By

Demetris Wilson Sr

March, 2015

THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIES TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION IN

PEER TUTORING PROGRAMS AT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS FOR

FIRST-GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS

Doctoral Dissertation Research

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of

 Argosy University, Phoenix Campus

 

College of Education

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Education

Higher and Postsecondary Education

Table of ContentsTitle Page............................................................................ 1Table of Contents.................................................................2Cont. Table of Contents......................................................3Cont. Table of Contents......................................................4Cont. Table of Contents.....................................................5CHAPTER ONE: Introduction..........................….......…6Purpose of the Study...........................……………….......7Problem Background...........................……….…………..8Research Questions........................…........….….............. 9Significant of the Study....................................................10CHAPTER TWO: Review of Literature.........................11Literature Review Topics...…........................…...............12History of Tutoring....…………......……………………..13Formal Mentoring......................................………...........14

Table of Content Cont.

Retention…….…………………......................................15Enrollment Strategies..….……...........................…………..16CHAPTER THREE: Methodology:....................................17Research Design.....................................................18Instrumentation......................................................19Survey questionnaire.............................................................20Focus group............................................................................21 Data Processing and Analysis…...........................................22CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS...........................................23Restatement the Purpose......................................................24Pilot Study.......................................................................25Description of The Sample....................................................26Description of The Sample Cont..........................................27Class Level...............................................................28

Table of Content Cont.

Ethnicity of Respondents.......................................................29Enrolled in Tutoring Enrolled in Tutoring by Gender......30Research Questions................................................................31Research Question 1.............................................................32Research Question 2.............................................................33Research Question 3.............................................................34CHAPTER FIVE:DISCUSSION,CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATION................................................35Summary.......................................................................36Discussion ..............................................................................37Implications For Practice......................................................38Recommendations For Research..........................................39References..............................................................40References Cont......................................................................41

CHAPTER ONE: Introduction

* In the spring of 1997, the University of Florida designated the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) as the new academic and administrative home for its retention initiative for academically at-risk first-year students (University Of Florida, 2013).

*The goal of the Office of Academic Support (OAS) is to support, Assisting Students, Improving Skills, and Maximizing Potential (AIM). The acronym AIM was created to identify first-year, at-risk students.

*The University of Florida offers a variety of services which include academic counseling, tutoring and special courses. These services were created to establish a foundation to promote academic excellence for first-year at-risk college students (University Of Florida, 2013).

Purpose of the Study

* The purpose of the study was to understand why at-risk and first-generation college students chose not to participate in free academic support service programs.

*The results may lead to assist in developing strategies to improve participation for tutoring program services, as well as serve as a template or model for other colleges and universities.

Problem Background

*During Summer Term B 2012, the university admitted 320 AIM students into the Office of Academic Support program.

*TutorTrac recorded 94 visits for 64 students, 20% of 320 students actively participated in the OAS tutoring program (University Of Florida, 2013).

*This indicated 80% of at-risk college students enrolled had chosen not to participate in the academic support-tutoring program.

Research Questions

*RQ1: What are the self-reported indicators of non-participation in tutoring programs amongst first-generation college students enrolled in a baccalaureate program at a public university?

*RQ2: What are the current student opinions' on the current strategies utilized at the University of Florida to increase participation in academic support programs amongst first-generation college students enrolled in a baccalaureate program at a public university?

*RQ3: How do self-reported indicators of first-generation baccalaureate college students enrolled in a tutoring program differ from the self-reported indicators of first-generation baccalaureate college students not enrolled in a tutoring program?

Significant Of The Study

* The educational significance of the study involves peer tutoring, participation, and retention that may lead to learning why first-generation undergraduate college students choose not to use free-tutoring program services.

* This study analyzed current methodologies and strategies concerning tutoring practices to increase participation in academic support tutoring programs.

* In addition, college officials, program directors, advisors, and those who fund these programs may obtain a greater understanding for whether tutoring programs are producing positive results and most importantly become knowledgeable of the programs’ weakness enabling a solution to implement improvements.

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE

History of Tutoring: Formal Mentoring: Retention: Enrollment Strategies:

Literature Review Topics

History of Tutoring

* Tutoring is not new to the process of learning; it has been in existence for quite some time and dates as far back as 343 BC (Andrews, 2011).

*The history of tutors and tutoring is an age-old approach to assist learners.

*Alexander the Great was one of the first to be tutored by Aristotle at age 13.

