Author Archives: djeffries6

Research Project Community College

Posted on by

David Jeffries 

4/24/22 

Weaver 

EngL 1102 

 

Community colleges are an especially important part of high ed. These colleges provide a solid foundation for many students that seek further education. Now with so many students’ academic futures being based on their success at community college, it has become very important to identify and become aware of the issues inflicted by the Covid Pandemic. Only once students identify these issues and overcome them, will they begin to become successful in higher ed. 

Higher ed is an interquel part of society and economics. Jobs and careers that require further education are core keystones in the functions of the world. With no capable Doctors the human life span will decline; without any viable architects, homes would become unsafe to live in. We need capable lawyers to represent us in court because without them many people would become suspectable to unjust court rulings. Community colleges provide many opportunities for those who are otherwise unable to delve into these Career pathways due to affordability issues and other school-life balance issues. So, the negative effects of the COVID pandemic become even grander issues when they begin to create problems for Community college students. Students of these intuitions need to be made aware of these problems so that they can plan their higher ed journey accordingly and try to avoid these problems to the best of their ability. 

Many Students look to Community colleges for financial relief but with changes in the economy due to covid many students may still need to drop out of college due to money problems. The Center for Community College Student Engagement wrote an article compiling data on the impact of covid on these students. When students were asked about the types of problems that would lead to their withdrawal it was stated that,” 77% of respondents reported that a lack of finances could be such an issue” (Impact of Covid, 5). With the economy taking a hit so did the pockets of many students with The Center for Community College Student Engagement stating that “Twenty-eight percent (n=1,273) of respondents described their household’s financial situation in fall 2020 as worse than it was before the pandemic” (Impact of Covid, 5). Finances have always been a problem for many college students but now Community colleges are unable to adequately subside these financial issues for many. 

When students were financially stable and able to stay in school, there were still many COVID caused issues that impaired learning. Mental Health issues and motivation issues made it very difficult for students to remain focused and devoted to higher ed. Christopher Prokes & Jacqueline Housel state in their research paper, “Community College Student Perceptions of Remote Learning Shifts Due to COVID-19″, that “Students commented directly on their mental health citing that they felt depressed Some students directly wrote about their mental health: depressed, anxious, sad”(Prokes and Housel, 7). Prokes and Housel also state in reference to surveyed students that “others more indirectly talk about their lack of motivation and drive to complete their studies (Prokes and Housel, 9).” Without mental stability and ample motivation students may find it difficult to perform well in a college setting. 

With the rise of virtual learning due to mandated isolation many students found themselves just not suited for education over the internet. Prokes and Housel collected many student responses, many of whom prefer face to face learning. These students gave many responses detailing their experience with virtual learning such as, “Less class discussion to less ability to understand the content… Felt isolated and detached from education, I am f2f learner… Virtual was harder that the teacher-student connection in class… Not able to build connections with classmates and professor (Prokes and Housel,10).” Connecting to students is an important part of teaching and most teachers have not learned how to create bonds and connect in a digital setting. This can lead to students not being able to acquire information in class as well as they would in a face-to-face setting. 

All of these issues that affect community college students come together, compound, and lead to a large decline in community college enrollment. The PPIC (The Public Policy Institute of California) details these declines in its research blog, “The Pandemic’s Effects on Higher Education.” With enrollments down 25% the PPIC states that, “Community college students tend to have fewer economic resources than other college students and were more likely to have been negatively affected by the pandemic” (PPIC, 1). With the increasing number of students opting out of further education the climate of the workforce as well as career pathways may begin to shift greatly. 

The COIVD pandemic causes many problems for Community college students, for many students it’s perhaps to much to handle. These colleges need to find new ways to adapt so that its students can become more successful. Some may argue that community colleges already do enough for people in regards of support in stability. Federal aid, flexible learning schedules, and less pressure being some of the ways these institutions try to help. However, during the pandemic many people are forced to stretch and “wear different hats”, why shouldn’t Community colleges? It is not these colleges’ total responsibility to turn all of their students’ lives around, but these intuitions should continue to support their students and communities. There are many ways to accomplish this goal and make student lives just a little easier. Free pandemic counseling coupled with online support groups would go a long way to keep students motivated and boost their morale. People of similar living and financial situations seeing each other, and interacting would allow for students to not feel alone. Updated and well-maintained purified air systems would give students that choose to go back to face to face learning a great piece of mind. It is up to everybody to work together to help provide a better higher ed experience.  

 

Cite 

Center for Community College Student Engagement. The Impact of COVID-19 on Entering Students in Community Colleges, Center for Community College Student Engagement, 2021, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED613823.pdf. 

Prokes, Christopher. Housel, Jacqueline. Community College Student Perceptions of Remote Learning Shifts Due to COVID-19.TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, https://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=151333113&S=R&D=eue&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHr7ESeqLI4v%2BbwOLCmsEqep7VSsai4SbGWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMOXp80m549%2BB7LHjfPEA. 

 Saul, Stephanie. “The Pandemic Hit the Working Class Hard. The Colleges That Serve Them Are Hurting, Too.” The New York Times, 20 April 22, p.1, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/us/politics/covid-19-colleges.html 

Chamlou, Nina. “The Effects of COVID on Community Colleges and Students.” Affordable colleges., 20 April 22, p.1, https://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/news/covid-and-community-college/ 

 

 

 

CalArts

Posted on by

David Jeffries 

3/7/22 

Weaver 

EngL 

 

The California Institute of the arts (CalArts) is interested in a rather unique student. This institute desires culturally diverse students that are interested in a multitude of art forms and who desire creative freedom. The CalArts website uses the strategy of audience to appeal to their ideal student while imagining their ideal readers. 

