructors…

Institutional effectiveness (IE) is required for colleges and universities by the six regional accrediting agencies for education in the United States, but the creation of cyclical, systemic, ongoing IE plans has proven to be a challenge for institutions, and especially for community colleges. The literature indicates faculty resist IE work when…

With a reduced number of students purchasing required and necessary textbooks, higher education leaders must look to new opportunities to increase student success. While open educational resources have addressed this issue, they have not received widespread support from faculty, staff, and administrators. The Maricopa Millions OER Project: Scaling…

In the present transcendental phenomenological study, we describe the experiences of introverted undergraduate students in an active learning English classroom environment at a community college in Florida. We selected 10 participants whose Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) scores indicated clear to very clear on the introversion measure and who…