Date of Award

1-1-2012

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Carolyn Cunningham

Second Advisor

Dr. David Givens

Abstract

Remedial math and writing courses have become commonplace on two and four year college campuses. As many as 42 percent of incoming freshman enroll in some type of remedial class whether it be reading, writing, or math (Brock, 2010). More and more students are entering these institutions underprepared for college level work and must take remedial courses to increase their skills to college equivalency. Face to Face (FtF) courses have been developed to meet the needs of remedial students, but recently online courses have begun to be offered as well. Research shows that students who take online courses are less likely to complete the courses. Some of the reasons for this are poor study skills, lack of sense of presence of both the instructor and fellow students (Shea & Vickers, 2010; Swan, Richardson, Ice, Garrison, Cleveland-Ines, Arbaugh, 2008; Drouin & Vartanian, 2010), a lack of familiarity with the technology, and poor pedagogy (Smith &Xu, 2010). This study was to find ways in which an instructor can create a sense of presence in the classroom, as well as discovering the learning modalities of remedial students versus students on grade level to see if there is a difference. The results showed that many of the things that FtF insrtuctors use to create a sense of presence can also be used in an online class. The learning modalities survey showed that at this particular community college, there was no difference in learning modalities between remedial students and those who were on grade level. The focus of this study is to create an online remedial writing course that is appropriate for remedial adult students. This type of a class must take into consideration a sense of presence, andragogy, and the digital divide.

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