Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education
Advisor
Ronnie Hunter
Committee Member
Clarence Jones
Committee Member
Ronald P. Kern
Keywords
adjustment to environment, adult basic education, adult education, aggressive behavior, curriculum enrichment, databases, e-mail, GED programs, General Equivalency Diploma, high school diploma, lesson plans, media center, online services, practitioner strategies, retention, self-esteem, student retention, teacher training, technology integration
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to provide a better understanding of the strategies that were available to practitioners in adult education programs that were designed to improve student retention. The adult center where this dissertation was implemented experienced a large number of Adult Basic Education Program students who discontinued their studies before earning either the General Equivalency Diploma or the traditional High School Diploma. Many students exhibited aggressive behavior toward the teachers and other students. Consequently, the teachers felt helpless to alter the trend.
The writer developed lesson plans and strategies to train the students and to teach them how to use two online services available in the media center. Daily sessions on these databases provided the students and teachers with training in (a) e-mail use, (b) searching and locating current events information, (c) printing from the screen, (d) saving messages, and (e) dialing into the online services. The teachers were encouraged to continue to use these services for curriculum enrichment and as an additional source for future lesson plans.