The low academic learning outcomes and persistence rates among students starting in developmental mathematics at community colleges are concerning. Improving the teaching and learning of developmental mathematics is imperative. This Action Research study aimed to investigate and improve developmental mathematics students' low retention rate and…

Community college students are more likely than their peers in four-year colleges to experience homelessness or housing instability. At the same time, homelessness is a curricular topic, particularly in social science courses. Given the prevalence of homelessness and housing instability in the community college student population, likely worsened…

Objective: This study explores how community college faculty adjust their instructional approaches and student supports amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This research drew on a basic qualitative approach to analyze 18 semi-structured interviews with faculty teaching math or math-heavy courses at two institutions. Results: Our findings add to…

This brief from the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research shares key processes and findings from Stanly Community College as they implemented contextualized English courses. Research suggests that when learners are presented course readings and assignments in English composition classes that are pertinent to their field of…

Building community is essential to achieving optimal learning conditions. Failure to build community in online courses is linked to higher drop-out rates, feelings of isolation, and lower academic success rate (Adams & Wilson, 2020). Although there is research on building a sense of community in online course settings, much of this work has…

Research on developmental education reform has given surprisingly limited attention to what happens inside the classroom between faculty and students. Our qualitative study used interview data from 20 faculty and 20 students in corequisite math and English courses at one of the nation's largest and most racially diverse community college systems.…

Although community colleges are increasingly diverse, student outcomes across demographics are not necessarily equitable, nor does the representation of student demographics in a given class always reflect the diversity of the greater institutional student population. To achieve colleges' stated diversity and equity goals, we must broaden…

Purpose: Service-learning (SL) is a widely accepted pedagogy that can enrich the learning experience for students in higher education while they apply their skills in a meaningful community service. This research is part of a larger project that aimed to motivate educational achievement among youths living in a priority neighborhood through SL.…

This study employed qualitative methods to explore how the "UVA in Valencia Summer Program 2019/2021" approached instructional practices (e.g., in-class and out-of-class immersive learning activities, homestays, pre-program services, including use of L2 and culture learning strategies) to identify those features of the program design…

This project focused on the study of resilient Latinas in California Community Colleges and how educators and administrators can better support them through resilience-informed teaching practices, college policies, and support services. It studied factors specifically related to Latinas' resilience. Critical resilience is the theoretical…

Supporting Strategic Writers (SSW) is an instructional approach and curriculum for college developmental English and integrated reading and writing courses. SSW is based on strategy instruction integrated with practices common in college English. Students learn strategies for writing and critical reading of sources based on rhetorical analysis and…

This counterstorytelling study involved examining how Practitioners of Color (POC) enact "carino" and embed restorative literacies or cultural and community practices in community college integrated reading and writing (IRW) classrooms to create a safe counterspace for Students of Color (SOC). The significance of this research is to…

Using a phenomenological approach, we examined the sense of belonging for first-generation Latino men enrolled in a developmental mathematics course at a Hispanic-Serving Institution. The focus was on faculty-student interactions that fostered a sense of belonging. Data were collected through individual, semistructured interviews. Participants…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of Early College High School (ECHS) adjunct instructors teaching dual enrollment courses in a southern region school district. Through interviews with ten ECHS adjunct instructors, the researcher examined the factors contributing to their success, their professional…

Research has revealed that online writing instructors use a variety of instructional methods in class to improve student learning experiences. However, current research has not addressed rural students' learning experiences with connectivism in an online composition course. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore what, if any,…