Table Of Content

THEIMPACTOFATTENDINGACOLLEGEORIENTATIONCLASSON RETENTION,PERSISTENCE,ANDTIMETODEGREECOMPLETION OFFIRSTTIMECOMMUNITYCOLLEGESTUDENTS By JAMESARTHURWATSON ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA 1999 DEDICATION Thisprojectisdedicatedwithlovetomymother, MyraJeanWatson, andtothememoryofmylatefather, JoeAndrewsWatson. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Iwouldliketothankallofthemembersofmycommitteefortheirsupport. SpecialthanksareduetoDr.GerardoGonzalez,chairperson,forhisguidanceinthis projectandtoDr.DavidMillerforhisassistancewiththedataanalysis. Dr.Mary Howard-HamilitonandDr.PhyllisMeekbothprovidedimportantcommentsand suggestions. IwanttoacknowledgethehelpofDr.PatriciaWindhamattheFloridaState BoardofCommunityColleges. MygratitudegoestoBrianWalshwhohasassistedme throughoutthisproject. IalsowishtothankDr.PatriciaGrunderatSantaFeCommunity College,andtoDr.JohnGrebbandDr.MaxLombardatMiami-DadeCommunity College. Thanksalsoareduetoallofthosefriendsandcolleagueswhohavehelpedand supportedmeinthisendeavor. IwanttorecognizeLynneBarolet-Fogarty,Dr.Elizabeth Broughton,MyrnaCabrera-Rivero,LynnSullivan,Dr.DavidHellmich,Dr.Carlos Hernandez,Dr.BarbaraKeener,Dr.CarolinePace,Dr.SharonPate,andDr.LauraPerry. Iwouldalsoliketorecognizetheinfluenceofmysister,JaneWatson,andmyniece.Ana Watson,onmylife. Finally,andmostimportantofall,itiswithjoythatIacknowledgemypartner, Dr.AndresNazario,forhisunwaveringlove,assistance,andsupportthroughoutthislong journey. in 1 TABLEOFCONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii ABSTRACT vi CHAPTERS 1 INTRODUCTION 1 TheoreticalFramework 2 StatementoftheProblem 7 NeedfortheStudy 9 PurposeoftheStudy 1 ResearchQuestions 12 DefinitionofTerms 13 OrganizationoftheStudy 13 2 REVIEWOFTHERELATEDLITERATURE 15 GeneralAttrition/RetentionStudies 15 VariablesAssociatedwithAttritionandRetention 17 CommunityCollege/4-YearInstitution 25 StudiesAddressingTinto'sVariablesofAttrition/Retention 28 IntentionandCommitment 28 ExternalObligations/FamilyandFinancial 41 Work 43 CollegeOrientationCourseStudies 46 AdjustmentandDifficulty 51 IncongruenceandIsolation 55 Summary 56 3 METHODOLOGY 57 ChapterOrganization 57 ResearchDesign 57 ResearchQuestions 5g Participants 59 ResearchProcedure 60 DataCollectionandAnalysis 60 Summary 61 IV 4 RESULTS 62 5 DISCUSSION 78 PurposeOverview 78 DiscussionofResults 78 ResearchQuestion1 78 ResearchQuestion2 79 ResearchQuestion3 79 ResearchQuestion4 80 ResearchQuestion5 80 ResearchQuestion6 81 Limitations 82 ImplicationsoftheFindingsandRecommendations 83 ImplicationsforTheory 83 ImplicationsforCollege 85 RecommendationsforFutureResearch 87 Summary 88 REFERENCES 90 BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 106 AbstractofDissertationPresentedtotheGraduateSchool oftheUniversityofFloridainPartialFulfillmentofthe RequirementsfortheDegreeofDoctorofPhilosophy THEIMPACTOFATTENDINGACOLLEGEORIENTATIONCLASSON RETENTION,PERSISTENCE,ANDTIMETODEGREECOMPLETION OFFIRSTTIMECOMMUNITYCOLLEGESTUDENTS By JamesArthurWatson December1999 Chairperson: GerardoM.Gonzalez MajorDepartment:CounselorEducation Thepurposeofthisresearchwastostudytherelationshipbetweentakinga communitycollegeorientationclassduringthefirsttermandtheretention,persistence, andtimetodegreecompletionoffirsttimecommunitycollegestudents. Acomputersearchofthehistoricaldatabasefromfouracademicinstitutionsin Floridageneratedasampleof1,400studentswhohadenrolledforthefirsttimein college. Allparticipantswereacademicallypreparedforcollegelevelwork. The academicperformanceandpersistenceofstudentswhohadcompletedacollege orientationclassduringtheirfirsttermwascomparedtostudentsthatdidnottakea collegeorientationclassduringtheirfirsttermincollege. Measurementsweretakenat theendofthefirsttermandattheendofthefirst,second,third,andfourthyears. An analysisofvariancemodelwasutilizedtoaddresstheresearchquestions. VI Resultsofthestatisticalanalysisrevealedthatthattakingacollegeorientation classthefirsttermatacommunitycollegedoesnothaveanaffectonretention,course withdrawalpatterns,gradepointaverages,courserepetitionspatterns,andthetotal numberofcredithoursattimeofgraduation. Adiscussionofthelimitationsofthe project,implicationsofthefindings,andrecommendationsforfurtherresearchwas presented. vn CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Studentretentioninthecommunitycollegeremainsacriticalissueinhigher