A Comparative Study of High-Impact Practice Participation among Senior Natives and Community College Transfers Attending Four-Year Public Institutions

Ramos, Elizabeth Aviles

Dissertation

A Comparative Study of High-Impact Practice Participation among Senior Natives and Community College Transfers Attending Four-Year Public Institutions

Public Deposited

The purpose of this study was to examine the level of student participation in senior-only High-Impact Practices (HIPs) among first-generation, full-time senior native and community college transfer students attending four-year public institutions in the Northeast region of the United States. Specifically, the study examined whether there was a relationship in the level of participation in senior-only High-Impact Practices using the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) as a tool. The independent variable, senior status, had two levels: first-generation, full-time native and first-generation, full-time community college transfer students. The dependent variables, senior-only High-Impact Practices (HIPs), were (a) internship or field experience, (b) study abroad, and (c) culminating senior experience. Kuh’s theory of student engagement provided the theoretical framework for examining these variables. 2015 NSSE and 2016 NSSE data from participating four-year public institutions in the Northeast region were used for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to present the independent variables; inferential statistics were used to answer the research questions and test the hypothesis. A chi-square test of independence was conducted to examine the relationship of senior status and the self-rated level of participation in senior-only HIPs. The findings of this study contribute to the limited body of literature on the level of participation in senior-only HIPs among first-generation, full-time senior natives, and community college transfers.

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