Swirling & Double-Dipping: An Examination of Multi-Institutional Attendance and Student Engagement
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2019-10-28
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Community College Leadership Program
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Doctor of Education
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Abstract
The swirl phenomenon has become a common practice among today’s college students (Brown, 2011; Kuh, Kinzie, Buckley, Bridges, & Hayek, 2006), and it describes the movement of students between community colleges and four-year institutions. Transfer literature is rich in individual transfer student content; however, there is a deficiency in literature specific to multi-institutional attendance. Exclusively relying on transfer studies that label transfer students as a monolithic population is problematic because it does not capture the critical roles of two and four-year institutions (Wang, Wickersham, & Sun, 2017). This study concentrated on the relationship between swirling and student engagement. The researcher attempted to identify potential relationships between variables where little empirical research exists (Johnson & Christensen, 2012). As multi-institutional attendance becomes increasingly prevalent for students who desire to pursue a bachelor’s degree (Crisp, 2017), the relationship between multi-institutional attendance and student engagement warrants further research.
The purpose of this quantitative study was to use Kuh et al.’s theory of student engagement (2006) to examine the perceived levels of student engagement for students participating in multi-institutional attendance (swirlers and non-swirlers) as measured by the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). Ex post facto data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) 2012, 2013, and 2014 cohorts were used to examine the difference in student engagement for students who swirl and those who do not. The researcher also examined the predictability of student engagement on the number of classes that students took at another institution. The relationship between frequency of use of academic advising/planning and student engagement as well as the five CCSSE benchmarks of effective practice were also investigated.
The results of the study suggest that the Level of Student Engagement for swirler students was higher than those of non-swirler students. In addition, the results propose that swirler students’ level of Active and Collaborative Learning was the highest while non-swirler students’ level of Support for Learners was the highest. Level of Student Engagement was a good predictor of the number of classes presently being taken at other institutions for community college students, including swirlers. The findings also revealed that Student Effort, Academic Challenge, and Support for Learners were good predictors of the number of classes presently being taken at other institutions for swirlers. Lastly, it was determined that the students’ swirler status did not significantly predict the frequency of use of academic advising/planning. These findings provide valuable information about the relationship between student engagement and multi-institutional attendance. Recommendations for professional practice and further research are provided.