Effectiveness of online community college success courses

The purpose of this action research study was to determine the effectiveness of two online college success courses: CPD 150 (College Success, 3 credits) and CPD 115 (Success Strategies, 1 credit), at Rio Salado College, a Maricopa Community College in Arizona. The goal of these courses is to prepare students to be college-ready by examining college readiness and learning skills. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire measured students' perceptions of their own college readiness in a pre-test/post-test format. Understanding students' perceptions of their own college readiness is the college's first step in understanding the effectiveness of these courses. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to compare the pre- and post-tests to determine whether the average student scores changed after completion of the college success course. Paired samples t-tests (or repeated-measures test) were conducted on 2 scales consisting of 13 subscales of the MSLQ of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Data analysis revealed that students reported that they had better study skills after the course than before completing the course. Particularly, learning strategies, test anxiety, self-efficacy, effort regulation (self-management), control of learning beliefs, study skills, and time and study environment stand out as showing substantial improvement for the students.