Pragmatics, the social language skills human beings use through everyday social interaction, is a critical and complicated segment of learning a new language. Thus, it is essential to teach pragmatics in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms and ESL teachers have pragmatic knowledge. This qualitative case study was designed to investigate…

Increased attention toward filling skills gaps have prompted community colleges to prepare a new wave of employees. Community colleges have long turned to former industry professionals, now serving as career and technical education (CTE) faculty, to train students for fruitful careers. This narrative inquiry study featured interviews with 20…

Research has shown that modern courses and programs designed to foster critical thinking vary in both content and delivery, in turn leading to differences in their effectiveness. Few studies have investigated critical thinking among nontraditional students at community colleges taking STEM courses, especially within the geosciences. Furthermore,…

This study explores the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) community college faculty's perspectives on the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL) "Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education" ("Framework"). Previous studies of the "Framework" implementation have…

Dual credit programs rely heavily on state-level legislation and other regulations from educational agencies. As dual credit has evolved from the Project Advance program developed by Syracuse University and its partner school districts, policymakers have used their position to craft policies to direct dual credit practitioners to craft programs…

Many post-secondary institutions make significant use of student evaluations of teachers (SETs) to evaluate teacher effectiveness and students' perceptions of their learning experiences in the course. However, it is unclear how teachers use SETs to inform their professional practice. Hence, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to…

The current study explores differences in transfer shock between veteran and non-veteran community college transfer students at a land grant institution in a rural state. Analysis includes institutional data for community college transfer students, including those who self-identified as veterans or used veteran tuition benefits from Fall 2015 to…

Faculty members impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic inadvertently participated in a historic, widespread, and rapidly occurring educational development phenomenon: the global shift toward emergency remote teaching. We surveyed faculty members (n = 502) at four different institutions (a community college and a small, medium-sized, and large…

Historically, colleges have used standardized testing to determine whether a student is ready for college-level work or requires developmental courses first, but this method has been criticized as inaccurate. To obtain more accurate placements, nearly three-quarters of colleges now use multiple measures assessment (MMA) systems. These systems…

While there has been a recent focus on developing programs to support educational research by community college anatomy and physiology instructors, there is not yet an established long-term community of practice (CoPs) in this particular area. Studies of long-term CoPs, particularly in STEM education, are few and far between. This study examines…

Muddiest point and peer instruction are evidence-based instructional practices that can be used to address student learning gaps. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of modality (face to face or online) on student perceptions of the effectiveness of combined muddiest point and peer instruction activities in community college…

In this study, I examined adult learners' experiences and perceptions of barriers to interactions and engagement in online community college courses. Adult learners enrollment in online courses in postsecondary institutions continues to grow due to the flexibility and convenience they offer to learners who often have to juggle multiple…

Can using mindfulness/contemplative practices help students become mindful, focused, and present in the mathematics classroom? In this study, mindfulness/contemplative practices were used in the mathematics classroom to determine if students were encouraged to be mindful, focused, and present or engaged in problem solving. During class time,…

This qualitative research study sought to help community colleges aid math faculty in making a transformation in their teaching practices. The research questions were: (a) What did it take for faculty to change their teaching style from traditional lecture-based instruction to one that incorporates low-stakes collaborative practice, just-in-time…

In 2020, nearly half of Texas's 385,000 public high school graduates were unprepared for college-level reading or math. Limited research reveals K-12 faculty perceive limited roles and responsibilities in the college process, relying heavily on guidance counselors and college admissions counselors for preparing students for college and careers.…