Gurdo, H (2016) Non-traditional construction management technology students: Overcoming barriers to degree completion. EdD thesis, Wilmington University (Delaware), USA.
Abstract
The non-traditional student population comprises a significant portion of higher education enrollment. Often, non-traditional college students are considered to be at risk for the many commitments that compete for their attention as they attempt to balance work, life, and educational responsibilities. Identifying and understanding the risk factors and needs of non-traditional community college students is fundamental for planning and establishing relevant curriculum and services that promote student success. This Executive Position Paper examines the situational and institutional barriers of Delaware Technical Community College (Delaware Tech) Stanton campus, Construction Management Technology (CMT) students that slow completion. This paper also investigates best practices that could potentially aid students in program completion. A focus group was used to gather data on situational and institutional barriers faced by Delaware Tech CMT students. Analysis of the qualitative data utilized the grounded theory approach. In the grounded theory approach, as the collected data was reviewed, repeated ideas were marked with codes; this is referred to as open coding. As data are re-reviewed, the codes were grouped into categories. Development of the categories is known as axial coding (Allan, 2003). The results of the data analysis indicated that the participants felt as though they could overcome their situational barriers if the college introduced more flexible course delivery methods into the CMT program. As a result of this study, recommendations for planning and establishing curricular changes and support systems to increase non-traditional student success and attrition are proposed.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Atkinson, L L |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | education; focus group; grounded theory; higher education; population |
| Index terms: | higher education, grounded theory, delivery method, college student, traditional construction, enrolment, risk factor, executive, best practice, commitment, data analysis, focus group, Delaware, program, population |
| Subjects: | theoretical framing, Geography, demography, environmental hazards, heritage and conservation, practitioner, psychology, software systems, educational institutions, sociology, delivery method, recruitment and enrolment, business, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Education, Geographical Context, Procurement, Sustainability, Design Practice, Urban Studies, Digital Applications, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here