scholarly journals Exploring Perceptions of E-Books Among CEGEP Students and Faculty | Exploration des perceptions relatives aux livres électroniques chez les étudiants et enseignants au cégep

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan Chen ◽  
Saul Carliner ◽  
Salvador Garcia Martinez ◽  
Ann-Louise Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Previous Experience ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
Technology Plans ◽  
Cegep Students ◽  
Printed Materials

Because they are believed to be able to lower the costs of an education, e-books have been factored into the technology plans for community colleges and CEGEPs during the current decade. But adoption is a function of perceptions, which this study explored: (1) General perceptions of the CEGEP (collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, a community college-like institution in Quebec) students and faculty towards e-books and (2) the factors that drive those perceptions. Previous studies found that users generally had neutral and positive impressions of e-books and that the following factors drive overall perceptions of e-books: (a) previous experience, (b) reading preferences and tasks; (c) reading habits; (d) convenience; (e) costs; and (f) ownership issues. A survey of the 2,260 faculty and students at a CEGEP in Quebec was conducted, with 247 students and 19 faculty responding. Results indicated wide awareness of e-books and at least some experience with them. Results validated that previous experience drove perceptions, that printed materials generally had more credibility than digital ones (this was more pronounced for books), that many students read online but do not take notes when doing so, users perceive e-books to be more convenient than printed ones, that e-books become attractive when their price is 50% that of print, and that most users think that they own e-textbooks even though most publishers merely rent e-textbooks. The results suggest adoption barriers beyond technology and general perceptions that need to be addressed to increase general use and that designers of zero-cost (Z-degrees or Zed-Cred) degrees should consider.Parce qu’on croit qu’ils peuvent diminuer les coûts associés à l’éducation, les livres électroniques ont été pris en compte dans les plans technologiques des collèges communautaires et des cégeps au cours de la dernière décennie. L’adoption, cependant, est fonction des perceptions, que la présente étude a explorées : (1) perceptions générales des étudiants et enseignants du cégep (collège d’enseignement général et professionnel) quant aux livres électroniques et (2) facteurs qui motivent ces perceptions. Des études antérieures avaient conclu que les utilisateurs avaient des impressions neutres et positives sur les livres électroniques, et que les facteurs suivants déterminaient les perceptions globales quant aux livres électroniques : (a) expérience préalable, (b) préférences et tâches de lecture, (c) habitudes de lecture, (d) commodité, (e) coût et (f) questions de propriété. Un sondage de 2260 étudiants et enseignants d’un cégep québécois a été réalisé, et des réponses ont été obtenues de 247 étudiants et 19 membres du corps professoral. Les résultats ont indiqué une vaste conscience de l’existence des livres électroniques et, à tout le moins, une certaine expérience avec eux. Les résultats ont confirmé que l’expérience préalable déterminait les perceptions, que les documents imprimés ont en général une plus grande crédibilité que les documents numériques (cela était plus prononcé pour les livres), que de nombreux étudiants lisent en ligne, mais sans prendre de notes, que les utilisateurs perçoivent les livres électroniques comme étant plus pratiques que les livres imprimés, que les livres électroniques deviennent attrayants quand leur prix est à 50 % du prix de l’imprimé, et que la plupart des usagers croient posséder leurs manuels électroniques, même si la plupart des éditeurs ne font que les louer. Les résultats suggèrent qu’il existe des obstacles à l’adoption autres que la technologie et les perceptions générales, qu’il faudrait régler pour augmenter l’utilisation générale et dont les concepteurs de programmes sans frais devraient tenir compte.

Immigrant-Origin Students in Community College: How Do They Use Their Time on Campus?

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-48
Author(s):  
Edwin Hernandez ◽  
Carola Suárez-Orozco ◽  
Janet Cerda ◽  
Olivia Osei-Twumasi ◽  
Monique Corral ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Peer Relationships ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Class Time ◽  
Generation Immigrant

Background Immigrant-origin students are the fastest growing new population in community colleges, making up nearly a third of the community college population. To date, little is known about how immigrant-origin students make use of their time on community college campuses. Purpose This study sought to understand in what ways and to what extent immigrant-origin students—defined as first-generation (foreign-born) or second-generation (born in the United States to immigrant parents)—used their out-of-class campus time at three urban community colleges. We examined the following quantitative questions: How much time do students report spending on campus doing what activities? What is the demographic variation in these patterns (according to immigrant generation, ethnicity/race, and gender)? What factors predict how much overall time immigrant-origin students spend on campus? What is the effect of academically productive time spent on campus on grade point average for immigrant-origin students? We also explored the following qualitative questions: What do immigrant-origin community college students say about the time they spend on campus? What insights do they have as to what impedes or facilitates their spending (or not spending) time on campus? Research Design The study proposed a new conceptual framework and employed an embedded sequential explanatory mixed-methods design approach. As part of a survey, participants (N = 644, 54.6% women; M age = 20.2 years; first-generation immigrant n = 213, 33%; second-generation immigrant n = 275, 43%) completed a series of items about the time that they spent on campus and their relationships with their instructors and peers. Qualitative response data were derived from an embedded interview subsample of participants (n = 58). Results Immigrant-origin students reported spending a considerable amount of out-of-class time—an average of 9.2 hours—on campus. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that peer relationships and time spent helping parents or commuting positively predicted the amount of time students spent on campus. Qualitative responses provided further insights into immigrant-origin community college student experiences and provided perspectives on issues contributing to their spending out-of-class time on campus. Conclusions This study has implications for research, practice, and policy, given that immigrant-origin students make considerable use of their campus spaces. Community colleges should strive to nurture positive spaces and design the kind of on-campus programming that will enhance the success of immigrant-origin students. Collectively, these services will not only enhance the experience of immigrant-origin students but also be beneficial to the larger campus community that uses the community college sector as a stepping-stone toward upward social and economic mobility.

