Running head: RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 1

Research Prospectus

Name

Institution
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 2

Research Prospectus

There are several students who join college unprepared for the rigorous learning process

that are experienced in college. Majority of the students who make it to college in pursuit of

higher levels of education often turn out to be assigned remedial classes which only tend to help

just to help some of the students. Remedial coursework that some of the students are assigned to

is not likely to keep them engaged throughout the period of studies, not enough for the

completion of their individual degree or certification program. According to Holmlund & Silva

(2014), “education with poor formal qualifications earns significantly less and faces significantly

higher unemployment probabilities.”

Problem and Purpose

Therefore, with the increasing number of students joining college not fully prepared,

educators need to formulate strategies to address their needs, engage them in their own education

and stimulate their own desire to complete their education programs. My research project aims at

pinpointing student perceptions of their individual assignment to remedial English and

determines what works to help them in success among both remedial coursework and their

individual degree or certification program.

Overall Research Plan

The research will generally be based on a studies conducted on a qualitative manner

using interviews and questionnaires administered to freshman students who have been assigned

to remedial English. The research study will be conducted in a qualitative manner because

qualitative study enables the exploration of the issue of concern by providing detailed insight of

a more complex issue (Crewsell, 2013). The administration of questionnaires and interview

questions to freshman students will focus on remedial English as a course requirement and how
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 3

the students feel about their own assignment to the course. The assignment to remedial English

in this case is a direct impact of an entrance exam even though the consequences of that exam

maybe of help to a student who needs the additional instruction or a burden to the student whose

high school work had indicated college readiness. By the use qualitative method of study, there

can be insight gained how students assigned to remedial English feel about the assignment

process and the consequences.

Research Questions

This research aims at determining specifically at determining the students’ definition of

their assignment to remediation, whatever educators can contemplate to encourage students

through remediation and into their individual degree or certification program and finally the

factors which educators consider to determine whether students will complete remediation and

their individual degree or certificate programs.

Literature Review

The concept of English remediation of students who join college unprepared has been

looked into by different scholars from various perspectives. This research study seeks for an

insight of a better approach from the comparison of other study works by other scholars

regarding the perception of students on assignment to remedial English. DeLuca (2002) provides

an insight in his scholarly work regarding the descriptive analysis of methodology for affecting

change within remedial English environment and the guidance regarding characteristics of

students and engaging them to the process. Hynes (1995) reflects on the pertinent issues of

students’ perception of remedial English and the consistency of the problem across different

years. Some of the related early research works include Bahr (2012) with a study defining
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 4

parameters of California College students assigned to remedial English and Math courses by

sorting them into low-skill and high-skill students and measuring attrition rates accordingly.

Some other secondary sources that will be of significance to this research include the

research work by Howell (2011) regarding the influences of needs of students for remediation in

college, McCormick, Hafner and Saint-Germin (2013) on the assessment of the impacts of

expository writing and reading course in college readiness. Also, literature regarding classroom

composition, developmental education, student success and regression by scholars like Moss,

Kelcey and Showers (2014) and also literature of mentoring program for remedial students by

Pagan and Edwards-Wilson (2003) will be of significance to the research study. Scholarly works

by Proctor, Daley, Louick, Leider and Gardner (2014) on how to use student self-reports to study

efficacy and engagement among those assigned to a remedial English program and Shaw (2014)

regarding how remedial students were at risk of drop out before being placed in remediagtion

and are at more risk after remediation can also be significant secondary sources to the study.

Methodology

Design and Rationale

This research study will apply the rationale of a phenomenological design because this

study is meant to draw on the mutual meaning for various individuals of their lived experience of

assignment to remedial English, which is the basic tenet of phenomenological study. The process

of data collection is anticipated to take place by the use of surveys in form of questionnaires and

interviews. Generally, the data collected will comprise of meaningful units of expression to grasp

the experience of various individuals. The intention of the study is to focus on the impact of the

assignment to remedial English on the students that is whether they quit, try and fail, try and

succeed or whether they complete their programs of study.

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 5

Site

The site for the study will be the University of the Foothills of Appalachia (UFA), small

university in rural location in the foothills of Appalachia in Ohio with an attendance of about

4,500 students in any given year. The university provides a diversity of Certificate, Associate,

Baccalaureate, and Masters Programs. The school is a regional state university and a jewel in an

aging crown of industry. The study will require a minimum of four participants and a maximum

of eight participants. The participants will be selected based on the criteria whether they were

selected for remedial English in fall of 2008 and also based on the alignment to the potential four

outcomes of assignment to remedial English.

