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because a lot of people are hatereading Dr. Biden's dissertation right now, let's take a look. I've been meaning to do so anyway.
now, first: my qualifications to weigh in on @DrBiden's dissertation. I am more qualified than the majority of people, as I have an MA in education and am currently also a PhD student in education (see bio for specifics). my programs are not, however, in leadership. hers was.
so, essentially, I am a junior colleague of Dr. Biden's, as I am in the same discipline.
I have also attended two different community colleges, so I am familiar with that type of institution: shout out to Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Vancouver Community College.
I have also attended two different community colleges, so I am familiar with that type of institution: shout out to Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Vancouver Community College.
before someone makes a crack, because I know how little respect for community colleges some of y'all have, I loved attending them. I had also previously been a semifinalist for a full ride scholarship at Duke University, so you can save your jokes about my abilities.
my decision to attend community colleges was a life circumstances one, as it is for many people: smaller class sizes, more suitable timetables, different programs, etc.
anyway.
anyway.
I have also worked as a copyeditor for academic journals, so I will probably have some thoughts on organization, etc.
so let's dig into Dr. Biden's dissertation: "Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs."
minor critique, but an important point for academic writers: the abstract should tell me what you found, not just the structure of the document. it's not uncommon to treat abstracts as afterthoughts, and I know the kind of tired you get after you've written the document itself.
but the abstract should let me know what your main findings were, so I know whether it's relevant and I want to read it. this is also courteous to those who have to contend with paywalls (not an issue here, but please just get in the habit).
Dr. Biden does a really nice job of characterizing who their students are. the typical impulse would be to offer up lots of numbers, possibly in the form of tables, but that would be overwhelming. my first impression is that she knows how to communicate in an understandable way.
also, there is a notable lack of typos, etc.; I haven't caught one yet. I'm not reading for them right now, but I typically catch a lot, even in published journal articles that have gone through multiple reviewers and a copyeditor.