*Eli Whitney upon graduating from Yale University was considered one of the earliest tutors recruited to act as a tutor when society began to promote education (Andrews, 2011).

Formal Mentoring

*The Effects of Formal Mentoring on the Retention Rates for First-Year, Low Achieving Students basically is a study of the effects formal mentoring has on the retention rates for first year low achieving students.

*The study evaluated formal mentoring programs by examining the retention rate and program satisfaction of first-year university students.

*Some interesting results were found. It was discovered that the retention rate and grade point averages of participating students in teacher advisor programs were higher than those of first-generation students in similar programs of study.

Retention

*Retention starts with leadership.

*Leadership create change within educational institutions, and by studying the intricate educational challenges might assist higher educational institutions in developing, understanding, and implementing strategies to increase retention of nontraditional students.

*Creates strategies to retain first-generation or at risk college students at the higher education institution.

Enrollment Strategies

*Use treatment models (Empirical Model) to control student’s choice for deciding to participate in a peer-tutoring program.

*Design strategic methods for developing programs to increase enrollment, retention, and graduation rates among first-generation college and minority students.

* Social integrations of students such as developing relationships with students and faculty maintaining an appropriate learning environment.

*Engaging socially in school activities increased their institutional commitment, causing the students to have a greater sense of belong to the academic environment.

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The approach for this study will be qualitative in that the researcher will be provided with an understanding of its participants and their Phenomenological perceptions of their academic environment.

Phenomenology studies the structure of various types of experiences ranging from perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, and choice to bodily awareness, embodied action, and social activity, including philological activity (Smith, 2013).

Instrumentation

Survey questionnaire

Students will be asked to answer questions in a Likert type format ranging from 1-5 (See Appendix A). The scale (1-5) will be used to determine the least likely to most likely reason for participation or non-participation in tutoring programs.

The scale: Strongly Agree (1), Agree (2), Neutral (3), Disagree (4), and Strongly Disagree (5) will be associated with the number scale (1-5). Email will be the primary communication tool.

Data input and collection for this study was conducted using a web base software application designed to accept data input and collection through email submissions.

Focus group

*Validity of the information was confirmed during a focus group participation session, which enabled the participants to share their experiences, likes and dislikes as it relates to participation or non-participation in on campus tutoring programs.

*In order to demonstrate credibility it is recommended that, the weight of evidence become persuasive, meaning that consensual validation is sought by the opinion of others; in this instances the focus group that participated in the study will validate the reliability of the study by their responses, negotiation and dialogue with the researcher (Creswell, 2008).

Data Processing and Analysis

*A web based software application Adobe Central was employed that had the capability to process the response of a large number of participants.

* A Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the collected data for a statistical analysis and report.

*The collected data give an indication as to what these students would accept or reject for association with a program that identifies them by the parental background and label them as being disadvantaged.

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS

*The purpose of the study was to understand why at-risk and first-generation college students chose not to participate in free academic support service programs.

Restatement of the Purpose

*50 randomly selected students received an email from the Office of Academic Support (OAS) inviting them to participate in a pilot study to examine their perceptions of academic tutoring programs.

*The link within the email message launched a no-signature consent form and a 24-item survey questionnaire.

*The results from the pilot study revealed that all 50 students read the email almost immediately, but delayed providing responses to the survey. With in 72 hours 17 student responded.

*This was a sign that the email distribution worked efficiently with a 34% return rate for participation in the pilot study.

Pilot Study

Description of the Sample

*A statistical data report received from the University of Florida’s registrar’s office, indicated 4,028 first-generation college students were enrolled in various baccalaureate programs at the university.

*Of the 4,028 first-generation college students, based on the age requirement 2,500 students were randomly selected to participate in the study.

* The subjects ranged from 18 to 22 years old. (83.5%) were 18 years of age.

Description of the Sample cont.

*The ratio of female participants to male participants was nearly three to one, with approximately three-fourths of survey respondents being female, while only one-fourth of the respondents were male.

Class Level

*Overall, 88.2% of the students who answered the survey questions were freshmen.

Ethnicity of Respondents

The participants were comprised of 49 African Americans, 115 Caucasians, 30 Asians, and 87 Hispanics. Sixteen of the participants reported other as their ethnicity.

Enrolled in Tutoring/Enrolled by

Gender.

Non-participation and participation in on-campus tutoring programs were compared by gender.

The statistical data showed large differences between non-participation (M= .25, SD = .435) and participation (M= .30, SD = .470) by gender.

