Suburban Community College Research Articles

Predicting community college astronomy performance through logistic regression

The present study examined demographic and academic predictors of astronomy performance of community college students enrolled in astronomy courses in a large suburban community college. The theoretical framework was based upon a deconstructive approach for predicting community college performance whereby students academic pathways through higher education institutions are examined to understand their dynamic interaction with institutional integration and progress towards academic goals. Transcript data analysis was employed to elicit student demographics and longitudinal academic coursework and performance. A logistic regression model was generated to identify significant predictors of astronomy performance which included mathematics achievement enrollment in remedial mathematics and enrollment in multiple astronomy courses. The results imply a greater focus on mathematics preparation and performance may mediate astronomy outcomes for community college students. Notably demographic variables including ethnicity socioeconomic status gender and age were not significant predictors of astronomy performance in the multivariable model suggesting the course is a potential gateway for diversifying STEM access. Also astronomy interest as measured by enrollment in multiple astronomy courses was related to performance. Further implications for practice are discussed.

Teaching Better: A Community College’s Faculty Development Needs

Faculty development is a critical area of practice for every higher education institution. Many programs, however, are increasingly designed around assuring institutional compliance rather than equipping faculty to be successful teachers. The current study was designed to explore what a community college’s faculty perceived as important faculty development programming. Using a survey of nearly 400 faculty at a suburban community college, faculty identified programs that focus on linking social technology to academic success, generational differences of students, and addressing student disabilities in the classroom as the most important. Nearly half of responding faculty noted that developmental programing is of high importance to them, and just over a third indicated that programing should be in person rather than online. Findings suggest that faculty are seeking the best possible way to connect with students who have grown up with technology.

High school transcript placement in developmental mathematics courses: A case study at one college

Historically, college students who require remediation in mathematics have been placed into developmental mathematics courses. Accurate placement is important for student success; inaccurate placement in a low-level course could lengthen a students’ time to degree completion. Placement policies have tended to focus on a high-stakes placement test, but more holistic approaches have been recommended. This study investigated success outcomes for students placed with a holistic approach of evaluating high school transcripts. Students who were placed into one of three developmental mathematics by their high school transcript at a suburban community college in North-eastern United States were selected for this study. A non-experimental, retrospective research study was conducted. Archival data of students who took a developmental mathematics course from fall 2015 through spring 2019 and had a high school transcript on file were chosen for this study. Findings from chi-square analyses indicated that high school transcripts that consider mathematics course grades are a viable placement option for developmental math courses, particularly the two lower-levels. However, lower than desired success rates suggest that placement is only the first step to increasing student achievement. A lack of high school transcripts suggests some students would prefer to take a placement test, particularly for students in the upper-level course on a college algebra path. A challenge for community college advisors will be creating an equitable placement policy for students who do not have a recent high school transcript.

An Investigation of Differences in Student Success and Persistence Rates by Course Modality

Emporium courses have been offered as an option to reduce the amount of time students spend in developmental mathematics courses. This study investigated differences in achievement and persistence in mathematics by course modality for students enrolled in developmental mathematics at a suburban community college in the Northeast United States from fall 2015 through spring 2019. Statistically significant differences existed in final exam score and course grades by course level. For the upper two developmental mathematics courses, achievement measures in emporium courses were comparable to face-to-face courses. Thus, an emporium model that is designed to provide a semi-structured schedule, prompt feedback, and frequent interactions with tutors and faculty is a viable option for middle- and upper-level courses. The emporium modality did not appear to benefit students placed into the lowest level course (i.e., pre-algebra) as grades and persistence rates were lower compared to face-to-face courses. Online course modality was not the best option across all course levels. The results of this study may have implications for post-secondary institutions that want to begin offering developmental mathematics courses in multiple modalities.

The impact of moderate physical activity and student interaction on retention at a community college

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of a voluntary walking program that combined moderate physical activity and student interaction on student retention at a community college. Methods: A sample of 69 students at a suburban community college voluntarily joined a walking program and logged the number of minutes they walked and the number of people they spoke to each day. Using a Chi-Squared Test of Independence, the study sample was compared to a matched sample of nonparticipating students. Results: There was a significant difference in these groups relative to retention. A Fisher’s Exact Test was used to consider (a) the difference between participants who walked at least 150 minutes per week Reference (1) and those who did not relative to retention and (b) the difference between participants who interacted while walking and those who did not relative to retention. These tests showed no significant differences. Conclusions: Participation in the walking program was significantly associated with retention, but amount of moderate activity or interaction was not.