scholarly journals Supporting Community College Students from Start to Degree Completion: Long-Term Evidence from a Randomized Trial of CUNY’s ASAP

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Weiss ◽  
Alyssa Ratledge ◽  
Colleen Sommo ◽  
Himani Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Graduation Rates ◽  
Degree Completion ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Randomized Experiments ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
The City

Nationwide, graduation rates at community colleges are discouragingly low. This randomized experiment provides evidence that graduation rates can be increased dramatically. The City University of New York’s (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) is a comprehensive, integrated, 3-year program that has an estimated 18 percentage point effect on 3-year graduation rates, increases 6-year graduation rates by an estimated 10 percentage points, and helps students graduate more quickly. Graduation effect estimates of this magnitude are exceptional in randomized experiments conducted in higher education, offering hope of what is possible when serving low-income students. (JEL H75, I23, I24, I28)

scholarly journals ACADEMIC REDESIGN: ACCOMPLISHING MORE WITH LESS

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Graves
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Technology Management ◽  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Academic Productivity ◽  
Administrative Process ◽  
College Leaders ◽  
Service Redesign

Community colleges are under persistent pressure to spend more on technology. In lieu of bolting technology onto essential academic and administrative process at additional net cost, savvy community college leaders are planning and implementing academic service redesign strategies to achieve measurable outcomes constituting gains in academic productivity. This paper presents case studies of four higher education institutions that contracted with Collegis for a range of planning, marketing, student recruiting, academic, and technology management and support services. To be able to accomplish more with less, three strategies are discussed: (1) redesigning individual course sections to increase learning and convenience, (2) redesigning common courses to decrease costs and increase learning outcomes, and (3) redesigning program delivery to participate in flex markets.

scholarly journals International Student Experience at US Community Colleges at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Whatley
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
International Students ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
International Student ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
College Leaders ◽  
Residency Status ◽  
The Impact

This study’s purpose is to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international students who were studying at US community colleges at the onset of this public health crisis. While previous work has explored the impact of the pandemic on international students generally, we argue that community college international students deserve focused attention due to their potentially marginalized status on their campuses. Using a mixed-methods research approach, we analyze survey and focus group data provided by 17 randomly-selected community college educators. Our results speak to two overarching themes: the supports provided to students at the onset of the pandemic (and educators reasons for providing these specific supports) and the unique impact of the pandemic on community college international students due to their citizenship or residency status. These findings have important implications for community college leaders and international educators as they work with international students during future times of crisis.

scholarly journals Ability Sorting and the Importance of College Quality to Student Achievement: Evidence from Community Colleges

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Stange
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Community College ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Community College Students ◽  
School Quality ◽  
Institutional Quality ◽  
College Quality ◽  
Student Sorting

This article examines the effect of institutional quality on the educational attainment of community college students, a large group that has been mostly overlooked in previous work. The effect of institutional quality is generally difficult to separate from that of student ability because more capable students usually sort into better colleges. A detailed analysis of student sorting reveals this not to be the case among community college students, for whom college quality is effectively determined by factors other than their aptitude. This facilitates identification of school quality effects. I find that community college quality (as measured by instructional expenditure per student and several other measures) has no impact on community college students' educational attainment. States and colleges should seek to identify other factors that may be more influential.

Understanding For-Profit College and Community College Choice through Rational Choice

2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance Iloh ◽  
William G. Tierney
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Community College Students ◽  
College Choice ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Student College ◽  
Student College Choice

Background/Context Scarce research has been conducted examining why students choose to attend higher priced for-profit institutions over community colleges. The authors suggest that increased national concern over proprietary higher education warrants an in-depth comparative case study of the choice factors utilized by for-profit and community college students. Research Question The research questions guiding this analysis are: (a) Why and how do students choose to attend for-profit colleges and community colleges? (b) What factors were important in their decision? (c) What implications do these results have for rational choice and college choice theory? Setting Data were collected at one community college and one for-profit college in California that had similar vocational programs. Subjects A total of 137 for-profit and community college students (75 for profit, 62 community college) enrolled in a vocational nursing or surgical technician associate's degree program agreed to participate. Research Design The authors examine student college choice factors through a case study. The findings were developed from interviews, surveys, and focus groups. Findings The authors found that for-profit and community college students held varying conceptions of costs and benefits as they pertained to college choice factors. Three particular dimensions were highlighted in student responses—short-term and long-term gains, risks, and uncertainty. Conclusions This study illuminates the nuanced factors and goals that informed student college choice decisions. Understanding these distinct college choice considerations could help researchers, practitioners, and institutional leaders develop measures for institutional effectiveness and student success.

