The Importance of Professor Civility in a Computer-Based Open-Access Environment for a Minority-Serving Institution

Abstract

The simultaneous proliferation of developmental education and online computer-based education creates questions about the success and failure of students engaging in remediation without teacher-led instruction. While many studies show minimal difference in student performance between online and face-to-face instruction (Schenker, 2007; Utts et al., 2003; Ward, 2004; Zieffler et al., 2008), other researchers (Bahr, 2012; Bailey, 2009; Crisp & Delgado, 2014) examine the effectiveness of developmental education to assist students in math, English, or both. In addition, Astin’s student development theory (1999) confirms that positive faculty-student interaction helps students persist through the curriculum. Faculty can create those supportive environments that help students. Therefore, within the cross-section of developmental education and computer-based instruction, the purpose of this study is to consider the importance of teacher care and civility for black and Hispanic developmental English students in an open-access, minority-serving institution. The findings show that while a statistically significant relationship was not observed, there is a positive relationship between students’ perception that the professor is caring and civil and the final grade.

Citation

Hollis, L.P. (2016), "The Importance of Professor Civility in a Computer-Based Open-Access Environment for a Minority-Serving Institution", The Coercive Community College: Bullying and its Costly Impact on the Mission to Serve Underrepresented Populations (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 18), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 65-82. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420160000018010