The Presence of Courses that Address Diversity in Community College Curricula

ABSTRACT With the growing diversity of the population in the United States, it is becoming increasingly important to teach students about issues related to diversity. This is especially true in the community college where a large, and diverse, number of students enter postsecondary education. This study employed a descriptive design of the catalogs of 145 rural, suburban, and urban community colleges with varied enrollments throughout the United States to determine how many courses that address diversity were offered, including the department offering the course and the specific focus. Findings revealed that colleges classified as small and medium were less likely to offer these courses, as were colleges located in rural areas and towns and those located in New England, the middle section of the United States, and the South.

Competing eBook acquisition models: which model best serves a community college library?

PurposeAcademic libraries continue to invest in eBooks to ensure access to content in various formats. This paper aims to examine eBook acquisition models, including patron-driven acquisitions, one-time purchases, focused collection subscriptions or large-scale subscriptions, to better understand how users engage with this content based on usage data.Design/methodology/approachUsage data provide insights into eBook acquisition and how access models influence use. This study defines the acquisition model for each eBook purchase. Data were examined to determine usage by acquisition model and cost-per-use.FindingsThis paper finds that for a large suburban community college, a large-scale subscription model has the lowest cost-per-use and serves the largest portion of students. Focused collection subscriptions supported small, specialized programs in the Allied Health, Emergency Services, and Nursing fields.Originality/valueThis paper examines how eBooks are acquired to determine which model best serves an academic library community, specifically a community college library, which is currently underrepresented in the literature.

DREAMers and values: An urban and suburban community college comparison.

DREAMers and values: An urban and suburban community college comparison.

Assimilation in Suburbia? Geographical and Cultural Barriers to Working With LGBTQ+ Students in Suburban Community Colleges

AbstractPartial LGBTQ+ assimilation into mainstream culture has changed how practitioners interact with students at suburban community colleges. This chapter reviews the history of the Chicago suburbs and reflects on the authors' experiences working with LGBTQ+ students in community colleges there.

An analysis of grammatical patterns in generation 1.5, L1 and L2 students’ writings: A replication study

Recent studies examining whether Generation 1.5 writing is unique (as compared to L1 and/or L2 writing), including several conducted by the same researchers, have resulted in highly conflicting findings. To shed new light on this controversial issue, the present study replicates research by Doolan and Miller (2012), but uses a much larger sample. Focusing on grammatical accuracy, which is most often cited as the distinguishing feature of Generation 1.5 writing, this study thus presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the most prevalent “error” patterns in the essays of 149 students enrolled in Developmental English and ESL courses at two suburban community colleges on the East Coast, including Generation 1.5 (n = 49), L2 (n = 50) and L1 writers (n = 50). Findings confirm significant differences between Generation 1.5 students and L1 writers in particular, with Generation 1.5 writers displaying error patterns and frequencies that resemble those of L2 writers but not L1 writers. We argue that these findings have significant implications for placement, curriculum and pedagogy. Furthermore, we hypothesize that a lack of attention to the variable ‘age of arrival’ may have been the cause of the conflicting findings in studies to date.

Community College Chemistry Coursetaking and STEM Academic Persistence

Community colleges educate nearly half of all students who complete postsecondary degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. For many matriculated students, chemistry is a required gatekeeping course for postsecondary retention and advancement in STEM majors. This research explored community college student enrollment and performance in introductory chemistry courses for STEM majors, and how chemistry achievement related to student background characteristics and degree persistence. Data included grades, demographics, enrollment patterns, and degree status for 1,690 chemistry students who matriculated at a diverse, suburban community college from 2011 to 2014. Descriptive statistics indicated 32% of students received grades of D, F, or W in introductory chemistry; 49% of these students changed their majors after taking the course, with four-fifths of those degree changers switching to non-STEM fields. Binary logistic regression models revealed that chemistry enrollment...

Establishing a Framework for Successful Social Network Site Use in the Community College

ABSTRACTMany colleges and universities have created college-sponsored communities on Facebook and Twitter as a means to interact, connect, and build community online (Center for Community College Student Engagement, 2009; Wankel & Wankel, 2011). However, the literature provides no clear picture of how community college students use social network sites (SNS) or whether the use of SNS is associated with student outcomes as social integration into the campus environment, institutional commitment, and persistence (Davis, Deil-Amen, Rios-Aguilar, & González Canché, 2012; Junco, 2012). The purpose of this quantitative research investigation was to examine the relationship between Social Networking Site use and social integration, institutional commitment, and persistence among students at a suburban community college. Findings revealed a significant relationship between SNS and social integration and institutional commitment; there was no significant relationship between SNS use and persistence. Recommendations for policy, practice, and future research are offered.

Civic Engagement and Cosmopolitan Leadership

This chapter explores the leadership qualities participants identified as pivotal to the development of civic engagement at a large, suburban community college.

