Degree Name
EdD (Doctor of Education)
Program
Educational Leadership
Date of Award
12-2023
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Don Good
Committee Members
James Lampley, Richard Rhoda
Abstract
The purpose of this non-experimental, comparative, quantitative study was to determine if there were significant differences between the perceptions of male and female community college students about the importance of sense of community (SoC) in online classes and sense of instructor presence (IP) at eight southern, public, community colleges using survey data. It was the intent of the study to determine if there were significant relationships of students’ perceptions of the presence of sense of community in online classes among factors of age, race, grade point average, cumulative credit hours, credential type, major area of study, and number of previous online courses completed. In addition, possible significant relationships of students’ perceptions of instructor presence in online classes among factors of age, race, grade point average, cumulative credit hours, credential type, major area of study, and number of previous online courses completed were analyzed.
The findings provided evidence that for these community college students, demographic characteristics generally did not impact SoC nor student perception of IP. However, students’ open-ended feedback revealed multiple layers of frustration with lack of IP.
Document Type
Dissertation - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Cartwright, Marla, "Community College Students' Perceptions of Sense of Community and Instructor Presence in the Online Classroom" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4303. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/4303
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.