Student Perspectives on Business Education in the USA

This chapter examines the academic and personal trajectory a student takes from before they ever set a foot on campus to beyond a college degree. By first assessing the private vs. public school dynamics in Southern California, the author documents the ways in which these systems are a reaction to the American college system, and how the prevailing psyche around college as being an ultimate end for students and their parents plays out. Reflecting on personal choices and circumstances unique to the individual yields a variety of challenges and benefits posed by pursuing a college degree, all of which influence what to study and where to pursue it. Influences range from relative income to geographical location and parental occupation. Through an examination of these elements, the relative importance and weight of a college degree in light of developments accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic leaves the collegiate system and the students who are at the center of it in an unparalleled position.

The Perceptions and Experiences of Faculty Implementing Florida’s Developmental Education Reform

Florida Senate Bill 1720 drastically changed developmental education, beginning in fall 2014. This paper considers affected faculty members’ perceptions and experiences with the passage and implementation of reform, according to focus group data provided by 294 participants at 21 Florida College System institutions between 2014 and 2019. We found that faculty members experienced feelings of powerlessness and meaninglessness—the two main components of policy alienation—related to the passage of SB 1720, with some reported opportunities for discretion and innovation at a local level. Despite feelings of alienation, faculty worked hard to facilitate student success through the changes.

“There’s So Much That We’re Doing”: How Florida College System Institutions Address Basic Needs Insecurity Among Students

Research Question: A sizable portion of college students experience food and housing insecurity, which poses a roadblock to fully and successfully engaging in higher education. In light of these complex challenges, we ask: How do Florida College System (FCS) institutions meet the basic needs of their students? Methods: To answer the question at hand, we conducted an embedded single case study of the FCS. Between 2014 and 2019, researchers traveled to 21 Florida colleges on one or more occasions to speak with college presidents, administrators, faculty members, advisors, academic support staff, and students. In total, we gathered data from 1,379 people through 213 focus group sessions and 20 individual interviews. Results: From these data emerged evidence of the extensive services and support programs provided by FCS institutions, ranging from food and housing assistance to clothing, transportation, and childcare. Such initiatives aim to meet the chronic, daily needs of students and their families, as well as acute needs that arise out of local disasters and crises. Contributions: The findings of this study contribute to the literature on the mission of community colleges. While these support programs address needs traditionally considered non-academic, participants suggest that they are essential to fostering student success. By meeting students’ physiological and safety needs, institutions can better accomplish their academic goals of remediation, transfer, vocational training, and contract education, particularly among students who have been traditionally excluded from higher education. The findings also highlight the importance of acknowledging the needs of students’ families when providing support.

The effect of problem-based learning on students’ learning attitude in tertiary level education: A case study of the college system in Bangladesh

This study was initiated to explore the effect of problem-based learning on learners’ attitudes among tertiary level students. The decision to concentrate on a sample from Bangladesh was motivated largely by that country’s poor record to date in pedagogical innovation, meaning that the experiment could take place in the closest thing to an uncontaminated laboratory as this type of research permits. That students’ attitudes towards learning were positively influenced by PBL to a statistically significant degree can be taken as a decisive endorsement of the method as a vehicle for teaching and learning. Clearly, the students who made up the sample have an appetite for constructivist approaches that place them at the center and redefine the teacher as a facilitator, rather than an orator. As a contribution to the debate about future educational directions in Bangladesh, this is highly persuasive.

The Disciplinary Differences in the Characteristics and Effects of Non-Tenure-Track Faculty

Using data with detailed instructor employment information from a state college system, this study examines disciplinary variations in the characteristics and effects of non-tenure-track faculty hired through temporary and long-term employment. We identify substantial differences in demographic and employment characteristics between the two types of non-tenure-line faculty, where the differences are most pronounced in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and health-related fields (STEM) at 4-year colleges. Using an instrumental variables strategy to address student sorting, our analyses indicate that taking introductory courses with temporary adjuncts reduces subsequent interest, and the effects are particularly large in STEM fields at 4-year colleges. Long-term non-tenure faculty are generally comparable with tenure-track faculty in student subsequent interest, but tenure-track faculty are associated with better subsequent performance in a handful of fields.

Do Colleges Perform the Same Following Developmental Education Reform? The Case of Florida’s Senate Bill 1720

Developmental education (DE) reform took place among the 28 Florida College System (FCS) institutions in 2014. In this study, we examine how cohort-based passing rates in college-level English and math courses changed at different colleges for pre- and post-policy period and explore what institutional characteristics were related with various institutional trajectories of cohort-based course passing rates in the post-policy period. Employing longitudinal data analysis, we found that colleges performed similarly regarding cohort-based passing rates in both college-level English and combined math courses before DE reform and had a similar elevation in the cohort-based English course passing rates when DE reform took place in 2014. However, colleges experienced different change patterns in the years following DE reform. Specifically, colleges located in rural areas and with more White students experienced relatively lower college-level English passing rates in the post-policy period than their counterparts. Different colleges had slight differences in the trajectory of college-level math passing rates by cohort after SB 1720 in 2014, but institutional characteristics in this study did not adequately capture inter-institutional differences.

Happy Together? The Peer Effects of Dual Enrollment Students on Community College Student Outcomes

Nationally, 15% of first-time community college students were high school dual enrollment (DE) students, which raises concerns about how high school peers might influence college enrollees. Using administrative data from a large state community college system, we examine whether being exposed to a higher percentage of DE peers in entry-level (gateway) math and English courses influences non-DE enrollees’ performance. Using a two-way fixed effects model, our results indicate that college enrollees exposed to a higher proportion of DE peers had lower pass rates and grades in gateway courses, and higher course repetition rates. Supplemental student-level analysis suggests that greater exposure to DE peers during a student's initial semester in college reduces next-term college persistence.

Ladders in the orchard: What’s next for OER?

A movement to encourage and increase the creation and use of open educational resources (OER) in U.S. higher education has been growing for about 20 years. In Massachusetts, for example, 71 percent of public colleges are already using OER to some extent, although the total number of courses affected remains relatively small. The most common number of OER courses per school is between 11 and 20. Studies continue to show that the high cost of textbooks is a burden for students, to the point that many states have adopted legislation to reduce textbook costs or promote OER. However, in a study that surveyed faculty from the Virginia Community College System, Dr Braddlee and Amy VanScoy concluded that use of OER is still a “niche phenomenon, the province of innovators and early adopters.” Any change, no matter how potentially beneficial, takes both time and effort.

Internationalization in Ontario Colleges

Internationalization of Ontario colleges is a strategic mandate from both the federal and provincial governments to address declining domestic enrollment, labour market shortages, and the evolving needs of 21st century post-secondary students. The growth in numbers of international students in Ontario colleges has been particularly rapid over the past five years, and existing literature on internationalization and Ontario colleges was limited. Therefore, a careful review and analysis of policy at both the federal and provincial level can help Ontario colleges understand what policy has done to create the current environment for internationalization, anticipate how policy will impact the future of internationalization, and support decision making as colleges try to find success in this continuously changing landscape. The results of this review and analysis of policy surrounding internationalization in the Ontario College system indicate a probable need for additional research, funding, training, and policy changes to ensure a sustainable future. Keywords: internationalization, international students, Ontario colleges, higher education policy