Classroom participation is often considered a central component of liberal arts education, yet many students remain reluctant to engage in classroom discussions despite participation grading policies. This study examines faculty perceptions of student participation within Loyola Marymount University's Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts (BCLA). Drawing upon deliberative theory, this study explores perceived barriers to participation and factors that encourage student engagement. This IRB-approved study employed a cross-sectional survey design using an anonymous Qualtrics survey distributed to Summer Session I BCLA faculty. Fifteen faculty members representing nine academic departments participated. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics in RStudio, while open-ended questions were analyzed through thematic coding. Findings indicate that faculty perceive fear of judgment, fear of providing incorrect answers, anxiety, lack of preparation, and disengagement as common barriers to participation. Faculty also identified classroom atmosphere, faculty encouragement, and structured discussion opportunities as important factors in influencing engagement. Additionally, respondents frequently cited smartphones, social media, and digital communication as contributing to reduced face-to-face participation. The findings support deliberative theory by suggesting that participation is shaped not only by individual student characteristics, but through broader social and instructional environments. These results contribute to ongoing discussion regarding student engagement in higher education and provide insight into faculty perceptions of student silence in discussion-based classrooms.

"This study examines how Students of Color at a Los Angeles K-12 school develop views of their academic and civic identities as they engage in school-based community-engaged research and civic action projects in an expansion of the AP Capstone Curriculum. A team of researchers, including UCLA faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, and high school teachers, designed and piloted a Critical Civic Action Research (CCAR) curriculum to expand the AP Research curriculum to guide students to translate their research projects into civic actions they take that positively impact their community. Through an assessment ontology that draws from both literature and community voice, this study conceptualizes Critical Civic Action Researcher Identity (CCARI) and examines how the pilot curriculum supports the development of CCARI among participating students. A Critical Civic Action Researcher Identity Self-Assessment (CCARISA) was designed for students to reflect and assess the development of their own identity upon completion of the curriculum. Through qualitative analysis of CCARISAs, we examine how the new curriculum supports students to develop CCARI. Emerging findings reveal that the pilot curriculum was successful in fostering a strong sense of CCARI amongst the majority of students and that the curriculum supported students to go beyond recognizing themselves as researchers and civic interrogators, but also to integrate their cultural identities into their work to positively impact their communities. Larger implications from this study include expanding consideration of student outcome metrics beyond test scores in the AP curriculum and repositioning first-generation, low-income Students of Color as researchers and civic agents. "

"Through its focus on rural higher education learning communities, this qualitative case study aims to illuminate the experiences of rural community college students as they consider transferring to four-year degree-granting institutions. Specifically, I focus on Columbia College in Sonora, California - a rural town in the Sierra Nevada mountains - analyzing how programs like TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) impacts students’ attitudes toward by leveraging qualitative, semi-structured interviews with students enrolled in this program. Given limited data on rural students prior to transfer, this study will describe how students interact with campus resources, and how such programs and resources mediate their educational trajectories. I place particular emphasis on questions of space and place, asking the degree to which distance from home impacts community college students’ aspirations for transferring to four-year institutions. Using Crumb et al.’s model of Rural Cultural Wealth (2023), I highlight the normally unrecognized contributions of positive factors in rural students' environments that influence their trajectories beyond their community college experience. The following research questions guide this project:  1. What role do familial connections and campus student support services play in mediating rural community college students’ transfer decisions and educational trajectories?  2. How do rural community college students explain their decisions around transfer and educational attainment with respect to geography? "

"In the early 1900s Compton, California became the ideal city for many African-American and Mexican-American families who sought the “American Dream”. Demographic changes led to many negative effects on this Community of Color. This change in the economy caused a decrease in property value and the loss of critical job opportunities. Existing research shows that the educational system within Compton has been affected by systemic racism, which has led to the oppression of these communities and affected the educational journeys of Students of Color. Therefore, this study will analyze environmental race based factors such as poverty, homelessness, the drug epidemic, gang violence, and incarceration have affected their educational trajectory but also examine how they have exercised their transformational resistance. Using a Critical Race Theory framework, this research focuses on investigating the historical and social injustices within Compton’s educational system in the late 20th century, more specifically the 1980s - 2000s. Furthermore, to better understand the role of the social, political and environmental factors during this time period, a mixed-method approach utilizing semi-structured interviews, surveys, and the Geographical Information System will provide an in-depth understanding of the difficulties these students face. This research is a crucial step in aiding in the dismantlement of the structural racism that perpetuates educational disparities within marginalized communities while demonstrating the Transformational Resistance and Community Cultural Wealth of Students of Color as a restorative pathway for future students. "