 

The California Institute of the arts has a well put together website that does a great job at persuading its readers to applying. The website does this by using a multitude of different writing strategies to make the articles appealing while providing information readers are most interested in. CalArts is in a constant state of speaking to their ideal reader. The website formats itself in ways that would appeal to likeminded people, trying its best to reach those that would be a good fit for CalArts. Another strategy the CalArts uses is keeping a well-defined constant tone throughout the entire website. It uses enthusiastic language choices and speaks confidently about what it has to offer. CalArts is fully invested in what it has to offer for its students and will strongly influence anyone who decides to read this website. These two strategies work together hand and hand to create an effective persuasive and informative website. 

An Cal Arts ideal student is one that seeks a nonjudgmental realm of creativity where they are motivated by their environment to not only to create to the best of their ability but simultaneously be motivated by their environment to try new things and open their mind. CalArts preaches creative freedom and a multidisciplinary community , so now readers who weigh those values heavily while favoring this college options more than others (CalArts,1). Another way CalArts imagines its ideal reader is with the structure of the website. The front page of the website is constructed with a few of its programs being one of the first things the reader sees. This shows that art, critical studies, dance, film/video, music, and theater are CalArts’ most prominent and major programs. 

 Another strategy the website incorporates is tone. This Website speaks in a very confident and excited tone like, they can’t wait to show what they have to offer to their students. In turn the readers will become excited and trust that this college will deliver in what it says it has to offer. The website does this by using never use words or phrases like “probably,” “maybe, “or “you’ll may”, because this would make the reader feel like CalArts is uncertain in the information the website is providing. The Website is instead speaks in certainties and speaks like they know for a fact that this college is the perfect place for the reader to apply to. The CalArts states in the academic’s section that “CalArts offers a variety of unique programs at the undergraduate and graduate level within its six world-renowned Schools” (CalArts,1). Readers can just sense the excitement seeping through language like “world renowned”, and unique programs”. This excitement is contagious and transfers immediately to the readers. Sections of the Cal arts website like this leave a very positive impression on readers. 

Writing strategies have been used for a long while to increase the effectiveness of persuasive and argumentative writing. This website is a notable example of how well used writing strategies help elevate any persuasion; they were used to fullest extent successfully. The website uses writing strategies like this over the course of many years to persuade students to apply to this college and will continue to do to. Strategies like such are infinitely valuable to writing and will continue to add value to not only college websites but anywhere where a written information is to be held. 

 

If I were able to apply and be accepted into any college It would easily, be the California institute of the arts. This school heavily pushes creative freedom while simultaneously constantly influencing its students to experiment with different things creatively. With my goal to one day to become an animated tv show runner, learning to aptly experiment with different ideas and cultivate a mindset of bound-less creativity is very important. I know CalArts would push me in the right direction to accomplish this goal. I have always loved to try new things creatively but sometimes I tend to be a little reluctant and I feel like this institution would always point me back in the right direction. I know this the school greatly values persistence and always have I. Persistence is a core value I was raised on and attending a college that also holds this as a core value would be exceptionally accommodating. I feel as that accommodating your students is an especially important core aspect of any college and CalArts is no stranger to this. CalArts values large scale diversity and is very inclusive. CalArts exhibits this in its extensive list of student services, wellness groups, and other organizations, such as CARE teams, Mentor programs etc. With me being a black male, it is important for me to tend an intuition where I feel wanted, With CalArts falling in line with so many of my values while making me feel wanted I would definitely choose to attend this institution if given the opportunity too. 

CalArts.”calarts.edu”. 3/7/22, https://calarts.edu/. This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative.

Jada Abraham

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Jada Abraham is a tenacious 17-year-old college student at Georgia state university. She had a rather difficult childhood, at an early age acquired A.L.L cancer. Beating this disease at such a young age lit a fire under her. Jada’s mother learned through this experience that Jada needed to be strong throughout the rest of her life and started teaching her where real strength comes from. Strength comes from accountability and being responsible for your actions while simultaneously showing respect for others. Jada as far back as she can remember has been raised to be honest, responsible, and professional in any and all public settings. These core values have greatly extended over to her academic self. Growing up through middle school and high school she had always tried her best to exhibit her best manners and to be the utmost respectable to her teachers and peers. Jada was known in school for being cordial to her fellow students while also prioritizing her academic goals and the rules and regulations given by the teachers. It was engrained into her by her mother that no matter what is happening in the environment around you it is always your full responsibility to learn what you need to and do the work you need to do as well. 

Because of the fact that she established these core values very early in her life, transitions from each grade and academic settings were always a very easy process. From middle school to high school, and from high school to college it never really mattered. She was always shown the same respect and honesty. The only problem that has plagued her throughout this time was her procrastination. It never ended up affecting her grades very much, however it heavily affected her mentally. She was always stressed about due dates and the workload that hindered her ability to begin her assignments. It was easier in middle school to subside this stress in earlier academic settings but as the years went on it became a problem she was forced to confront. This stress reached its pinnacle as soon as college started, and Jada needed to make changes. She started with working on her time management skills, always keeping a planner on hand and keeping alarms on her phone. She realized that much like Ronnie Estoque in his article, “I’m one of the first in my family to attend college Here’s how I got there”, She realized that she needed to look into your own story for motivation. Motivation comes from within, and Jada knew that she had the strength. After she gathered this knowledge from within, she started doing even better in class than before. 

Jada’s academic self is more than she behaves in class, it is how she carries herself through life as a lifelong learner. She was born with the strength to handle any task that came her way so learning barely even registers in her head as an obstacle. She will continue to learn everything she desires and will accomplish anything she wants… 

…and Jada believes you should too because at the end of the day you are responsible for your own learning. 

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/student-voices-im-the-first-in-my-family-to-attend-colleg…