Promoting Financial Literacy and Latino Males’ Success at Community Colleges

Latino males across the country enroll in community colleges with the purpose of obtaining an educational degree, which could lead to accomplishing professional and personal aspirations. Even if Latino male students enroll in post-secondary education, they continue to be disenfranchised, vanished, and often rejected through the higher education pipeline. Research regarding access to education shows that money matters to the success of Latino students. Through a metasynthesis, this practice briefly identifies that there is little to no empirical research conducted that explores how Latino male community college students elicit, engage, and explore financial literacy programs. This paper makes recommendations for post-secondary institutions, practitioners, and policymakers to promote Latino males’ success at community colleges.     

Factors Affecting International Students’ Decisions on Destination for Studying Abroad: A Case Study in China

This qualitative study explores how to better attract international students as perceived from the viewpoints of both international students and university administrators. The 7Ps marketing mix conceptual framework and thematic analysis were utilized to analyze qualitative data solicited from both focus group discussions involving 75 international students and in-depth interviews with four administrators at two public universities in Yunnan province, China. The results indicate that two factors mainly affect students’ decisions on an international education destination: geographical location (Place) and cost of study (Price). Furthermore, the study recommends applying the 7Ps as a totality in university recruitment practices.     

Classifying Community Colleges Based on Students’ Patterns of Use

In this study, I draw on Bahr’s (Research in Higher Education 51:724–749, 2010; New Directions for Institutional Research S1:33–48, 2011) behavioral typology of first-time community college students to examine college-level variation in students’ patterns of use of 105 community colleges in California. I find that students’ patterns of use vary greatly across the colleges, and, further, these patterns tend to cluster in such a fashion that colleges may be classified based on dominant or disproportionate patterns of use. Using k-means cluster analysis, I identify five types of community colleges, including Community Education Intensive, Transfer Intensive, Workforce Development Intensive, High-Risk Intensive, and Mixed Use. I describe each of these community college types and then investigate whether the patterns of student use that characterize the identified types appear to be primarily a consequence of institutional policies and practices or, conversely, a product of localized community demand and the associated circumstances and choices of the students who attend a given college. The evidence, though limited, tends to support the latter: variation in patterns of student use across institutions appears to be primarily a product of localized community demand. Finally, I draw on established performance indicators to examine the implications of the identified patterns of student use for observed institutional performance. I find that institutions that differ in terms of dominant or disproportionate patterns of student use also differ significantly and systematically on a number of measures of institutional performance.     

America’s Democracy Colleges: The Civic Engagement of Community College Students

This study explored the civic engagement of current two- and four-year students to explore whether differences exist between the groups and what may explain the differences. Using binary logistic regression and Ordinary Least Squares regression it was found that community-based engagement was lower for two- than four-year students, though community-based engagement increased as two-year students spent more time on campus, measured by enrolling full-time, living on campus, and working on campus. For political protests, two-year students were similar to four-year students, but when they spent more time on campus they were more likely to participate in political protests. For discussing politics, time spent on campus did not explain the differences between two- and four-year students. These findings indicate that while community college students arrive at college predisposed to lower rates of engagement than four-year students, these differences may be reduced by spending more time in educational settings by enrolling full-time, living on campus, and working on campus. Therefore, attending a community college does help students become productive members of society. Community college administrators and practitioners can use these findings to develop policies and practices that encourage students to develop the skills, abilities, and motivation necessary to be civically engaged.     

Presidents’ Mindsets Toward Resource Development at California Community Colleges

This study used the lens of Resource Dependency Theory to examine the mindsets of nine community college presidents in California as they responded to the decline in state funding. The literature indicated that community colleges are pursing alternative sources of funding and emphasized presidents’ roles in leading and engaging in many activities. However, the literature is lacking on presidents’ awareness of Resource Dependency Theory as an established framework for guiding their responses to resource shortages. Resource Dependency Theory sees organizations as open systems and dynamic units that need to draw on their environments for needed resources. This study found that some California community college presidents have an understanding of their colleges and the environments in which they operate that mirrors the constructs of Resource Dependency Theory.     