Participants and Personal biography

The age limit for the participants is 18 to 40 years at the time of assignment to remedial

English, for males and females, commuters and residential students. My role as a researcher of

the study is an adjunct professor of English, liberty student and a military retiree who moved to

the area to attain a sustainable farming environment, to regain health and homeschool my son, I

found myself with free time when my son started college work at age thirteen and I had to wait

for him to finish classes hence in the process I found my heart for the students engaged. Analysis

of data collected in the research study will be openly coded and the member checks will be

allowed for validation of the credibility because a rich thick description enables the revelation of

complexity of the patterns.

Ethical Considerations

On ethical considerations, I have a great passion for education and must guard against

emotional responses to those who have chosen not to continue their educations. To combat this,

I will submit my interview questions to the dissertation chair and hold closely to the script.
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 6

Negative reviews could follow from an alignment of this issue for the school and the students.

Pseudonyms will be used to avoid any potential negative consequences. To avoid group-think

consequences impugning the value of subordinate personalities, the interviews will be conducted

privately at separate times and locations to ensure each participant feels comfortable speaking

frankly on the issues of concern.

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 7

References

Bahr, P. (2012). Deconstructing remediation in community colleges: Exploring associations

between course-taking patterns, course outcomes, and attrition from the remedial math

and remedial writing sequences. Res High Educ, 53, 661-693. doi:10.1007/s11162-011-

9243-2

Bahr, P. (2013). The aftermath of remedial math: Investigating the low rate of vertificate

vompletion among temedial math dtudents. Res High Educ, 54(171), 171-200.

doi:10.1007/s11162-012-9281-4.

Collins, M. L. (2013). Discussion of the joint statement of core principles for transforming

remedial education. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 44(1), 84-94.

Cooper, K. J. (2014). Remedial rescue. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 31(18), 14-15.

Creswell, J. (2013) Qualitative inquiry & research design: Choosing among five approaches.

Los Angeles, Sage Publications

DeLuca, G. (2002). Dialogue on writing : Rethinking ESL, basic writing, and first-year

composition. Mahwah, N.J., Routledge

Holmlund, H., and Silva, O. (2014). Targeting noncognitive skills to improve cognitive

outcomes: Evidence from a remedial education intervention. Journal Of Human Capital,

8(2), 126-160.

Howell, J. (2011). What influences students’ need for remediation in college? Evidence from

California. The Journal of Higher Education. 82(3), 292-318.

Hynes, L. (1955). Morale in remedial English. College Composition and Communication, 6(2),

100-103.
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 8

McCormick, J., Hafner, A., and Saint-Germain, M. (2013). From high school to college:

Teachers and students assess the impact of and expository reading and writing course on

college readiness. Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 3(1), 30-49.

Moss, B., Kelcey, B., and Showers, N. (2014). Does college composition matter? College

classrooms as moderators of developmental education effectiveness. Community College

Review. 42(2), 201-220.

Pagan, R. and Edwards-Wilson, R. (2003). A mentoring program for remedial students. Journal

of College Student Retention 4(3), 207-226.

Proctor, C., Daley, S., Louick, R., Leider, C., & Gardner, G. (2014). How motivation and

engagement predict reading comprehension among native English-speaking and English-

learning middle school students with disabilities in a remedial reading curriculum.

Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 76-83.

Shaughnessy, M. (1977). Errors and expectations : A guide for the teacher of basic writing. New

York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Shaw, D. (2014). Rethinking remediation for college students: Using preservice education

students in connection with high school AP classes. New England Reading Association Journal

50(1), 38-43.
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS 9

Appendices

Appendix A Timeline and Budget

Fall 2018—Get committee together and register for dissertation course ($1710)

December 2018—Finish coursework and take comprehensive exams ($ 500)

Spring 2019 – Complete the Proposal

Spring 2019—Defend proposal ($500)

Spring 2019—Submit research plan to the Internal Review Board for approval ($100)

Spring 2019 – Register for dissertation course for Summer 2019 ($1710)

Summer 2019 – Complete the research ($200)

Summer 2019 – Register for dissertation course for Fall 2016 ($1710)

Fall 2019 – Complete the final chapters

Fall 2019 – Register for dissertation course for Spring 2016 ($1710)

Winter 2019 – Submit the full dissertation for approval

Spring 2020 – Defend the dissertation ($500)

Spring 2020 – Get review for form and style ($100)

Spring 2020 – Submit final dissertation.

Appendix B Interview Questions/Guide

1. Categorization questions:

a. Were you assigned to remedial English in fall 2013 at UFA?

b. Did you enroll and attend remedial English in fall 2013 at UFA?

c. Did you successfully complete both the coursework and the exit exam for that

course?

d. Did you continue with your college education at UFA or elsewhere?

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS
10

e. Did you complete your certificate or degree program within six years at UFA or

elsewhere?

2. Perception questions:

a. When you left high school, how did you feel about your ability to perform

academically at the college level?

b. What were your first thoughts when you found you had been placed in remedial

English?

c. As you reflect upon that moment in time, how did you feel?

d. As you reflect upon that moment in time, how do you feel about it now?

e. How do you think being placed in remedial English affected your college career?

