| The shortage of allied health professionals has caught the attention of legislators and higher education institution administrators. The current study used a concurrent embedded mixed method design to investigate factors that motivated students to participate in health science technology (HST) dual enrollment courses while still in high school. It sought to identify the factors or variables students believed helped them be successful in the health science courses. Additionally, the quantitative portion of the study investigated academic achievement as a function of high school achievement (HSAch), high school performance (HSPerf), Aptitude (Apt), and ProActive measures taken by students. Two focus groups were conducted for the qualitative data collection and the college transcripts along with the Dual Enrollment Participation Survey were used for the quantitative portion. The researcher used NVIVO to organize and search for themes of the qualitative data. The quantitative methods used for analyses were: (1) Descriptive statistics (2) Intercorrelational matrix between the dependent variable and the independent variables as well as among independent variables (3) Bivariate correlation and multiple linear regression analysis to determine the relationship between and among the variables (4) Full Model and all Possible Procedures method. Eighty-six participants volunteered for the study. The qualitative results identified four themes which included, early awareness, bond forming, mixed dual enrollment classes, and the lack of communication between educational institutions. The students were motivated to participate in dual enrollment by the opportunity to earn college credit and per parent instruction. The four factors participants identified that helped them succeed included hard work, study habits, time management, and learning from their mistakes. Additionally, the quantitative results indicated that academic achievement is a function of high school achievement, high school performance, Aptitude, and ProActive measures taken by students. Together the independent variables accounted for 37% of the total variance in academic achievement as measured by the student's college GPA. The findings of this study have implications for both school districts and higher education institutions that desire to better understand the experiences of high school students participating in dual enrollment programs, specifically those interested in an allied health profession. |
