Develop a research problem, purpose, and questions. Problem statement (as presented in activity #7). The requirement or need for developmental education has increased in community colleges across the nation. As the need for corrective action increases, retention and graduation rates are plummeting. Many have conducted research to better understand the epidemic of unprepared college students and their lack of success or perseverance. While some have attributed the outbreak to a single reason, others have determined that there are many barriers that many first-time freshmen face. For many students, being a first-generation student is an obstacle (Stebleton & Soria, 2012) because there is so much pressure to succeed, no outside knowledge to help prepare them, and a lack of understanding of what to expect. Other students (single mothers and working husbands/fathers) may have family and work obligations (Brock, n.d.). These barriers, along with community college open admissions standards, socioeconomic status (poverty), and remedial course growth rate, can have an effect on the completion rate. The specific problem is to investigate interventions or best practices that will meet the needs of a growing and diverse population of students in need of remediation. To meet the needs of this population, new teaching and program methodologies should be considered. No single intervention will be effective for every student; therefore, it has been suggested that universities take a holistic approach to developmental education by examining multiple strategies and promising practices or interventions. These include, but are not limited to, learning communities, supplemental instruction, integrated tutors, ... central part of the document ... part of the research study. The mixed method approach will be beneficial in obtaining statistical and perceptual data from students in the program. It will also allow for a larger population. These two types of research can be combined to create an even larger scale research project that would yield a lot of information. The quantitative research method could be used to determine whether students are more successful in best practices program courses compared to traditional courses. It could be used to determine whether more students are retained in redesigned courses than in 16-week courses. Then, the qualitative research method could be used to determine why students are more successful or why students were not successful. It could be used to better understand student perceptions and persistence behaviors during redesigned courses compared to traditional courses.