Teaching Strategies That Enhance The Educational Success .
1TEACHING STRATEGIES THAT ENHANCE THE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS OFCOMMUNITY COLLEGE ONLINE STUDENTSA dissertation presentedByYazdan Shaghaghi RoddTo theGraduate School of EducationIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ofDoctor of EducationIn the field ofEducation with a Specialization in Higher Education AdministrationCollege of Professional StudiesNortheastern UniversityBoston, MassachusettsMarch, 2018
2 Copyright by Yazdan Shaghaghi Rodd 2018All rights reserved
3AbstractCommunity colleges in the United States of America are an integral part of the higher educationsystem. They serve students who may have life and time conflicts, students with multiple jobsand responsibilities, and students from various socio-economic backgrounds. The flexiblescheduling and open admission policies of community college have provided broader highereducation access to a diverse population of students. Over the years, the increasing cost ofhigher education has reduced student access to colleges; therefore, the number of students whocan afford to attend college has declined. In an effort to meet the educational demands of thesestudents, community college administrators and policymakers have introduced online educationas a way to serve the educational needs of communities by increasing access, promotingcompletion, and providing an effective pathway through which students can enter four-yearcolleges or universities. As online education sustains its rapid expansion, it becomes necessaryto continue developing strategies for establishing and maintaining quality in the design,curriculum and instruction of online courses (Malik, 2015). This case study is intended to add tothe body of research of online education and teaching strategies that lead to student success. Itexplores how teaching strategies can enhance the learning process, course pass rates, andacademic success for students in a community college educational environment.Keywords: community college, online education, online learning, online teaching,teaching strategies, student success
4DedicationTo my wife, Shamila Imani Rodd, who has always given me the courage and support to pursuemy dreams.To the memory of my father, mother and my two brothers who sacrificed their lives for thefreedom of their country.To my teachers who helped me to achieve my educational goals.
5AcknowledgementsIt is with great pleasure that I acknowledge the people who supported me as I pursued thechallenge of earning a doctoral degree. I was blessed to have a brilliant and kind advisor, Dr.Mounira Morris. I sincerely thank Dr. Morris for her leadership, understanding and countlesshours of support that she has contributed to my dissertation. I would like also to thank Dr.Natalie Perry for her expertise and feedback for which I will always be grateful.A sincere expression of gratitude is extended to Dr. Patrick Crozier, a colleague andspecialist in Distance Education. Dr. Crozier offered his experiences and services as an externalreader of my dissertation. He has been a most generous colleague and source of knowledgeduring the dissertation process, for which he has inspired, advised, challenged, and sharpen mythinking, and, in turn, my writing. I had the pleasure as an administrator to work with him formany years. Dr. Crozier is a true teacher as well as an educational leader.My family is the greatest joy and the best part of my life, without them thisaccomplishment was not possible. For the past a few years, my focus and activities splinteredbetween working full-time, teaching, being with my family, and pursuing an advanced education.Their support sustained me. I dedicate all of this work, sacrifice, and accomplishment to mywife, Shamila, and my daughter, Ariana. Special thanks go to my wife and daughter for being mydiehard cheerleaders and greatest inspiration, encouraging me to fulfill my wish to earn aDoctorate in Education. They certainly understand my personal passion for education and forhelping teachers and learners succeed in this arena.Finally, I thank all of the faculty members who volunteered their personal time andparticipated in this study. These excellent individuals exhibited sincerity, intelligence, and anabundance of flexibility for this study to be conducted. I am grateful to all of them forever.
6Table of ContentsAbstract .3Dedication .4Acknowledgements .5Chapter One: Introduction to the Study .9Context and Background .10Rationale and Significance .13Research Problem .17Research Question .19Definition of Terms .19Theoretical Framework .21Critics of the Theoretical Framework .24Rationale for Theoretical Framework .26Applying Theory to This Study.27Chapter Two: Literature Review .29Teaching Strategies .31Student Success .41Role of Faculty in Online Education .48Online Teaching and Learning at Community Colleges .51Summary .53Chapter Three: Research Design .56Qualitative Research Approach .56Participants .59Recruitment and Access .60Procedures .61Ethical Considerations.65Trustworthiness, Quality, and Verification .66Potential Research Bias .68
7Limitations .69Chapter Four: Findings and Analysis .72Superordinate Theme One: Course Organization .73Sub-Theme One: Course Content .73Sub-Theme Two: Course Syllabus .75Sub-Theme Three: Course Format/ Course Layout .78Conclusion.81Superordinate Theme Two: Course Design and Development .82Sub-Theme One: Planning for Student Learning .83Sub-Theme Two: Design for Effective Online Teaching .88Sub-Theme Three: Consideration of Different Learning Styles .92Sub-Theme Four: Ensuring Teaching is Effective .96Sub-theme Five: It Takes a Village .99Conclusion.100Superordinate Theme Three: Interaction and Collaboration .101Sub-theme One: Communication and Engagement Strategies .102Sub-theme Two: Development of Learning Community.105Sub-theme Three: Tone of Communication in Online Courses .107Conclusion.109Superordinate Theme Four: Effective Teaching Strategies .111Sub-Theme One: Knowledge and Skills for Online Teaching .112Sub-Theme Two: Teacher’s Roles and Responsibilities in Online Courses .115Sub-Theme Three: Adapting to the Needs of Online Students .117Conclusion.120Conclusion .121Findings .122Validity and Trustworthiness .124Chapter Five: Discussion and Implications for Practice .126Research Questions .127Presentation of Key Findings .129
8Course Organization that Facilitates Learning .130Course Design and Development to Ensure Quality Learning .132Interaction and Collaboration: Foundation of Communication and Engagement.135Effective Teaching Strategies and Student Success .138Conclusion.142Recommendations for Practice.144Limitations .146Recommendation for Future Research .147Conclusion.149References .151APPENDIX A .171APPENDIX B: Internal Review Board Consent .172APPENDIX C: Recruitment Letter .173APPENDIX D: Informed Consent Document .174APPENDIX E: Interview Protocol .177
