Does collaborative learning improve student outcomes for underrepresented students?: Evidence from an online bottleneck business course

A study was conducted to examine instructional characteristics and their relationship to student outcomes in online courses at a 2-year and 4-year higher educational institution. Instructional characteristics included learner support, course design and organization, content design and delivery, interactivity (student-instructor and student-student), and assessment and evaluation. A student survey instrument was created that captures student perceptions of the instructional characteristics of their course, their learning, and their satisfaction with the course. The data collected from the student survey was merged with data from institutional student information systems (e.g., demographics and course grade).This article examines the relationship between these instructional characteristics, sometimes referred to as indicators of online course quality, and their relationship to student outcomes for all students and for underrepresented students. Significant findings from multiple regression analyses are reported. Additional analyses were conducted to examine differences among underrepresented students (minorities, first-generation, low-income, students with impairments/disabilities) using MANOVA. No significant differences are reported.

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Factors That Contribute to a Sense of Belonging in Business Students on a Small 4-Year Public Commuter Campus in the Midwest

Journal of College Student Retention Research Theory & Practice ◽

10.1177/1521025117726520 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 99-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Donna Whitten ◽

Adrian James ◽

Cynthia Roberts

Keyword(s):

Sense Of Belonging ◽

Student Outcomes ◽

Business Students ◽

First Year Experience ◽

First Year ◽

Institutions Of Higher Education ◽

Commuter Campus ◽

Student Activities ◽

Student Demographics ◽

Business Course

Institutions of higher education are increasingly focused on student outcomes such as persistence. This study investigated factors that contribute to a sense of belonging, a key contributor to persistence, in business students attending a small 4-year public commuter campus in the Midwest. A survey was administered to students in an introductory business course with a first-year experience component to examine three categories of variables: student demographics, faculty interventions, and student activities. Using logistic regression, three faculty interventions showed a significant correlation with sense of belonging: faculty encouragement, faculty empowerment, and faculty interest. These results suggest that when commuter campuses are successful in cultivating caring, positive relationships between students and faculty, their student’s sense of belonging may be enhanced and persistence improved. This is important because these factors are within the control of a commuter campus, which tends to have fewer options and more challenges in enhancing persistence than residential campuses.

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Collaborative Learning in the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Classroom

Perspectives on Issues in Higher Education ◽

10.1044/ihe11.1.9 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 9-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Carolyn S. Potts ◽

Sarah M. Ginsberg

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Learning ◽

Student Retention ◽

Student Learning ◽

Student Learning Outcomes ◽

Retention Rates ◽

Speech Language Pathology ◽

Traditional Lecture ◽

Language Pathology ◽

Improve Student Learning

Abstract In recent years, colleges and universities across the country have been called upon to increase the quality of education provided and to improve student retention rates. In response to this challenge, many faculty are exploring alternatives to the traditional “lecture-centered” approach of higher education in an attempt to increase student learning and satisfaction. Collaborative learning is one method of teaching, which has been demonstrated to improve student learning outcomes.

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