College Students or Criminals? A Postcolonial Geographic Analysis of the Social Field of Whiteness at an Urban Community College Branch Campus and Suburban Main Campus

Objective: This study illustrates how external factors of urban and suburban racializations contribute to criminalization and surveillance of an urban community college campus and bus shelters surrounding it. Method: A postcolonial geographic research design is used to analyze geographic and qualitative data. Results: Results show that an urban branch and suburban main community college campus reflect a social field of Whiteness in which the geographic location and external campus are part of the habitus of White racism. Conclusion: We conclude that although community colleges have traditionally provided open admissions to marginalized students, the location and context of racialization at college branch and main campuses align with residential segregation and criminalization of residents and students of color.

A Profile of Giving Patterns and Donor Behavior at a Suburban Community College

Community colleges have become increasingly reliant on diversifying their revenue sources, and turning to private fund raising has become a common strategy for many of them. Although fund raising has been a common practice in higher education since its inception, it has only emerged in the two-year college sector in the past several decades. The current study sought to identify donors at a case study, suburban community college, specifically exploring giving patterns over time and testing the conceptual framework of a pyramid of giving that overlays institutional involvement and commitment with giving levels. Major infrastructure inconsistencies prevented much of the framework testing, but data were capable of creating an initial donor and giving profile for a typical community college. This profile demonstrated that board members and employees were the most loyal and consistent in making contributions, but that these gifts often were stable over time and did not increase to become major gifts. Also, private business and industry gifts were often given at the same level as individual gifts, perhaps illustrating the responsiveness and cooperation between community colleges and the local workforce.

Action research for instructional improvement: the Bad, the Ugly, and the Good

In the wake of accreditation cycles stressing student outcomes, we believed the reflective and practitioner-centered philosophy of action research a perfect fit for effecting institutional improvements for a four-year grant-funded effort in our urban–suburban community colleges in California. We learned that things were both worse and better than we had imagined. While we had anticipated what we will call ‘the Bad’, the classic budgetary and institutional forces buffeting us, our project, and our institutions, we had not anticipated what we will call ‘the Ugly’. And perhaps because of our grasp of ‘the Bad’, we also had not anticipated what we will call ‘the Good’. We found ourselves challenged to rethink how to encourage colleagues to become reflective practitioners, yet able to appreciate the power of action research to lead to genuine transformation.

Overview: The Future of the Urban Community College

AbstractWe view this New Directions for Community Colleges sourcebook as a call to action for America's urban community colleges to become leaders on the frontier of a genuine multiracial democracy. It is a call to redress massive and persistent disparities that have created what Cornel West refers to as the “pathology of despair” in our inner cities. Leaders are challenged to transform the very nature of the urban community college just as those who came before us responded to the social revolution of the 1950s and 1960s amid the civil rights movement of that era. Today's urban college is at the front line of the next phase in this revolution, leading efforts to overcome the persistent and entrenched racial, educational, economic, and social inequities that threaten the vitality of our cities and our nation's democratic principles. Suburban and rural community colleges have a stake in this same experience, as they also serve areas of increasing diversity and poverty.

Developing Leadership Competencies in the Heartland

The Leading Forward Initiative of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) outlined a set of essential competencies for effective leadership in community colleges. Research has confirmed that community college leaders agree the competencies are important to effective leadership. Few studies, however, have examined how these leadership skills and abilities are developed. In addition, there is limited research regarding the AACC leadership competencies and the differences that exist between and among rural, suburban, and urban community colleges. This article considersthe context of the rural community college, representing 60% of all community colleges in the United States (Hardy & Katsinas, 2007). The study provides data from a sample of senior-level leaders in rural community colleges, and it examines the perceptions of respondents regarding the importance of selected professional development activities in developing the AACC leadership competencies. Findings reveal that 8 of the 10 professional development activities with the highest perceived importance were internal to the community college or local community activities. The article concludes with implications for practice and for future research.

Student Engagement at a Large Suburban Community College: Gender and Race Differences

Previous research shows that there are individual differences in academic achievement associated with gender and race. Research also suggests that student engagement is an important determinant of student outcomes/achievement. The present study explored student engagement at an extra-large community college. It specifically investigated possible individual differences in student engagement and explored how it maps on to student achievement. As predicted, the results indicate that there are gender and race differences in student engagement—females show greater engagement than males, and African-American students show greater engagement than students of other races. The results are discussed in the context of student achievement as indicated by students’ self-reported GPAs.

The Reliance on and Demand for Adjunct Faculty Members in America’s Rural, Suburban, and Urban Community Colleges

Drawing on a survey of chief academic officers at 347 community colleges nationwide, this study examined the impact of institutional type (rural, suburban, urban) on reliance on and demand for adjunct faculty members. Findings indicated that rural institutions rely less on adjuncts, whereas both rural and urban institutions report high levels of unmet demand within specific disciplines.