Who Do First-Generation College Students Turn to for Support? Implications for Research and Practice

Hoori Santikian KalamkarianSenior Research AssociateCommunity College Research CenterMelissa HermanSenior Research Assistant and PEAR FellowCommunity College Research CenterTraci UkitaCareer CounselorCerritos CollegeChelena FisherDepartment Chair of Counseling/Counselor/Associate ProfessorCerritos CollegeRaquel Lizarraga-ChristensenSchool Relations Coordinator, Office of Enrollment ServicesCerritos College

Upcoming Presentations

Texas Dual Credit Alliance (TDCA) Conference

November 3–5, 2024
Baytown, TX

November 4, 8:30 a.m.–3:45 p.m.

November 5, 8:30 a.m.–11:45 p.m.

Hyatt Regency Baytown - Houston (100 Convention Center Way)

Researchers from the Community College Research Center (CCRC) will partner with the Texas Dual Credit Alliance to deliver their inaugural conference focused on improving students' access to and success in dual credit in the state of Texas. Over the course of two days, CCRC researchers will help lead participating community college, K12, and university dual enrollment leaders in learning about CCRC's research-based dual enrollment equity pathways (DEEP) framework. Participants will engage in discussion, activities, and planning with the goal of helping them to implement dual credit so that more high school students in Texas can leverage dual enrollment for college and career success.

Presenters

John Fink, Senior Research Associate and Program Lead, CCRC

Aurely Garcia Tulloch, Senior Research Assistant, CCRC

Sarah Griffin, Research Associate, CCRC

Davis Jenkins, Senior Research Scholar, CCRC

AAC&U 2024 Transforming STEM Higher Education Conference

November 7–9, 2024
Arlington, VA

Register

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:

How can instructors integrate SDL support in online courses?
How do contextual factors and students' experiences influence SDL skill development?
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

Associated Project

Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative

League for Innovation in the Community College

Month 9–12, 2025
San Antonio, TX

Register

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

Associated project

Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative

Who Do First-Generation College Students Turn to for Support? Implications for Research and Practice

April 03, 2024

CCRC Webinar

In this webinar, CCRC researchers described the support networks of first-year first-generation college students using social network survey and interview data collected during the first-year of a CCRC study on first-gen students. The researchers shared the types of social relations identified by students and the ways these relations enhanced students’ college experience. Colleges may find the description of first-generation students’ networks useful for designing and differentiating services for these students.

This webinar also featured student and enrollment services staff from Cerritos Community College who discussed the advising and student support policies and practices for serving first-generation students. The speakers shared how institutions leverage students’ personal networks to engage students. The practices outlined in this webinar may be helpful to other institutions considering ways to improve the experiences of first-generation students that they serve.