The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation exists among characteristics common to successful adult career and technical students in the traditional classroom setting, the online mode of instruction, and a hybrid of the traditional and distance mode of instructional delivery. A gap in the literature exists, resulting in a lack of knowledge specific to the reasons for success or failure of these adult career and technical students, specifically in relation to mode of instructional delivery: traditional classroom, online, or a hybrid of both. This study is a quantitative correlation study of explanatory and predictive design using archival data from a large and diverse school district in the state of Florida. The dependent variables included the level of student success as indicated by the student’s withdrawal codes; achievement as measured by the difference between initial Test of Adult Basic Education pretest score and final post-test score required to gain admittance to career and technical education program of student choice; length of time required for the Adult Basic Education student to achieve his or her highest level of success as determined by the pre- and post-test TABE score; and number of courses repeated before required post-test scores are attained during the duration of the coursework. The results of the study indicate that a greater number of factors displayed predictive value in distinguishing successful from non-successful face-to-face students. For these students, nine factors could be included in a predictive model that accurately classified approximately 58.5% of the students in terms of success versus non-success. Four factors were found to make unique contributions: age, ethnicity, the number of course attempts, and the difference between the students’ first and last math TABE scores. For the online students, five factors were included in a predictive model that accurately distinguished roughly 64.4% of the students. In the final analysis, only one factor maintained a unique predictor of program success: the number of course attempts.
| Date of Award | Jan 1 2016 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | David Heflich (Supervisor), Charles Schlosser (Advisor) & Lynn R. Schrum (Advisor) |
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