Research Poster Symposium
Faculty Summaries

Reflective Practice and North Carolina's Developmental Reading and English Redesign Efforts
Dees, L. and Moore, E. Communication and Theatre
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

As developmental education practitioners in the midst of North Carolina's Developmental Reading and English Redesign, we were interested in researching best practices for instructional design and application. We discovered that the principles of reflective practice pervade much of the literature on program planning and practice, so we began to question whether those principles were guiding statewide redesign efforts. We intentionally incorporated reflective practices to discover whether our experience mirrored this contemplative theory. In our research article, grounded in reflective practice theory and adult learning theory, we present an overview of our experiences incorporating reflective practice into our redesign efforts.

Understanding Muslim Assimilation: An Empirical Assessment of First and Second Generation Muslims Using Segmented Assimilation Theory
Asfari, A. and Askar, A.
Criminal Justice
Business and Public Services Technologies

In the post 9/11 era, Muslim Americans face increasing challenges and calls to assimilate into their host culture—the United States. Indeed, the events of 9/11, as well as subsequent attacks in Europe have heightened public fears and legitimized the idea that Muslims don't belong in the West. With increased scrutiny and efforts to marginalize Muslim immigrants, this study seeks to contribute to the small but growing body of literature on the integration of Muslims into their host country, specifically, we evaluate the integration of first- and second-generation Muslim Americans. Findings suggest that Muslim assimilation follows similar trajectories as those of other immigrant populations (i.e., Hispanic, Sikh, Asians).

Student Satisfaction with Online Communication
Maness, D. and Barton, D. English
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Business Administration
Business and Public Services Technologies

The purpose of the research was to investigate the relationship between student ratings of satisfaction with faculty communication in online classes and faculty presence. The participants included ninety-eight students in six online classes taught by two professors: one teaching Business Administration and the other one teaching English. This study used the community of inquiry (COL) theory, the teaching presence survey (TPS) composed of 13-items from the COL survey instrument, and archival data from the college’s learning management system (LMS) to examine student satisfaction with online teaching presence in four asynchronous online courses at a southern community college. The findings showed 92.24% satisfaction with design and organization, 79.57% satisfaction with facilitation, and 84.51% satisfaction with direct instruction.

C4All
Markovich, H., Smith, J., Tsai, B., Schlieper, A., Romano, J., and Olds, K.
Mathematics and Physics
Mathematics, Sciences, and Engineering

Experience an exciting initiative to build a foundation for a campus-wide culture of persistence and student success by examining evidence-based, intentional practices, in particular for students at risk of withdrawal and failure. Our group is researching the educational needs of students who may have grown up under conditions of scarcity, such as food and housing insecurity, who are members of a non-dominant group, or have experienced discrimination and exclusion. The research phase of our project will develop a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) group where we will begin by reading and discussing Bandwidth Recovery: Helping Students Reclaim Cognitive Resources Lost to Poverty, Racism, and Social Marginalization by Cia Verschelden. We will propose strategies to address the issues raised in the book by developing and sharing a list of intentional practices to better serve the educational needs of our marginalized students.

Evaluating Student Applied Benchmarking
Moore, E. and Barton, D. Communication and Theatre
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Business Administration
Business and Public Services Technologies

At Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, N.C., the Student Applied Benchmarking (SAB) program is striving to help students develop problem-solving skills with the support of staff and faculty across the college. Grounded in social learning theory, the SAB program requires students to use the college’s Applied Benchmarking process to develop a proposal for change. Our program evaluation research looked at the results of a survey administered to program participants at the end of the program in May of 2018. All students who participated in this program said they would use the Applied Benchmarking method to solve problems in the future and 50% agreed that their participation improved their grades.

Building Communities of Practice through Faculty Mentorship
Lari, P. and Barton, D.
Instructional Design and Development eLearning Support and Instructional Design
Business Administration
Business and Public Services Technologies

Building an effective mentoring program for community college faculty is a complex and multifaceted task. There are multiple layers of stakeholders and levels of involvement, which at times makes navigating the mentoring relationships challenging and complicates the decision of what types of information to provide to the faculty as part of their mentorship. One strategy for developing a successful mentoring program is to create a community of practice among faulty members to provide support, create dialogue, exchange best practices, and hopefully, create a process of collective learning in a community of practice, where faculty are open to receiving guidance and willing to engage in the process as part of the mentoring program. This study will inform the practices and processes of a newly formed faculty mentoring program at Wake Technical Community College.

Impact of an Educational Intervention on Community Opioid Overdose Prevention in Nursing Education
Sheppa, L. Nursing
Health Sciences

There is an imminent need to provide support for public health awareness and education on community opioid overdose prevention. Nurses play a critical role in providing care to overdose victims and education on opioid overdose prevention to victims and other members of the community. In this study, the investigator provides the research results from a doctoral scholarly project aimed at preparing nursing students with the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes to manage opioid overdose within community settings and provide education on opioid overdose prevention to members of the community to support future nursing education and practice.