Date of Award

Spring 2023

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Studies

First Advisor

Hengtao Tang

Abstract

The purpose of this concurrent mixed methods action research study was to investigate the impact of new technology-enhanced Dual Enrollment (DE) math courses on students’ perception of college courses, the influence the technology-enhanced DE had on students’ intention of going to college, and the students' perception of the technology-enhanced DE math course. Examining student experiences in a technology-enhanced DE course informed all stakeholders as to what degree DE influenced students’ perception of college. The DE experience influenced students' postsecondary plans. The innovation of this action research study was the technology-enhanced DE math course. Software used to practice computational skills, conduct descriptive statistics analysis, and perform tests was part of the innovation. Remodeling the practices of teaching DE math courses at a rural high school helped administrators and colleagues grasp the importance of change and explained the conditions under which the new practices occurred.

For this concurrent mixed methods design, data was collected from a group of six students from a rural South Carolina high school using self-reported surveys and semi-structured interviews. Descriptive and inferential statistics and inductive analysis were performed to interpret the data from all sources. The findings from both data sources were converged to develop a comprehensive understanding of rural high school students’ perception of technology-enhanced DE math courses. The findings of this study confirmed that the innovation improved the perception of students enrolled in the Mat 120 course about college courses, positively influenced students’ intention of going to college and recognized the benefit of technology embedded in the DE course on students' perception of DE math courses. This research confirmed that rural high school students valued their DE experience and liked to be challenged by college-level courses, indicating that the technology-embedded DE course positively influenced their decision to enroll in college. Thus, a district-wide presentation of the results of this study to DE faculty members who taught rural students should explain the benefits of embedding technology in DE courses and offer the opportunity to participate in course-specific workshops during the school year. DE faculty should meet regularly and design best practices to embed technology in their courses. Reflecting on the implementation, I am considering introducing more technology in the other Math DE course, College Algebra, I am teaching and in any future DE math course, I will teach.

Rights

© 2023, Nicolae Bordieanu

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