Retention rates in higher education continue to be a prevalent issue especially for community colleges and will become a bigger issue in the current climate of enrollment loss. Much literature regarding student retention focuses on broad, overarching findings, but it is important to understand institution-specific retention factors. The purpose of…

The purpose of this non-experimental, comparative, quantitative study was to determine if there were significant differences between the perceptions of male and female community college students about the importance of sense of community (SoC) in online classes and sense of instructor presence (IP) at eight southern, public, community colleges…

Background/Context: Community colleges are seen as malleable institutions that work closely with high schools, vocational programs, employers, and community organizations to provide an education for all members of their local community. As an extension of the community, the education provided must address larger social changes (i.e., Affirmative…

This study investigates the relationship between the WhatsApp group, an instant messenger application as a community of practice platform (knowledge management, regular interactions, ease of using technology, and sense of belonging) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learners' leadership and higher-order thinking (HOT) skills. The current…

Laboratory research on sex differences in response to maternal immune activation: We investigated sex differences in molecular and behavioral responses to maternal immune activation during pregnancy. Epidemiological evidence indicates that immune activation during pregnancy impacts brain development, leading to increased incidence of…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the association of both grit and self-efficacy to student outcomes at Dallas College, their association with each other, their combined consequence to student outcomes, and how these associations manifest across race, gender, and age. The literature gap in this review provides an overview of the research…

The current study examined whether college students' sense of belonging changed following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 252 (66.7% female) first- and second-year college students at a large public university in the United States. It was hypothesized that students would report a decrease in their sense of belonging from…

Math anxiety has become an alarming social justice concern, as it results in negative academic consequences, contributes to disinterest and lack of persistence in STEM programs for underrepresented students, and limits their opportunities in STEM careers. According to research, this fear of math occurs long before students begin working on math…

Students' social belonging in general chemistry has recently been shown to predict course performance, and their course-level social belonging has been shown to differ across demographics, such as gender. This course-level social belonging consists of two components: (1) sense-of-belonging, referring to a student's feeling of social connectedness…

Work-based learning (WBL) has been sought as a strategy to produce better equipped graduates to enter the workforce. This quantitative, quasi-experimental study used Liptak's Career Planning Scale to examine differences that existed between community college student and alumni completion of WBL through enrollment in a Work Experience class and…

The current study focused on processes underlying Cuban students' academic performance. Using path analyses, the model examined the relations between family relationships and academic performance mediated by belongingness and moderated by sex differences among Cuban medical students (N = 613; M age = 21.39, SD = 2.05). Findings indicated that…

Student enrollment at community colleges within the U.S. has remained flat or decreased for over a decade (AACC, 2019). Before COVID-19, community colleges had been experiencing a steady decline in enrollment for approximately ten years (Irwin et al., 2021). The purpose was to determine whether demographic, environmental, and academic variables…

The syllabus is an essential learning resource for students. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of the syllabus but to date, no studies have addressed whether the syllabus needs to continue as a stand-alone document given the information contained within it can be, and often is, shared with students via the learning management…

Gender diversity signals inclusivity, but meta-analyses suggest that it does not boost individual or group performance. This research examined whether a social-psychological intervention can unlock the benefits of gender diversity on college physics students' social and academic outcomes. Analyses of 124 introductory physics classrooms at a large…

Climate education is becoming a key educational issue of our time. This also brings with it increased demands for educational research in this area. One important question is how climate attitudes are constructed to support students' willingness to act towards climate change. In this paper, we explore how participatory, holistic and…