Acknowledgements

The following slides were put together using materials drawn from the following resources:

• Rebecca D. Cox, The College FEAR FACTOR, how students and professors misunderstand one another, Harvard University Press, 2009

• Jason L. Taylor, The College Fear Factor: An Interview with Rebecca Cox, http://occrl.illinois.edu/articles/the-college-fear-factor-an-interview-with-rebecca-cox/

The College Fear Factor: An Interview with Rebecca Coxby Jason L. Taylor In 2009, Professor Rebecca Cox from Seton Hall University published The College Fear Factor: How Students and Professors Misunderstand One Another. The book is based on five years of interviews and observations with community college students and faculty and provides insightful portraits of classroom experiences from the student and faculty perspective. In October 2010, OCCRL Research Assistant, Jason Taylor, interviewed Dr. Cox about her book

UPDATE: To introduce our readers to your book, can you describe the primary thesis of your book? Dr. Cox: The institution of higher education in this country was established and predicated on educating a small and elite group of students, but that is not the situation we have anymore. If we’re serious about college access for more than a small elite, then we need to rethink the structures, policies, and norms that are part of that older tradition of higher education. When I wrote the book, I thought about this issue of college readiness that people are talking about—are students ready for college?  Excluded from this conversation is whether colleges are ready for students. I think colleges are ready for a particular kind of student, but I don’t think there’s a typical or usual type of student anymore. So, I would like to extend that conversation by asking whether colleges are ready for the current college students or students who want to attend college.  In order to know if colleges are ready, I think we need to know who today’s students are, and what it would mean to be ready for them. And, I think we should start at the point of the core technology of community colleges, which is teaching and learning in the classroom. I like to think that my book sheds some light on these questions.

http://occrl.illinois.edu/articles/the-college-fear-factor-an-interview-with-rebecca-cox/

1970 - 2000

• Undergraduate Enrollment Doubled• Community Colleges

• Variety of Postsecondary institutions• Diversity in the students attending

• Demographic Diversity Challenges• One of Major Themes of the book –

• Frequent disconnect between college professors’ expectations of students as students actual performance

The Non-Traditional Student

• 24 hour job (on average) – many full time• Delayed start• Financial Independence• Part-time attendance• Time spent caring for dependents• Family responsibilities

NCES – (1999) 75% of undergraduates

Exhibited 1 or moreof these characteristics

The Non-Traditional Student

• 24 hour job (on average) – many full time• Delayed start• Financial Independence• Part-time attendance• Time spent caring for dependents• Family responsibilities

NCES – (1999) 28% of undergraduates

Exhibited 4 or moreof these characteristics

Colleges not ready to educate today’s Students• Key Indicators• Degree Attainment (only slightly above ½)

• 69% of 12th graders intend to earn 4 year degree vs. 28% aged 25-34 in reality• Different segments of Population (Age 24 – 35 holding bachelor degree in 2000)

• 35% of white adults • 18% African Americans• 10% Latinos

• Lower Income• Static graduation rates over last 40 years when compared to population

growth• Other countries such as Japan & Korea have increased by over 30%

The Need for Classroom-Level Investigation• Professors Expectations vs. Student Preparation• Lies at the root of a variety of classroom dilemmas• Explored throughout the book

• R. Cox’s research basically focused on students deemed qualified for college level work by reason of their scores on the math and English assessment exams but exhibit behaviors such as resisting abstract exercises, inability to analyze texts, not prepared to meet instructors expectations, passivity, and no idea of demands that College will place on them

UPDATE: The title of your book includes the phrase “college fear factor.” Can you describe the significance of this phenomenon?

Dr. Cox: My original classroom observations were in a basic English class, so it was a pre-college level course that students took in order to move into the college English class. The depth of students’ fear in this first study was embedded in every interview I had with them. The next study I did was across six classrooms of students who were placed into college-level English. Before even talking to students, I confirmed that every one of the six instructors of these courses was very optimistic about the ability of the students to pass with flying colors, succeed, and complete the course. When I heard the same level of fear from both groups of students, I was really surprised. I didn’t feel like the students in the college-level class should be equally as scared as students in pre-college English. Some of the students use the word fear and some talked more about nervousness. There was one student who used the term ‘this total fear factor.’ I was really struck by the impact the phrase had on me, and I thought it was an appropriate title for the book both because it was true, but also because it was from the student voice.

Part I – Students

• Discusses differences between Colleges, even within the same metropolitan area.• Educational Missions• Program offerings• Student population• Policies and practices

Part I – Students

• Students Perceptions of the Colleges• Continuation of High School• “An in-between thing”• High School with Cigarettes• “Harvard on the Hill”• Inside Joke – ACC = Anyone Can Come or ECC = Everyone Can Come

Part I – Students

• Possible Goals of students inside different colleges:• Transfer to a baccalaureate-granting college• Certification or licensure in an occupation• Exploration of possible career paths• Avocational interests• Job-specific professional development• Educational credential

• When students attend -

Part I – Students

• Chapters 2, 3 and 4• Based on interview with over 120 students• 4 different research projects

• Analyze common patterns• Offers a few snapshots of individual perspectives• Provides basis for understanding the tensions and misunderstandings

that occur inside college classrooms

Chapter 2 – “The Student Fear Factor”

Explores the phenomenon, thenature and source of students’anxiety, and the strategies formanaging those fears that studentsemploy.

Student Anxiety

• Melanie –• Assuming the responsibilities of college

• Scary• Unfamiliar• Life-changing

• Students past failure in Academic context• High School• Course in Post Secondary• Testing into a remedial class

Got Serious

Scary

The Fear Factor

• Students fears of academic inadequacy• Dread• Apprehension

• Intimidated by their Professors• “All high and mighty”• “Pompous Ass”

• English/Math – Oh Boy

Unrealizable Dream

UncomfortableNot WorthyPassivityIndifference

Fear Management

• The ultimate fear management technique is?• Other Fear Management Techniques employed:• Scaling Back

• $$$$• Working to get ready (for 4 year College)• Don’t want to look stupid• Seeking lesser degree• Withdrawing altogether

• Redefining Success• Rationalize poor performance

• Avoidance of Assessment

QUITTING!!

Implications for Student Success

• The Fear of Failure• Prevents full engagement• Prevents full commitment

• How to counter student fears & counterproductive strategies• Important to student success• How Professors need to address (Stay tuned for Chapter 6)