9Chapter One: Introduction to the StudyThe advancement of information technology has created an unprecedented change inhigher education with rapid growth of online-course offerings and enrollments since the year2000 (Capra, 2011). Lokken and Mullins (2015) found that online education has accounted fornearly all student enrollment growth at community colleges over during the past 11 years.Lokken and Mullins (2015) reported a 4.68% increase in student enrollment in communitycolleges online programs from fall 2013 to fall 2014. Online education is a growing communitycollege option providing broad access to higher education and increased potential for success forthe less privileged members of the community with their multiple life demands and complicatedschedules (Jaggars & Xu, 2011, pp. 5-7). In this research study, online education has focused onenhancing instructional strategies for teaching and learning, curriculum, some aspects of facultydevelopment, and integrating technological teaching innovations to augment the success ofstudents as a response to a growing population who seek “to be economically self-sufficient inthe information-driven world economy” (Kuh et al., 2010, p. ix). The purpose of this case studyis to explore online teaching strategies that enhance the educational success of communitycollege online students. Knowledge generated is expected to inform community college onlineeducation. This researcher identifies many components of educational success, including studentacquisition of strategies required to maximize the college experience, retention, course passingrates and ultimately, students’ graduation. For the purpose of this study, educational success ismore specifically defined as online students completing their courses with passing grades andwill be referred to as student success throughout the rest of the of dissertation.Despite the rapid growth of the online student population, community colleges havelimited success achieving an acceptable course pass rate for students. Jenkins (2011) found that
10the community college student online course pass rate is approximately 50% while the rate fortraditional face-to-face classes is between 70 and 75%. Studies of this low passing rate in onlinecourses and the resulting low program completion rate have raised important concerns withcommunity college teachers and administrators (Shapiro & Dundar, 2015; Ya-Han, Chia-Lun, &Sheng-Pao, 2014; Johnson & Berge, 2012; Wilson & Allen, 2011; Capra, 2011). Unless theseeducators more thoroughly identify the learning needs of their students and introduce moreeffective models of instruction and teaching, the success gap between online and face-to-faceeducation programs will continue to be at an unacceptable level (Jenkins, 2011; Jaggars & Xu,2011 ;Kuh et al., 2010; Jaggars & Baily 2010).Context and BackgroundMassachusetts Community Colleges Distance Education (MCCDE), a consortium of 15chapters within Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC), has striven to improve thequality of its online courses through exploration of innovative approaches that support bothonline students and faculty with the ultimate goal of student success. In this spirit, MCCDE hasdeveloped various methods for training faculty, introduced and implemented advancedinstructional technology, and maintained a strong support presence for the students and facultythroughout each semester. Even though these strategies attracted many faculty members to teachonline courses and boosted online enrollments, the student success and passing rates continues tobe alarmingly low.MCCDE was determined to examine the rudimentary causes of this low success rate in itsonline courses. For this reason, it utilized hypotheses recommended by Morris (2011) to addressstudent perceptions of online learning within the theoretical construct of the Community of
11Inquiry (CoI) framework (Garrison, 2007). Then, years later, the MCCDE measured the effectsof the CoI model in online courses and revealed the following concerns:1. Teachers are not present in their courses; they only post the assignments and publishers’materials and let their courses proceed on their own. Another concern was that onlineteachers do not communicate effectively and do not respond to email very often, and ifthey do, they are very selective. Teaching presence is an integral part of online teachingstrategy that promotes students’ pass rates and enhances student success. Morris’s (2011)research showed that instructor actions such as providing feedback, quick response via email or discussion board to a question, and review of assignment drafts benefit manyonline students.2. There is no sense of community in online courses, and students cannot build traditionalsocietal networks for their career and future socialization. Social presence is one of thekey elements in student retention that leads to student success. Morris’s (2011) researchfound that communication and interactions with others through discussion boardparticipation was a major source of engagement for the participants. The ability to ask aquestion, to share opinions with fellow students, or to disagree with the point of view in areading assignment are all fundamental learning activities.3. Students have to do more work for an online course than they do for the same coursepresented face-to-face. Therefore, online teachers need to find a balance between theirteaching materials, quality of course presentations, amount of homework requested,discussion board posting requirements, and the technical complexities that the majority ofstudents might face. Finding this balance is part of the teaching strategy that develops
12student satisfaction for online courses and encourages students to continue with onlineeducation.Researchers such as Ganesan (2005), Johnson et al. (2012), and Meyer (2014) suggestthat community college online teaching strategies are still in the experimental stages as there areno set guidelines on how to make an online course successful. The lack of existing researchmakes it difficult for scholars and practitioners to determine which strategies are successful andwhich are not. Community college leaders have long recognized that online learning andteaching experiences can be enhanced when their institutions employ knowledgeable andresponsible instructional designers for ensuring the
the body of research of online education and teaching strategies that lead to student success. It explores how teaching strategies can enhance the learning process, course pass rates, and academic success for students in a community college educational environment. Keywords: community college, online education, online learning, online teaching,
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