Research Questions

Research Question 1

*What are the self-reported indicators of non-participation in tutoring programs amongst first-generation college students enrolled in a baccalaureate program at a public university?

*Of the participants, 93.3% responded “no” to being enrolled in an on-campus tutoring program.

*Overall, 36.7% agreed that tutoring was considered as a part of their college experience while 44.4% strongly agreed that they would use free on-campus tutoring programs.

Research Question 2

*What are the student opinions on the current strategies utilized at the University of Florida to increase participation in academic support programs amongst first-generation college students enrolled in a baccalaureate program at a public university?

*a. Student opinions concerning the strategies utilized at the University of Florida were based on flyers, information provided during the transition orientation program (TOP), social websites, and word of mouth.

*b. The focus group agreed that tutoring provided them with the ability to relearn course material and offered the opportunity to get help with a variety of other subjects that they may need help with.

*c. Based on information provided from TOP the focus group students believed that the current strategies to increase participation in tutoring programs were adequate and met their needs.

Research Question 3

*How do self-reported indicators of first-generation baccalaureate college students enrolled in a tutoring program differ from the self-reported indicators of first-generation baccalaureate college students not enrolled in a tutoring program?

*Data from the questionnaire indicated that non-participants in tutoring programs significantly outnumber those who participated in tutoring programs.

*The data reported 277 students were not enrolled in a tutoring program.

*There were 20 students currently enrolled in on-campus student tutoring.

Summary

*This study revealed a significantly large number of female first-generation college students were not participating in free on-campus peer tutoring programs. It also reveals that a significantly smaller number of male first-generation colleges students who were not utilizing free on-campus tutoring programs.

*Responses from the 24-item survey indicated that using tutoring programs was an option to utilize as they entered the college environment but was not the outcome in the findings.

*Student’s opinions suggest that the perceptions of on-campus peer tutoring programs were solely based on information provided to them in an orientation session and from their perspective, they believed that the current strategies to increase participation in tutoring programs were adequate for those whose schedule could conform to the hour’s of availability for free on-campus peer tutoring programs.

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Summary*The University’s goal to assist first year at-risk college students to achieve academic success involved offering a variety of services that include academic counseling, tutoring, and special courses.

*The purpose of this study was to explore why at-risk and first-generation college students chose not to participate in free academic support service programs.

*TutorTrac a software monitoring application used by the University of Florida found that 80% of first-generation and at-risk college students enrolled chose not to participate in the academic support-tutoring programs (University of Florida, 2013).

*The significance of this study was to potentially suggest or develop new strategies to increase participation in peer tutoring programs.

Discussion

*Strategies were recommended based on phenomenological research and results of self-reported indicators described by first-generation and at-risk college students (Bryant & Terborg, 2008; Cooper, Fleischer, & Cotton, 2012).

*Factors were identified as independence, time management and finances.

*Factors affect student success in ways such as:

(a) the inability to meet academic standards

(b) ability to adapt to their social and academic environment

(c) changes in personal goals and aspirations,

(d) lack of motivation,

(e) clearly defined goals,

(f) priority over other commitments such as work or family, and

(g) financial difficulty (Salinitri, 2005)

Implications For Practice

*Students believe that by changing the environment in tutoring centers, learning could be accomplished more effectively, whereby questions and responses would be confined to a designated location to reduce confusion and interruptions.

* Concern expressed by the focus group involved the competence of the tutors. Participants expressed concerns with tutors whose confidence-level or sureness of his or her subject and/or tutoring skills were questionable.

*Participants suggested allowing tutors to attend live class sessions to best assist students with the procedures in which the instructor solves a problem.

*Introduction of new strategy: “18-hour On-Campus Tutoring” extended hours for on-campus tutoring are desired, and would be perhaps the next step toward the future in providing academic support services for at-risk, first-generation, and other college students.

Recommendation For Research

*The findings of this study utilized narrative inquiry and data analysis to generalize student perceptions for participation and non-participation in on-campus peer tutoring programs.

*Obtaining 11.3% participation of 2,500 students does not represent the entire voice of the target population for this university.

*The findings revealed a need for further research regarding the perceptions of at-risk and first-generation college students to determine why they chose not to participate in on-campus peer tutoring programs.

*Replication of this study at another public university campus would provide student perceptions for comparison to examine whether other first-generation students have the same or different perceptions of on-campus peer tutoring programs.

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