Upcoming Presentations

AAC&U 2024 Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference

Embedding Culturally Relevant Instructional Supports for Self-Directed Learning in Online College STEM Courses

November 9, 2024
9:15–10:15 AM

Many college students are still honing their skills for managing their learning, but instructors can assist them. Guided by a researcher and a practitioner, this session focuses on instructional strategies to bolster students' abilities to motivate and manage their learning processes--referred to as self-directed learning skills in online STEM courses. Presenters will share theoretical, empirical, and practitioner-focused perspectives to cultivate motivation and manage learning processes. They will delve into creating inclusive environments, addressing emotional and metacognitive barriers, that foster skill development. Through both small and whole group discussions, participants will collaborate and learn from one another. The session revolves around these core questions:

  1. How can instructors integrate SDL support in online courses?
  2. How do contextual factors and students' experiences influence SDL skill development?
  3. What support is necessary to implement SDL strategies effectively?

By addressing these questions, instructors can enhance students' abilities to navigate their learning journeys effectively. 

Presenters

Akilah Thompson, Senior Research Assistant, CCRC

Krystal Thomas, Senior Education Researcher, SRI Education

Wanda Velez, Coordinator, Biology Instructor, Virginia State University

2024 APPAM Fall Research Conference

November 21–23, 2024
National Harbor, MD

Policymaking for Community College Pandemic Recovery: A Look at Federal and Local Pandemic Recovery Efforts

November 23, 10:15–11:45 AM ET

This panel will begin with a discussion of the latest trends in pandemic and post-pandemic community college enrollment from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The Community College Research Center will then discuss the federal emergency aid disbursed to community colleges through Higher Education Emergency Relief funds. The Public Policy Institute of California will discuss this research with particular attention to the survey results in California. Lastly, the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University will take a deep dive into the implementation and efficacy of a specific local policy designed to improve distance education for students in the Los Angeles Community College District in response to pandemic enrollment declines.

Presenters

Jennifer Causey, Senior Research Associate, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

Tia Monahan, PEAR Fellow CCRC

Olga Rodriguez, Director of the PPIC Higher Education Center, Public Policy Institute of California

Kevin Cook, Research Associate, Public Policy Institute of California

Rachel Worsham, Senior Research Analyst, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Tom Brock, Director, CCRC

Supporting Students Through Innovative State Programs that Complement the Federal Pell Grant

November 21, 10:15–11:45 AM

State financial aid programs have the potential to substantially augment the support that students receive from the federal Pell Grant. Federal programs, most notably the Pell Grant program, have historically played the role of providing a foundation of support, with states providing enhanced support when specific conditions were met. In recent years, however, states have moved to innovate their financial aid programs in ways that have the potential to increase aid received, meet a wider range of student needs, and serve a broader population of postsecondary students. This session includes presentations from a set of four evaluations, each of which assesses a state financial aid program that is central to their state’s mission of supporting postsecondary students.

Presenters

James Benson, Program Officer, Institute for Education Sciences, US Department of Education

Veronica Minaya, Senior Research Associate and Program Lead, CCRC

Brian McCall, Professor of Education, Economics and Public Policy, University of Michigan

Career Connections: State and Local Efforts to Align Community College Programs with the Labor Market

November 23, 3:30–5:00 PM ET

This session includes four papers that address various aspects of the relationship between community colleges and labor markets, including studies from Virginia, California, and Florida. These papers use a range of empirical methods to describe and estimate the effects of state, local, and institutional policies geared toward improving community college students’ academic outcomes and career trajectories. Each of the papers offers relevant and timely policy implications for state and local policymakers who are interested in improving community college outcomes and strengthening the relationship between community colleges and the labor market. These studies also hold important implications for institutional stakeholders in improving community college enrollment and student success.

Presenters

Sade Bonilla, Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania

Daniel Sparks, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Pennsylvania

Elise Swanson, Associate Director of Research, Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University

Anthony Bald, Doctoral Student, Harvard University

Thea Dowrich, Senior Research Assistant and PEAR Fellow, CCRC

Angela Estacion, Senior Research Associate, WestEd

League for Innovation in the Community College

Beyond Engagement: Evidence-Based Strategies for Improving Learning Online

Date & Time TBD

Students and faculty both encounter challenges in the online environment. These challenges frequently manifest and are understood in terms of low student engagement. In this session, researchers and community college faculty will present a specific and actionable framework to bolster students’ abilities to remain motivated and manage their learning processes in online courses. The presenters refer to these mutually reinforcing mindsets and behaviors as self-directed learning (SDL) skills and they include motivational processes (e.g., self-efficacy), metacognitive processes (e.g., planning), and applied learning processes (e.g., help seeking). Presenters will describe a set of evidence-based instructional strategies to support SDL developed in collaboration with instructors at broad-access institutions. Speakers will share research findings on how the strategies have been implemented in postsecondary online STEM courses and their effect on student outcomes. A community college faculty member will share their experience implementing the strategies in an online biology course.

Presenters

Ellen Wasserman, Research Associate, CCRC

Allystair Jones, Department Chair, Science & Professor of Biology, Odessa College

Keena Walters, Education Research Associate, SRI Education

Aligning Community College State Finance Policy to Advance Equitable Attainment

September 29, 2022
Denver, CO

The community college sector has worked closely with researchers to generate evidence on a range of policy and practice reforms that improve student outcomes, and in some cases to estimate the institutional costs (and benefits) of these reforms. Meanwhile, community colleges must contend with a myriad of revenue streams that are governed by sometimes conflicting policies and rarely provide consistent, effective funding or incentives to support evidence-based practices. This session will explore avenues to better align state finance policy (base and categorical funding) to advance the adoption and implementation of evidence-based reforms and drive more equitable attainment.

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Associated Papers

Participants

Senior Research Scholar
Community College Research Center
Kate Shaw
Senior Adviser
HCM Strategists

Associated Project(s)