education. Statisticsshowthatapproximately50%offreshmenenrolledinhigher educationdropoutbeforecompletingtheirprograms(Brawer,1996). Thisnumberhas remainedfairlystablesinceSummerskiU's(1962)earlystudyofretention. Overhalfof studentsenteringhighereducationstartinacommunitycollege. Enrollmentin communitycollegesrosefrom500,00studentsin1960toover5.5millionin1991 (Alsalam,1993). Researchersindicatedthatthedropoutratetendstobehigherfor communitycollegesthanfor4-yearcollegesanduniversities(Bean&Metzner.1985; Dougherty,1994;El-Khawas,1988;Jones,1988;Tinto,1993). CopeandHannah(1975) indicatedthatapproximately50%ofcommunitycollegestudentsremaininschoolafter theirfirstyear. Ofthosewhoremain,only50%goontocompleteanassociatedegree. Manystudiesindicatethatastudent'sdecisiontodropoutofhighereducationis usuallymadeduringthefreshmanyear(Bean,1980;Dunphy.Miller.Woodruff.& Nelson,1987;Fetters,1977;Pantages&Creedon.1977;Rootman.1972). Furthermore, themajorityofstudentsmaketheirdecisiontoleaveschoolduringthefirst6weeksofthe freshmanyear(Blanc,DeBuhr,&Martin,1983;Gardner,1989;Levitz&Noel.1989; Noel,1985;Zarveletal.,1991). Thesesequencesappeartoimplyspecificpatternsof . studentdeparture. Findingappropriatestrategiestoassistcommunitycollegestudentsin thecompletionoftheireducationalgoalscontinuestobeapriority. Collegepersistenceisaffected,toagreatdegree,bytheprocessofinteractions betweenthestudentsandtheinstitution. Asubstantialbodyofresearchsuggeststhat integrationintothesocialandacademicsystemsofthecollegeoruniversityisessentialto academicsuccessandachievement(Astin,1977,1993;Halpin,1990). Yet.howstudents achieveintegrationisnotclear(Tinto,1987). TheoreticalFramework VanGennep(1960)studiedthemovementofindividualsfrommembershipinone grouptomembershipinanother. Hisworkinsocialanthropologywasconcernedwith societalrevitalizationandsocialstabilityduringtimesofchange. Heidentifiedthree stagesinthisprocess:separation,transition,andincorporation. VanGenneptheorized thatformalritualsandceremonieshelpincorporatepersonsintoanewcommunityby providingritesofpassage. ThetheoreticalworkofTinto(1993)acknowledgesthis transitionprocessandfocusesupontheroleofstudentintegrationintocollegelife. One oftheprincipaltransitionsforcollegestudentsinvolvesmovingfromtheirhome communitytothecampuscommunity. Tintoviewscollegesanduniversitiesassmall societiesmadeupofdistinctacademicandsocialcomponents. Forstudentstobecome incorporatedandtoestablishmembershipwithinthatsociety,theyneedtobecome integratedintothesocialandacademicsystemsthatexistoncampus(Tinto,1993). Spady(1970)wasthefirsttoapplyDurkheim's(1951)theoryofcommunityand suicidetothesubjectofeducationalpersistence. BuildinguponSpady'swork,Tinto developedatheoryofstudentdeparturefromhighereducation(Tinto,1975). Durkheim suggestedthatsuicidemayresultwhenanindividualisunabletointegrateandestablish membershipwithinasociety. Tintoproposedthatthismodelisanalogoustostudent departurefromeducation. Tinto(1988)maintainedthatduringthefreshmanyear studentsmayfeelasenseofnormlessness. Hestatedthat"havinggivenupthenorms andbeliefsofpastassociationsandnotyethavingadoptedthoseappropriateto membershipinanewcommunity,theindividualisleftinastateofatleasttemporary anomie"(pp.442-443). Integrationintoacampuscommunitymayalsobemoredifficult forstudentswhosefamilies,community,and/orschoolshadverydifferentnormsand patternsofbehaviorthanthatofthenewcollege(Chapman&Pascarella.1983:Smith 1982;Tinto1986,1993). Tinto(1993)theorizedthatstudentsenteracollegeoruniversitywithvarying patternsofpersonal,familial,andacademiccharacteristicsandskills. Theseattributes helptosetboundariesofindividualattainmentandcolorthecharacterofindividual experiencewithintheinstitution. Thesepatternsincludethestudent'sinitialdisposition andintentionsregardingcollegeattendanceandhis/herpersonalgoals. Ontheindividual level,theattributesofintentionandcommitmentrepresentwhatTintoreferstoas primaryrootsofdeparture. Intentionreferstoastudent'svalueandwillingnesstowork fordegreeattainment. Researchershaveobservedthatstudentswhohavedefiniteor advanceddegreeaspirationsweremorelikelytopersistthanthosewithloweror undetermineddegreegoals(Astin1975,Lenning,Beal,&Sauer,1980;Tinto,1975,1986, 1993). Commitmentreferstoboththeindividual'seducational/occupationalgoalsandto

