Date of Award
8-2014
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Legacy Department
Educational Leadership
Committee Chair/Advisor
Havice, Pamela
Committee Member
Gonzales, Leslie
Committee Member
Cawthon, Tony
Committee Member
Chrestman, Ronald
Abstract
Two-year college students experience challenges as they transfer to a four-year institution. To investigate these documented challenges, the present study used Weidman's Model of Undergraduate Socialization (1989) and Deil-Amen's (2011) notion of socio-academic integrative moments to examine these transitions. Specifically, a qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to explore the experiences of twelve two-year college students during their transition to a four-year university in the fall 2013. The results include four themes, which were developed through an iterative data analysis process. These emergent themes were: (a) A student's age impacted their transition and social integration, (b) the academic transition was challenging, (c) making connections to the new campus was critical for a successful transition and (d) communication targeted to new transfer students was valuable and important for a successful transition
Recommended Citation
Von Kaenel, Mary, "A Phenomenological Study of Two-Year College Students' Transition Experiences at a Four-Year Institution" (2014). All Dissertations. 1303.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1303