How Noncredit Enrollments Distort Community College IPEDS Data: An Eight-State Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Romano ◽  
Mark D’Amico
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
New York ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
System Level ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Full Time Equivalent ◽  
Education Data ◽  
State Study

A commonly used metric for measuring college costs, drawn from data in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), is expenditure per full-time equivalent (FTE) student. This article discusses an error in this per FTE calculation when using IPEDS data, especially with regard to community colleges. The problem is that expenditures for noncredit courses are reported to IPEDS but enrollments are not. This exclusion inflates any per FTE student figure calculated from IPEDS, in particular expenditures and revenues. A 2021 IPEDS Technical Review Panel (TRP #62) acknowledged this problem and moved campus institutional research offices a step closer to reporting noncredit enrollment data (RTI International, 2021). This article is the first to provide some numbers on the magnitude of this problem. It covers eight states—California, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Data on noncredit community college enrollments were made available from system offices in all states. In addition, discussions were held at both the system level and the campus level to verify the data and assumptions. Figures provided by states were merged with existing IPEDS data at the campus and state levels, and then were adjusted to account for noncredit enrollments. The results provide evidence that calculations using IPEDS data alone overestimate the resources that community colleges have to spend on each student, although distortions vary greatly between states and among colleges in the same state. The results have important implications for research studies and college benchmarking.

Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander Student Progression through Community College: A Disaggregated Transcript Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Federick Ngo ◽  
Jenna Sablan
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Pacific Islander ◽  
College Persistence ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Developmental Math ◽  
Transcript Analysis ◽  
Asian And Pacific Islander

Background/Context Research on the postsecondary education of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) students has typically focused on attainment within four-year colleges and neglected the experiences of API students in community colleges. However, many API students pursuing postsecondary education, particularly Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander (SEAPI) students, do so through U.S. community colleges. The progress and achievement of these students in community college remains largely unstudied, due in part to the limited availability of disaggregated data. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study (1) To what extent do API students, and specifically SEAPI students, achieve community college progress milestones, such as enrollment, completion of gatekeeper courses, and attainment of degree- and transfer-applicable credits? (2) How are these students progressing through developmental math? Research Design We examine the academic progress of API students using transcript data from a large California community college district. The disaggregated race/ethnicity data allow us to focus on oft-overlooked API subgroups. Focusing on SEAPI students, we analyze momentum towards key college persistence and completion milestones. We also track progression through developmental math education, one of the key barriers community college students face in completing community college. Findings In our disaggregated transcript analysis, we find that SEAPI students are less likely than their peers to achieve college milestones such as completing math courses and earning the degree-applicable units necessary for degree completion or transfer. Seeking explanations for these differences within the context of developmental education, we observe that SEAPI students are significantly less likely than their peers to attempt developmental math courses, though the data suggest they are more likely to complete courses when they do attempt them. These relationships hold after controlling for differences in the demographic characteristics of these students. Conclusions/Recommendations These findings point towards non-academic and institutional explanations for lower rates of college persistence and completion and offer direction for policy efforts and institutional practice to support these students.

Thinking Globally About Social Justice

2019 ◽  
pp. 184-199
Author(s):  
Tiffany Viggiano
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Social Connections ◽  
The Relationship

Scholars have identified community colleges as ideal institutions to facilitate global justice through their involvement in internationalization activities such as study abroad. This chapter explores the meaning of humanism as it relates to study abroad at the community college. Using Andreotti, Stein, Pashby, and Nicolson's Paradigms of Discourse, the chapter describes the ways in which humanism can be defined in a variety of ways based on one's own goals. The chapter also grounds a rationale for study abroad at the community college within critical humanism by applying Young's Social Connections Model. Finally, the chapter applies the critical humanist rationale to begin to question the relationship between community college study abroad initiatives: Who is included in the community mission? Whose cultures come to be understood from involvement in study abroad? How are U. S. cultures represented by study abroad?

Opening the Door to Study Abroad From Community Colleges

2019 ◽  
pp. 22-36
Author(s):  
Julie Baer
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
Student Characteristics ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Study Abroad Programs ◽  
The Past ◽  
Time Period

Drawing upon data from Open Doors®, this chapter highlights the unique characteristics of study abroad from community colleges over the past decade. It explores patterns in destinations, durations, and student characteristics for study abroad at community colleges over this time period. Through lessons learned from IIE's Heiskell Award winners and Generation Study Abroad (GSA) community college commitment partners, the chapter will conclude with best practices from community colleges that have made commitments to increase and diversify their study abroad programs.

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