Two-Year Community: Tools for Success: A Study of the Resources and Study Habits of General Chemistry I Students at Two Community Colleges

Recruitment and retention in the sciences is both difficult and crucial, especially in the community college setting. In this study, the resources used by General Chemistry I students at two different public, predominantly two-year colleges in two states were studied via surveys for a semester. Data were analyzed with respect to student attitudes and self-efficacies to better understand possible motivations for use of particular resources. Although use of all ancillary educational tools fluctuated on the basis of the point in the semester, on-campus tutoring generally trended upward all semester, with little variation. This led the authors to recommend the allocation of funds to develop and support dedicated tutoring centers on the campuses of two-year colleges, as such facilities appear to be especially crucial in the sciences. In addition, the authors recommend that instructors in two-year college settings develop an arsenal of homemade resources to be used alongside traditional tools such as the textbook to assist students to successful course completion and assist in retention. The methodology used in this study is not limited to chemistry, as faculty in any content area could use such action research techniques.