Adjunct faculty have become the new majority faculty on campuses across the country. There are two theories why adjunct faculty are so relied upon: cost or contingency. Some institutions may employ adjunct faculty for cost-savings reasons. In contrast, other institutions may depend on the contingent, temporary nature of the employment contracts to…

This quantitative causal-comparative study examined to what extent, if any, there were significant differences in community college student success rates (course grades, semester GPA, and rates of persistence) between those students completing an online college success course and those completing a traditional college success course. Each of the…

Along with the deinstitutionalization movement, supports for persons with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) have shifted to promotion of person-centered supports inclusive in the community. Although successes have occurred regarding physical inclusion, skill building and social inclusion have not fared as well for those with more significant…

It is currently unknown how many Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) exist at community colleges. This study investigates the percentage of public and Tribal community colleges that have active IRBs. It also examines the potential relationships between states that allow community colleges to confer baccalaureate degrees, or that have articulation…

Caring is considered a paradigm embodied by the profession of nursing. Caring behaviors of nurses therefore, becomes a fundamental component of everyday nursing practice. Despite this accepted reality of caring in nursing, little research has focused on how to teach caring behaviors to nursing students. The purpose of this quasi-experimental…

For years, community college research has focused on student engagement in an effort to improve student academic performance, retention, and graduation completion rates. While the positive effects of student engagement at both the community college and 4-year university levels have been consistently supported by previous research, there has been…

The study investigated the impact of dual enrollment participation on the academic preparation of first-year full-time college students at a large comprehensive community college and a large research university. The research design was causal-comparative and utilized descriptive and inferential statistics. Multivariate analysis of variances were…

This manuscript delineates a normative structure for community college students, outlines how this structure varies by student characteristics, and compares this structure to that of a previously established normative structure identified at a 4-year institution. A total of 512 student survey responses on the College Student Behaviors Inventory…

This study assessed the effectiveness of the introduction of active learning exercises into the anatomy and physiology curriculum in a community college setting. Specifically, the incorporation of a spirometry-based respiratory physiology lab resulted in improved student performance in two concepts (respiratory volumes and the hallmarks of…

Assessment activities have proliferated over the last decade at institutions of higher education. While assessment is useful for institutional improvement, this proliferation has in part been due to greater pressures from regional accreditors on institutions to meet assessment requirements. These higher expectations have led to new expenditures on…

Purpose: One purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which a difference was present in the STEM degree attainment of all students and particularly of URMs between the 2001 and the 2009 academic year. The second purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which a difference was present in the attainment of STEM associate…

This quantitative, causal-comparative research study investigated the effectiveness of a strategy to address concerns in nursing education about the high attrition rates and poor retention rates of pre-licensure nursing students, particularly in the first semester of nursing school. Two research questions guided this study and focused on the…

Nursing schools face the challenge of improving student academic performance and completion rates. The current supply of newly graduated nurses fails to meet the increasing demands of society. In 2009, Cochise College responded by implementing a major change in their curriculum to improve student retention and academic performance. The problem…

Purpose: The purpose of this investigation was to determine the extent to which differences were present in dual credit course enrollment. Specifically examined were whether differences were present in the first semester GPA and at the end of the first two semesters for students who enrolled in dual credit courses while in high school from…

This study hypothesizes that course passing rates in remedial mathematics classes can be improved through early identification of at-risk students using a department-wide midterm, followed by a mandated set of online intervention assignments incorporating immediate and elaborate feedback for all students identified as "at-risk" by their…