Abstract:
Georgia’s Dual Enrollment program allows high school students to simultaneously earn high school and college credits reduce degree completion time and cost to Georgia families. Streamlined policies and additional funding have allowed more students to participate in the program causing a 181% spike in program growth (Governor’s Office of Student Achievement, 2017). The Dual Enrollment program uses entrance exam scores to determine if high school students are academically ready for the rigor of college classes; however, such testing does not account for student maturity, motivation, and application of learning strategies—all of which is necessary to successful in college classes (Tobolowsky & Allen, 2016). The aim of this study is to assess motivation and learning strategy usage by Dually Enrolled Students participating in Georgia’s Dual Enrollment program to determine if there is a correlation between the student’s motivation and learning strategies used. The research questions of this study addressed the following student variables: (1) the number of college classes taken, (2) the instructor type (e.g., high school teacher or college faculty), and (3) the physical location of college classes (e.g., on college campus, on high school campus, online, or a combination of these locations). The research questions were answered through a cross-sectional survey, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and overall results for this study showed significant differences in motivational and learning strategy usage based on various demographic variables. These results indicate demographic variables have an influence on motivational and learning strategy usage and development. Keywords: dual enrollment, self-regulation, self-efficacy, college readiness, college transition.