Using Graphic Elicitation to Explore Community College Transfer Student Identity, Development, and Engagement

Graphic elicitation has emerged as a powerful instrument to supplement interviews seeking to gather knowledge or experiences that are not fully understood (Bagnoli, 2009; Copeland & Agosto, 2012; Crilly, Blackwell, & Clarkson, 2006; Umoquit, Tso, Varga-Atkins, O'Brien, & Wheeldon, 2013). Graphic elicitation may be used to explore complex and abstract ideas that participants are unable verbalize during a typical interview (Crilly et al., 2006). Johnson and Weller (2002) suggest elicitation techniques for the purpose of researching the participants' tacit knowledge about prior experiences and/or emotions. In our research, using graphic elicitation with interviews was necessary to explore the complex constructs of community college transfer students' (CCTS) identity, development, and engagement through a grounded theory study. The purpose of this study s to illustrate the use of graphic elicitation in the form of a relational map in conjunction with semi-structured interview questions with college students. This draws upon a larger qualitative, constructivist grounded theory study that explored the identity, development, and engagement of traditionally aged CCTSs attending two four-year public institutions in a grounded theory. As researchers interested in postsecondary student success and questions of methodology, we undertook this study to explore CCTS identity, development, and engagement after transfer--under researched topics for this population--using a promising but untested data collection approach. We begin with an introduction to the use of graphic elicitation in research. After presenting research questions that guided the study and the grounded theory research design, we discuss the ethical considerations in the research. We then provide a justification of using graphic elicitation, in the form of a relational map, to explore CCTS identity and development, in conjunction with interview questions that explored the population's engagement. To guide other researchers in the use of graphic elicitation, next, we detail our methodological approach to this study, highlighting the use of the relational map activity. We discuss how participants completed the relational maps, and how their use of the map contributed to the study's findings. Finally, we close with a discussion on limitations and how graphic elicitation techniques could be applied to future research in related areas. Study Background CCTSs are an ever-growing presence at four-year institutions (Flaga, 2006; Handel, 2007; Laanan, 1996; Townsend, 2008). One in five community college students transfer to a four-year institution, and 60% of those students persist and earn a bachelor's degree within a four-year timeframe upon transfer (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2012). This an increase compared to the 23% of CCTSs who earned a bachelor's degree within six years of attending a four-year institution back in 1995 (Peter & Cataldi, 2005). Despite this population's growth at four-year institutions, campus resources continue to be tailored to native college students, creating challenges and inequities for CCTSs (Lipka, 2008). Although the transfer student literature adequately addresses issues such as retention, academic achievement, and the transfer process itself, there is little literature in the areas of CCTS' identity, development, and engagement. These three areas have been well researched for the four-year, native college student populations, or those students who began as freshmen, but little is known about CCTS nonacademic transition process after they transfer. Understanding transfer student identity, development, and engagement illuminate ways this population can be better served to support their outcomes. Research Design Using Graphic Elicitation Although the use graphic elicitation of diagrams, drawings, and other visual methods of data collection have increased in recent years (Umoquit, Tso, Burchett, & Dobrow, 2011) definitions remain inconsistent across scholars and fields. …