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ETD_CJLC Final Thesis.pdf (595.69 KB)

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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Connecting, Persisting, & Retaining: Can a Learning Community for Criminal Justice Students Provide Positive Impacts for Participants and the Campus Community?

Lucak, Sara N
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1686830149005475

Abstract Details

2023, Master of Science in Criminal Justice (MSCJ), Bowling Green State University, Criminal Justice.
Many universities have been experiencing a decline in student enrollment, retention, and persistence. As a result, programs and initiatives such as learning communities have been used to entice students to enroll or stay enrolled in post-secondary education. Learning communities have been shown to provide positive impacts for students involved by building connectedness among students, easing the transition into post-secondary education, and increasing academic performance, thus increasing student persistence and retention. This study extends the current literature and examines how involvement in a learning community specific for criminal justice majors has the potential to lead to encouraging outcomes for its members. To assess this premise, data from two sources: (1) a survey administered to all criminal justice students in the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022 and (2) institutional data gathered in the spring of 2023 representing the fall 2021 and fall 2022 cohorts at a midwestern public university were used to determine the benefits of a learning community. Results from the survey data found that students involved in the criminal justice learning community are significantly more likely to feel connected to campus, faculty, and peers. Students who commute to campus were more likely to feel as if they do not belong and that the transition into post-secondary schooling was not the easiest. Findings from the institutional data indicated that prior college credit or semester GPA is a greater predictor of student persistence and retention than learning community involvement. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Melissa Burek, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Catherine Pape, M.S. (Committee Member)
Eric Cooke, Ph.D (Committee Member)
85 p.
Criminology; Curriculum Development; Education; Higher Education
Learning Communities; Criminal Justice Education; Connectedness; Persistence and Retention;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lucak, S. N. (2023). Connecting, Persisting, & Retaining: Can a Learning Community for Criminal Justice Students Provide Positive Impacts for Participants and the Campus Community? [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1686830149005475

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lucak, Sara. Connecting, Persisting, & Retaining: Can a Learning Community for Criminal Justice Students Provide Positive Impacts for Participants and the Campus Community? 2023. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1686830149005475.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lucak, Sara. "Connecting, Persisting, & Retaining: Can a Learning Community for Criminal Justice Students Provide Positive Impacts for Participants and the Campus Community?" Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1686830149005475

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1686830149005475
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© 2023, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.