Andragogy in One Community College
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Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2014 Andragogy in One Community College: A Study of Students' Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Reading and Writing Following the Completion of a Concurrent Acquisition One-Semester Developmental English Course Michele Murphy Froehlich Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons Recommended Citation Froehlich, Michele Murphy, "Andragogy in One Community College: A Study of Students' Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Reading and Writing Following the Completion of a Concurrent Acquisition One- Semester Developmental English Course" (2014). Dissertations. 1084. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/1084 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2014 Michele Murphy Froehlich LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO ANDRAGOGY IN ONE COMMUNITY COLLEGE: A STUDY OF STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS TOWARD READING AND WRITING FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF A CONCURRENT ACQUISITION ONE-SEMESTER DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COURSE A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION PROGRAM IN CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION BY MICHELE MURPHY FROEHLICH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS DECEMBER 2014 Copyright by Michele Murphy Froehlich, 2014 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to humbly thank the Lord, my God and the Blessed Virgin Mary for my family, all the wonderful people with whom I have crossed paths, and all the blessings extended to me throughout my lifetime – especially for enabling me to complete this lifelong dream. “No one can really achieve great things alone, yet we often can realize our hopes and dreams when we have the support of others” (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. iii). With these thoughts as a prelude, I wish to extend my heartfelt appreciation and genuine gratitude to my dissertation committee members – Dr. Dorothy Giroux, dissertation chair, for her never-ending kindness, endless encouragement, wonderful ideas, and continuous support; Dr. R. James Breunlin for his generous and much-needed statistical support and his effective reminders to maintain focus; and to my New Trier colleague and E.S.L. buddy, Dr. Patricia E. Gillie for convincing me to join the New Trier-Loyola Doctoral Cohort and for continually encouraging and supporting me throughout the process. Moreover, I would like to extend my gratitude to additional Loyola faculty and staff who added support along the journey: Ms. Sylvia Brown, Ms. Valerie Collier, Ms. Janelle Hutcherson, Dr. Janet Pierce-Ritter, Ms. Tracy Ruppman, Dr. Anne Marie Ryan, and Ms. Annemarie Valdes. In addition, I would like to thank the administration, faculty, staff, and students of Prairie State College for their warmth, cooperation, and kindness in welcoming me to their wonderful facility to conduct my research. With their dedication to students, iii creative insight, cooperation, experience, and expertise, this study would not have been possible. Prairie State will always have a very, special place in my thoughts and heart. No expression of gratitude would be complete without thanking my wonderful husband, Will, a prince among men, who encouraged and supported me throughout OUR journey to the finish line, our daughters, Patti, Kirsten, and Jenny, who were consistently available to proof a paper or provide computer expertise, our son, Peter, and our grandchildren who were always accessible for hugs and giggles. Nor would any expression of gratitude be complete without mentioning my parents and grandparents. Our family “teacher” stories began on a Wisconsin farm with my grandmother, Frances Gitzinger; she embarked on her teaching career in a one-room country schoolhouse teaching all eight grades. Subsequently, her daughter, LuVerne Kloeckner, commenced her teaching career in a similar one-room school in the Wisconsin countryside. When my mother married my wonderful dad, James Carlyle Murphy, she relocated from her small, country school to a large metropolitan high school to teach English. Later, when my sister Patty and I became part of the family, we shared a home life that was rich with Shakespeare, poetry, and stories by American and European authors combined with Irish humor, hard work, high standards, and encouragement to “always do our best.” I will always be grateful. iv DEDICATION Dedicated to my husband, Will, a prince among men, who without his continuous love, patience, support, and encouragement, I would still be thinking about completing my dream. Also, dedicated to our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren. I sincerely hope that with God’s blessings, they will always have the support and encouragement to follow their hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Finally, dedicated to my grandmother, my mother, my father, and my sister. With their guidance, I learned about education, hard work, and family love. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND OF STUDY ............................................. 1 Educating to Compete in the Global Economy....................................................... 1 Underprepared Student Population ......................................................................... 9 Study Purpose ....................................................................................................... 10 The Accelerated Learning Program ...................................................................... 10 The Study Population ............................................................................................ 11 Student Attitudes and Perceptions of Developmental Programs .......................... 12 Statement of Research Questions.......................................................................... 12 Definitions............................................................................................................. 13 Focus and Significance of the Study ..................................................................... 19 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ............................................................................ 21 Community College – Local ................................................................................. 24 Literacy in the United States ................................................................................. 25 Literacy Education Issues in High School and College ........................................ 28 Literacy in the Community College ...................................................................... 30 History of Developmental Education .................................................................... 32 Community College Developmental Education Program: Solutions for U.S. Demographic and Social Changes and U.S. Competition in the Global Economy ....................................................................................... 35 Underprepared Community College Students – Developmental Programs ......... 37 Programs to Aid Community College Students’ Success ..................................... 39 Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count ................................. 40 The Developmental Education Initiative .................................................. 40 Jobs for the Future .................................................................................... 40 Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) .............................................. 41 Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) ...................................................... 41 Theory of Andragogy – Malcolm Knowles (1968) .............................................. 47 Framework: Activity Theory Paradigm – Vygotsky and Rubinshtein (1939) ...... 50 Educational Significance ...................................................................................... 52 Developmental Education Studies in Community Colleges ................................. 56 vi III. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ...................................................... 59 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 59 Study Purpose ....................................................................................................... 60 Design Methodology ............................................................................................. 60 Research Questions ............................................................................................... 62 School District Profile........................................................................................... 63 School District Population ...................................................................................