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how African-American/Black students experience online learning environments (Rovai & Ponton, 2005). Higher institutions have embraced online education as a method to not only increase enrollments but provide greater access to students. Community colleges are the entry point for many African-American/Black students in their pursuit to achieve social and economic mobility. Thus, online courses are an attractive option due to flexibility for nontraditional and underserved communities, including African-American/Black students. The underachievement in online courses among African-American/Black students in the CCCs are well documented (Woodyard & Larson, 2017), and these students historically have difficulty adapting to online courses and performed lower academically in online courses akin to traditional face-to-face courses (Xu & Jaggars, 2013).
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand African-American/Black community college students’ experiences in an asynchronous online learning environment. This study sought to gain insight into experiences and barriers for African-American/Black students within Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1994) ecological systems theory. This study adds to the limited body of literature for this growing population of students in an online learning environment. Obtaining this information also aids in the development of support structures and initiatives to improve student outcomes of underserved populations enrolled in online courses.
Research Questions
The following research question and sub-question guided the study:
1. What are African-American/Black students’ experiences in an asynchronous, online learning environment at a community college?
Object Description
| Title | African-American/Black students’ experience and achievement in asynchronous online learning environments at a community college |
| Author | Whitaker, Tammara |
| Author email | tammarawhit@gmail.com;tammaraw@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Educational Leadership |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2020-07-10 |
| Date submitted | 2020-08-05 |
| Date approved | 2020-08-06 |
| Restricted until | 2020-08-06 |
| Date published | 2020-08-06 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Tambascia, Tracy |
| Abstract | This qualitative study explored the experiences and perspectives of African-American/Black community college students in asynchronous online learning environments. This study was guided through the lens of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory. Despite the growing number of African-American/Black students enrolling in California community colleges and online courses, there is little known regarding the online learning experiences of this student population. Furthermore, African-American/Black students have poor academic outcomes in online courses in the California community colleges. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 15 African-American/Black students who completed at least one asynchronous online course at a community college in Southern California. The study found that African-American/Black students in asynchronous online learning environments had limited interaction with their peers in the course. Furthermore, the participants used many on-campus support services and were not aware or did not utilize the online support services offered by the college. The participants also highlighted the importance of family, faculty, and counselor support throughout their academic journey. The study offers recommendations to improve the online student experience of racially minoritized students, specifically African-American/Black students, in asynchronous online learning environments at a community college. |
| Keyword | distance education; online learning, asynchronous online learning; asynchronous online learning environments; community college; online learning experience; California community college; African American online student; ecological systems theory |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Whitaker, Tammara |
| Physical access | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-WhitakerTa-8891.pdf |
| Archival file | Volume13/etd-WhitakerTa-8891.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 13 |
| Full text | 3 how African-American/Black students experience online learning environments (Rovai & Ponton, 2005). Higher institutions have embraced online education as a method to not only increase enrollments but provide greater access to students. Community colleges are the entry point for many African-American/Black students in their pursuit to achieve social and economic mobility. Thus, online courses are an attractive option due to flexibility for nontraditional and underserved communities, including African-American/Black students. The underachievement in online courses among African-American/Black students in the CCCs are well documented (Woodyard & Larson, 2017), and these students historically have difficulty adapting to online courses and performed lower academically in online courses akin to traditional face-to-face courses (Xu & Jaggars, 2013). Purpose of the Study The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand African-American/Black community college students’ experiences in an asynchronous online learning environment. This study sought to gain insight into experiences and barriers for African-American/Black students within Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1994) ecological systems theory. This study adds to the limited body of literature for this growing population of students in an online learning environment. Obtaining this information also aids in the development of support structures and initiatives to improve student outcomes of underserved populations enrolled in online courses. Research Questions The following research question and sub-question guided the study: 1. What are African-American/Black students’ experiences in an asynchronous, online learning environment at a community college? |