3. Demographic questions:

a. Age at time of placement in remedial English

b. Gender

c. Race

d. Commuter/Residential student

Thank you so much for your time in participating in this research.

Appendix C:

Other Data Collection Procedures - Survey

Primary data for the study will be collected through the use of a questionnaire. It will

form the basis of the study. This will be through asking respondents to answer questions that

they will be asked by enumerators in the field. The enumerators will also be trained to carry out

the work to the satisfaction of the researcher. The study would also use focus group discussions

this would assist in getting relevant information from focal persons.

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS
11

A pilot study will be conducted in the neighboring state. This will be to check out if the

data collection will be ok. Thus the researcher will know any mistakes that are prone to arise

prior and correct them with ease.

Validity and reliability of the data will be obtained. For validity, the researcher will get a

consent form from the school and also seek clarification from the professor and other staff

members.

Secondary data would be obtained through the use of literature. This will be achieved

through the reviewing of secondary literature. This will be from books, journals, magazines, and

relevant internet sources. Secondary literature will be cited to show accreditation from the

authors of the material.

Will you use a template with time stamps (every 5 minutes mark the time)?

A time stamp would also be used to show the variation of time. This will be achieved by

marking five-minute intervals at various points. This would lead to respondents being assessed

on how they will be giving their responses at various points. The researcher will check the

amount of time that each respondent will take in answering one question as well as the whole

interview process.

A map of the room will be obtained. This will be to reference the study and put it into the

accurate contextualization. Thus when someone reads such a document, they can have the know-

how. Thus the room will be scanned from left to right to understand what is happening. This

would lead to a great understanding of what is happening in the project.

RESEARCH PROSPECTUS
12

SAMPLE SURVEY
Study about the Effect of Assignment to Remedial English
Deborah Davis (doctoral student at Liberty University)
This research study is to determine how assignment to remedial English in fall of 2008 at the
University of the Foothills of Appalachia (UFA) impacted students’ continuation toward their academic goals,
specifically completion of individual certificate or degree programs. Ultimately, the goal is to understand how
students feel about assignment to remediation, and to incorporate that understanding to best aid students in the
completion of individual goals. While there is no individual compensation for participation in this survey or
the study, each individual that contributes to the body of knowledge can know that such contributions allow for
an improvement in the educational process that impacts all future students. Your participation is much
appreciated.
You were selected for this survey because college records reflect that you were assigned to remedial
English for the fall 2008 term at UFA. Any information you provide for this survey or the study will be kept
confidential, and in the event of publication, pseudonyms will be used.

Please circle the appropriate response.

1. Were you assigned to remedial English for fall 2008 at UFA?
YES NO
2. Did you enroll in remedial English for fall 2008 at UFA?
YES NO
3. Did you successfully pass both parts (test and coursework) for remedial English for fall 2008 at UFA?
YES NO Passed test Passed Coursework
4. Were you required to retake remedial English?
YES NO
5. Did you continue on your personal certificate/degree program at UFA (or elsewhere)?
YES NO
6. Did you complete your personal certificate degree program at UFA (or elsewhere)?
YES NO
7. General identifying demographic questions (gender, race, age in fall 2008, student status)
o Gender MALE FEMALE
o Race (as you define it) ________________________________
o Age as of August 15, 2008 ______________________________
o Students status in fall 2008 Commuter Residential
8. Anything else you believe pertinent for the researcher to consider? __________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Note that if selected for the study, the researcher will sit with you for interviews to gain a greater
understanding of your perceptions and feelings about your assignment to remedial English.
RESEARCH PROSPECTUS
13

Appendix D Consent Form

Affect of Assignment to Remedial Education: A Qualitative Case Study”

Dear Sir/Madam,

REF: REQUEST TO CARRY OUT DATA COLLECTION.

You have been selected to take part in EDUC 817 unit academic interview. This is part of

my final year of study. As part of the requirement for the award of the certificate of junior

college, I’m undertaking a research project on “STUDENTS MATRICULATING TO

COLLEGE ARE ASSIGNED TO REMEDIAL ENGLISH." For this reason, I'm kindly

requesting for your support regarding time, to respond to the attached questionnaire. Your

accuracy and honest response will be critical in ensuring objective the study.

The findings of this study will contribute immensely to the creation of new knowledge

and skills development among students. Thus I vouch for this research to be conducted. The

current systems that have been used seem not to be convincing enough. The adoptions of new

methods of learning are essential for the welfare of society.

Any assistance accorded to me in my noble cause and information given shall be treated

as confidential and will be used purely for this research, and a final copy of the document shall

be availed to you upon request. Your cooperation will be highly appreciated and thank you in

anticipation.

Yours faithfully,

David Williams

Admission number