Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Anita Barrett
Committee Member
George Mims
Committee Member
Ronald P. Kern
Keywords
academic integration, community college students, demographics, employment workload, Hispanic students, Institution Integration Scale, Likert scale, native language, school holding power, social integration, Student Life Skills, study skills, student persistence, student retention
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to determine if Student Life Skills (SLS) courses impact the social and academic integration of community college students. Additionally, due to the unique demographics of the student population of the research setting, this study also examined if factors such as native language, income and employment workload impact the social and/or academic integration of students enrolled in a community college.
The writer developed an instrument using the Institution Integration Scale (IIS) consisting of 30 items constructed to assess the dimensions of academic and social integration. The instrument requires respondents to indicate their involvement with faculty, staff, and other students using a five-point Likert scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
An analysis of the data revealed no statistical evidence exists that students attending SLS 1505 (1 credit) classes are more likely to integrate socially or academically to those attending an SLS 1510 (3 credit) course. Demographic evidence does show a relationship between a student’s native language and the amount of social and academic integration they experience in college. This was a significant finding since the College has indicated in its annual statistical reports that 70% of its students are of Hispanic backgrounds (MDC, Institutional Research, 2010).