Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

James LaSpina

Abstract

Remediation to improve student retention is rapidly becoming an important part of health science programs in higher education. A career college located in the midwestern United States implemented remediation for students to address declining enrollment health science professional-track programs. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how remediation was carried out by college instructors and their perceptions of instructional best practices for students in health science programs in the context of current research. The conceptual framework that guided this study was based on constructivism and adult learning theory. Research questions focused on how instructors were carrying out the processes for remediation and explored their views of effective remediation practices. The sample of 11 participants included 4 program directors, 3 fieldwork coordinators, and 4 adjunct faculty members. Data were collected from individual interviews, classroom lab observations, and program documents. Data were open coded and analyzed for themes. Findings indicated that instructors who conducted remediation used instructional techniques that matched effective practices found in the current research literature, e.g. videos, case studies, patient simulation, mind-mapping, and mock practicals.- Based on the findings of best practices, recommendations were proposed for the development of a formal remediation plan for the health science programs to improve the success rate for student completion. This study may promote positive social change by standardizing the use of effective instructional techniques for remediation in the professional-track programs, thereby improving student retention and declining enrollment in the career college health science programs.

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