Date of Award

2014

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

School of Education

First Advisor

Curriculum and Instruction

Second Advisor

Copyright © 2014 Michele Murphy Froehlich

Third Advisor

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore if student attitudes and perceptions changed toward reading and writing after participation in and completion of a one-semester dual-enrollment mandatory developmental non-credit reading and/or writing course combined with a concurrent acquisition general education three-credit-hour English 101 course.

The subjects were nine voluntary participants in the dual-enrollment Accelerated Learning Program 099 and English 101. The classes were offered in a suburban community college close to a large metropolitan city in the Midwest and taught by the same instructor. A mixed methods approach, that is, descriptive-qualitative/ethnographic was used in this study. Descriptive data were used for the quantitative design and included study data from: (1) the Mikulecky Behavioral Reading Attitude Measure and (2) the Daly-Miller Writing Attitude Survey administered at the beginning and near the end of the course. Using descriptive statistics, survey data were analyzed. Raw data from the surveys determined percentage rates of response for each question or a combination of

questions. Results were summarized using tables that reflected responses to the two research questions posited for this study. The ethnographic data were used for the qualitative design and included data from one-to-one student and instructor study participant interviews conducted near the end of the course. These interview questions were related to developmental reading and writing education at the community college and used as a way to triangulate or establish converging lines of evidence.

Results of the study may suggest that in order to provide developmental education in reading and writing for students entering our community colleges with reading and writing skill deficits, factors such as listening to the students' perspective, offering smaller class size, developing classes as learning communities, providing time and commitment for individualized instruction, offering dual-enrollment classes that earn college credit, and providing knowledgeable, caring, and supportive instructors may help to enable students to experience a positive increase or change in the perception or attitude of their reading and writing and build reading and writing skills in order to advance themselves into college courses, earn a degree, and ultimately, enter the job market.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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