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

115 Pages·1999·4 MB·English

by  Watson, James Arthur

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