Equipped to Advance: Faculty Creating Conditions for Success in Advanced Technology Classes

摘要

Technology plays a vital role in education by linking students to resources around the world. In the past three to five years, community colleges in the southeast region of the United States have received funding through various initiatives, allowing them to make significant changes. In 2013 North Carolina Community College System website listed the following initiatives: Developmental Education Initiative, Minority Male Mentoring, Integrated Teaching and Learning Gateway, and Completion by Design. The researcher explored faculty strategies to encourage students' successful completion of advanced technology coursework and migration into the workforce. This study's basic qualitative methodology allowed for the use of interviews, observations, and documents to explore techniques faculty implemented both inside and outside of the classroom. The purposive sample for this study targeted faculty members who taught courses with an online or hybrid component to students in the mechanical engineering technology and/or welding technology programs. Participants consisted of nine faculty members from two community colleges. Participants were both male and female with educational levels varying from associate to PhD. The study's results indicated that the following practices were instrumental to student success: step-by-step instructions for navigating the online course room, low-stakes assignments to demonstrate knowledge, personal attention, peer-tutoring, student involvement in social events, and direct links to outside resources. Faculty members found that student success required involvement from various departments of the college including administration and student support.