ebook img

Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students PDF

115 Pages·1999·4 MB·English
by  Watson, James Arthur
#americana #univ_florida_smathers #UFRDS
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download

Download Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students PDF Free - Full Version

by Watson, James Arthur| 1999| 115 pages| 4| English

Download Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students by Watson, James Arthur in PDF format completely FREE. No registration required, no payment needed. Get instant access to this valuable resource on PDFdrive.to!

Free Download PDF

About Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students

No description available for this book.

Detailed Information

Author:Watson, James Arthur
Publication Year:1999
Pages:115
Language:English
File Size:4
Format:PDF
Price:FREE
Download Free PDF

Safe & Secure Download - No registration required

Why Choose PDFdrive for Your Free Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students Download?

  • 100% Free: No hidden fees or subscriptions required for one book every day.
  • No Registration: Immediate access is available without creating accounts for one book every day.
  • Safe and Secure: Clean downloads without malware or viruses
  • Multiple Formats: PDF, MOBI, Mpub,... optimized for all devices
  • Educational Resource: Supporting knowledge sharing and learning

Free Books Similar to Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it really free to download Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students PDF?

Yes, on https://PDFdrive.to you can download Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students by Watson, James Arthur completely free. We don't require any payment, subscription, or registration to access this PDF file. For 3 books every day.

How can I read Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students on my mobile device?

After downloading Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students PDF, you can open it with any PDF reader app on your phone or tablet. We recommend using Adobe Acrobat Reader, Apple Books, or Google Play Books for the best reading experience.

Is this the full version of Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students?

Yes, this is the complete PDF version of Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students by Watson, James Arthur. You will be able to read the entire content as in the printed version without missing any pages.

Is it legal to download Impact of attending a college orientation class on retention, persistence, and time to degree completion of first time community college students PDF for free?

https://PDFdrive.to provides links to free educational resources available online. We do not store any files on our servers. Please be aware of copyright laws in your country before downloading.

The materials shared are intended for research, educational, and personal use in accordance with fair use principles.

We use cookies

We use cookies to ensure you get the best browsing experience on our website. By clicking "Accept Cookies", you agree that we can store cookies on your device in accordance with our Terms and Privacy.