Study Abroad as Self-Development: An Analysis of International Students’ Experience in China and France

This article explores the real life experience of international students’ and the importance of study abroad for their personal and professional development. The empirical data drawn upon for this article came from the author’s master’s research, with field research conducted in the 2010/2011 academic year. It begins with the study focus and research objectives and reviews the relevant theoretical literature and the methodology adopted in the research. In the third section, data from interviews with 16 international students in Capital University (pseudonym, China) and Romance University (pseudonym, France) are analyzed following in chronological order the experiences of their sojourn in their host country. The final section of the article sums up the results of the research and points out the complexity of the question of international student mobility and different perspectives that can be adopted in seeking to understand and interpret this phenomenon.     

Why do All the Study Abroad Students Look Alike? Applying an Integrated Student Choice Model to Explore Differences in the Factors that Influence White and Minority Students’ Intent to Study Abroad

Despite substantial efforts across postsecondary education to increase minority participation in study abroad, the homogeneity of study abroad participants remains largely unchanged (Dessoff in Int Educ 15(2):20–27, 2006; Shih in , 2009). This study applies an adaptation of an integrated student choice model (Perna in Higher education: Handbook of theory and research, 2006; Salisbury et al. in Research in Higher Education 50:119–143, 2009) to identify differences between white and minority (African-American, Hispanic, and Asian-American) students across measures of human, financial, social, and cultural capital previously shown to influence aspirations to study abroad (Salisbury et al.). Analysis of data from 6,828 students at 53 institutions participating in the Wabash National Study on Liberal Arts Education suggests numerous differences between racial groups with considerable implications for institutions, scholars, and policymakers.     

Should Middle School Students Study Abroad？

曾几何时,出国留学只是极少数人的选择。如今,随着经济水平的提高以及国外学校对中国学生更加开放,越来越多的中国人选择留学,由此产生了大量的“海归”。以前都是大学生出国深造,现在出国人员越来越年轻化。很多父母在自己的孩子还在读初中或高中的时候就把他们送到国外,接受“洋文化”的熏陶。那么,中学生出国留学真的合适吗？     

European Citizenship and Study Abroad: student teachers’ experiences and identities

Member states of the Council of Europe have acknowledged the importance of education for citizenship and have passed a number of resolutions concerning European citizenship and the need to promote democratic values, social justice and human rights. Yet there remains a degree of ambivalence over citizenship education and its relationship to the development of various identities, including personal and national identities. This paper examines the experiences of student teachers from a variety of European countries and the impact of a period of study abroad in another European country on their development of intercultural awareness, national identities and perceptions of how we might best educate young people for participation in democratic life. It considers the implications for teacher education.     

Study Abroad Participation: An Unintended Consequence of State Merit-Aid Programs?

Research in Higher Education - This study employs difference-in-differences estimation to explore the relationship between the implementation of state merit-aid programs and students’...     

Urban and Rural College Students’ Family Background and Their Participation in Student Organization: A Study in Guangzhou University

Abstract

Based on the survey of “undergraduate family and educational background and freshman learning experience,” a statistical analysis of Guangzhou University first-year undergraduate students’ family backgrounds and participation in student organizational activities found a significant correlation between family background and the degree of student participation in such activities. A preliminary discussion of the findings is presented on the basis of cultural reproduction theory.     

Community College Students’ Experiences with Homelessness and Housing Insecurity

The goal of this study is to understand how students experiencing homelessness experience community college. In particular, the authors focus on the multifaceted traumas that negatively impact their educational engagement and persistence. The authors conducted a life history with one student experiencing homelessness on a community college campus. Based upon the emerging themes, interviews lasting approximately 60 minutes were conducted with an additional six students experiencing homelessness at the same college. Homelessness creates significant barriers for students. Residential insecurity often forces students to prioritize meeting basic needs over educational engagement. The participants consistently lived on the brink of residential crisis, which took an emotional toll. However, the stories emerging from this study demonstrate how important the participants felt postsecondary education was. They clearly connected their long-term stability to completing community college and transferring to a four-year institution. Unfortunately, their residential situations negatively impacted their ability to persist. Based upon the student experiences, the authors recommend more integrated services on community college campuses. The student narratives illustrate several important themes that have the potential to inform both research and practice. The participants viewed postsecondary education as a pathway to future stability. However, they experienced multifaceted and enduring trauma. The chaos of their residential insecurity resulted in constantly living at the brink of crisis. These students illustrate the need for integrated services at community colleges to support students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.     

