As employers struggle to fill 9.5 million vacant positions with only 6.5 million workers available across the United States, the role of community colleges becomes critical in educating workers. Open-door access and lower-tuition costs make community college an essential resource for people to access higher education; however, research shows the…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive design study was to explore the perceptions of faculty, staff, and students regarding how academic and social integration affected student retention. The theoretical framework used for this study was Tinto's theory of student integration. The two research questions focused on how faculty, staff, and…

Institutional practices and conditions at community colleges can improve rates of transfer, as can access to transfer student capital. However, we know little about how institutions attempt to build students' transfer capital, or about students' experiences within community colleges as they accumulate transfer capital. In this paper, we examine…

There is a need to fully understand why Hispanic students are not as successful as other cohorts of students are when completing college. In past research, the focus has been on persistence and retention, but understanding the need for connection and feelings of campus immersion have been absent. The research questions investigated the barriers…

Although there is high enrollment in online college courses, there are concerns about student engagement (Martin & Bolliger, 2018; Dumford & Miller, 2018). Gamification has been shown to have the potential to improve student engagement. The purpose of the study was to describe how academic student engagement is impacted by Nicholson's…

This study aims to answer the following research question: How is participation in selected high impact practices (HIPs) that promote social capital associated with community college students' positive civic learning outcomes (CLOs) such as communication and listening, diversity, and consensus-building? This study analyzed responses to the 2019…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the perceptions of community college professors regarding the instructional practices for addressing the needs of students with disabilities at postsecondary institutions in Southeast Texas. The participants for this study were purposefully selected from within a population of faculty as a…

In envisioning the future of literacy, students' voices are paramount. Students' engagement in classroom talk increases their learning and communication skills, but without intentional implementation, classroom talk can perpetuate hegemony in contemporary classrooms. To better explore this phenomenon, we developed a study in a southeast Texas high…

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and the instructional style of community college STEM faculty to explore a possible connection between teacher self-efficacy, instructional style choice, and its possible impact on STEM reform for community colleges. This study is designed as a sequential…

This study aims to answer the following research question: How is participation in selected high impact practices (HIPs) that promote social capital associated with community college students' positive civic learning outcomes (CLOs) such as communication and listening, diversity, and consensus-building? This study analyzed responses to the 2019…

Objective: The objective of this study was to articulate community college student preferences for receiving a text message from their institution. Method: Using a random sampling technique, the researchers identified a group of 13 community college students (6 females, 7 males; 12 students of color) and performed in-depth interviews with these…

Six years ago, Front Range Community College President Andy Dorsey sat down with his team and looked at the college's completion and graduation rates. Like a lot of colleges, they were in for a shock. It is not that they had expected to see 80 percent completion rates. But they certainly were not expecting to see only 43 percent of their students…

The purpose of this ex post facto study was to determine differences in the level of student engagement in (a) students attending community colleges that participated in the Achieving the Dream (AtD) in 2011 and 2012 and (b) students attending community colleges that did not participate in AtD in 2011 and 2012. The Community College Survey of…

Gateway courses in English challenge students to strengthen skills in critical thinking, reading, grammar, and writing structure and strategies -- skills that also help build competency in comprehension and composition. They can also prove to be a particular challenge to many community college students. This case study examines the efforts at…

This study explored whether gender and active learning and student-centered pedagogies such as project-based and peer-led in introductory science "gatekeeper" major courses; BIOL 1306 and CHEM 1311 had an impact on student success rates, student perceptions, and student persistence in STEM fields at a community college in South Texas…