Study of Students＂ Night Sports Activities in Guilin＇s Universities and Colleges

对桂林市六所高等院校在校学生采取抽样调查,其目的是充分地释放高校夜间体育锻炼的潜力,从而满足广大学生群体夜间锻炼的需求,增加夜间体育的附加值,拓宽夜间体育锻炼在桂林地区高校的辐射面,树立＂健康第一＂的理念和终身体育的目标。     

The Temporality of Participation in School Science: Coordination of Teacher Control and the Pace of Students’ Participation

This study investigates classroom organisation and interaction focusing on phases of activity. The detailed in-depth case study is based on video recordings of 1 science unit consisting of 11 lessons about biological evolution in a Swedish ninth-grade class (aged 15). The study illuminates the temporality of student participation as a fundamental and practical concern for the science teaching profession. Through multiple scale analysis an activity pattern and students' contrasting positions are identified. Movements of control and agency between teacher and students in small-groups provide opportunities for the teacher to coordinate the teaching and the pace of students' participation. The implications point to challenges involved in providing all students with the learning opportunities that participation in the school science discourse affords.     

Demographic Predictors of Students’ Science Participation over the Age of 16: an Australian Case Study

Research in Science Education - Using the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) data, this paper aimed to examine if, and to what extent, demographic factors predict students’...     

Mentoring Undergraduate Researchers: An Exploratory Study of Students’ and Professors’ Perceptions

Mentoring is believed to be one of the most influential factors in US efforts to encourage college‐aged students to seek careers in science, yet the role that mentoring plays in this process has not been elucidated. The researchers were interested in understanding whether the long‐held beliefs about the importance of mentoring would be revealed as what actually occurs in an undergraduate research program. They describe students’ perceptions of the mentoring process and students’ beliefs about how it impacted their experiences as undergraduate researchers and their development as scientists. Also described are professors’ perceptions of their roles and effectiveness as mentors in students’ development as scientists. A multi‐case narrative analysis was conducted of two groups, undergraduate science scholars (n=5) and mentoring professors (n=5), who were each interviewed on two occasions at the beginning and end of the first year of a funded research program. As this grounded research study shows, students and professors described student gains as increased technical expertise and communication skills. Professors suggested that they were available to students on a regular and frequent basis. However, students’ experiences suggested a contradiction. They were often mentored by postgraduates, technical assistants, and other students; their meetings with mentoring professors were infrequent and at times distant. With respect to mentoring, this finding highlights the differences between beliefs and the reality of what was delivered. Professors discussed the challenges associated with mentoring including the recruitment of and difficulty of working with students whose first language was not English and concerns about the quality of instruction from graduate students.     

Women Students’ Interactions with Faculty and Exposure to Good Teaching at Colleges and Universities with Varying Histories of Admitting Women

This study considers how institutional histories of admitting women are associated with present college experiences, and uses data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to compare the experiences of women at women’s colleges or former women’s colleges to those of women at former men’s colleges and colleges that have always been coeducational. Results indicate that women attending former men’s colleges and colleges that have always been coeducational seem to experience similar or greater frequency and quality of student–faculty interaction and exposure to good teaching practices, compared to women attending women’s or former women’s colleges. Results also suggest that considering the gender enrollment histories of colleges and universities may provide valuable context for evaluating the experiences of women at women’s colleges and coeducational institutions.     

College Students’Quest for Lexical Study and Application

What every brick is for grande building,vocabulary is for the foundation laid for the acquisition of one language.It follows that authentic expressions are justified by the mastery of its application in a specific context.Therefore,it is crucial to delve into the process of vocabulary acquisition,that is,the effect of students’input and output.Words’meanings varied in distinct contexts.Starting from the above two aspects,this paper illustrates the understanding of learning words through examples,so as to optimize the word learning method to achieve twice the result with half the effort.