Transcript Slide 1

Data Informed
Perspectives on the
Undergraduate
Student Experience
George D. Kuh
ACHA Professional
Development Workshop
Las Vegas, NV
November 30, 2006
Commission on Future of Higher Education
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Improve student academic preparation and
make more financial aid available
Simplify & restructure student financial aid
system using incentives to control costs
Cultivate a "robust culture of
accountability & transparency“: invent
new student learning measures, make
comparable information public, focus
accreditation on outcomes
Embrace continuous innovation and
quality improvement.
Target federal investments to critical areas such
as math, science, and foreign languages.
Develop a national strategy for lifelong learning
Working Hypothesis
Student health does not receive
the attention it deserves on
college campuses because it is
not perceived to be a major
factor in student or institutional
performance
Advance Organizers
 What kind of information about
student learning and institutional
effectiveness is useful for:
 Improving undergraduate
education?
 Promoting healthy lifestyle choices?
 How can ACHA-NCHA data be linked
with other information about the
student experience to inform efforts to
foster student success?
Student Success in College
Academic achievement,
engagement in
educationally purposeful
activities, satisfaction,
acquisition of desired
knowledge, skills and
competencies,
persistence, attainment
of educational
objectives, and postcollege performance
Overview
 Assessing the
undergraduate experience
 NSSE and ACHA-NCHA
 What we know from NSSE
 Selected lessons from DEEP
 Discussion
Working Definition
Assess: (v.): to examine carefully
Assessment is the systematic
collection, review, and use of
information about educational
programs undertaken for the
purpose of improving student
learning and development
(Palomba & Banta, 1999, p. 4)
Sampling of Instruments
ACT/SAT score reports
Entering student surveys (6)
Enrolled undergraduates (8)
Student proficiencies & learning
outcomes (5)
Alumni (2)
http://airweb.org/images/measurequality.pdf
We value what we measure
Wise decisions are
needed about what to
measure in the context
of campus mission,
values, and desired
outcomes.
“If you don’t measure it,
you can’t manage it…”
Assessment Tools
 Pre-college characteristics
Who students are
 Process measures
Evidence of effective
educational activity by
students and institutions
 Outcomes measures
Evidence of what
students learn or can do
Students Today

An entitlement
mentality
Trends in High School Grades
45
40
35
30
25
20
A- or better
C+ or less
15
10
5
0
1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 2005
UCLA Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP)
Students Today
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
An entitlement
mentality
Cumulative
deficit re:
attitudes, study
habits,
academic skills
Student Success Quiz
What percent of high school
seniors have college-level
reading skills?
(a) 51% (b) 59% (c) 68% (d) 77%
(e) none of the above
Student Success Quiz
True or false:
25% of first-year first-time frosh
at two-year colleges are
required to take one or more
remedial courses in college.
Student Success Quiz
True or false:
About $300 million is spent
annually on postsecondary
remediation coursework.
Student Success Quiz
What percent of students who
take at least one remedial course
in reading do not earn a
certificate or degree within 8
years of first enrollment?
(a) 18% (b) 33% (c) 43%
(d) 61% (e) 70%
Students Today
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
More diverse
than previous
cohorts
Techno-savvy
“NetGens”
Students Today
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
More diverse
than previous
cohorts
Techno-savvy
“NetGens”
Psychologically
fragile
Student Success Quiz
About what percent of
community college students
return for the second year?
(a) 29% (b) 33% (c) 50%
(d) 61% (e) 77%
Factors That Threaten Persistence and
Graduation from College
 academically underprepared for
college-level work
 gap between high school and college
 part-time enrollment
 single parent
 financially independent
 children at home
 30+ hours working per week
 first-generation college student
Outcomes Measures
Standardized, nationally
normed
Locally developed
Outcomes Data
National instruments
Noel-Levitz Student
Satisfaction Inventory
ETS MAPP and Major
Field Tests
ACT Collegiate
Assessment of
Academic Proficiency
Collegiate Learning
Assessment (CLA)
Student Satisfaction Inventory
SSI by Noel-Levitz:
http://www.noellevitz.com/solutions/retention/satisfaction/sample.asp
WorkKeys Assessments
APPLIED MATHEMATICS: Level 5 Sample Question
Quik Call charges 18¢ per minute for long-distance
calls. Econo Phone totals your phone usage each
month and rounds the number of minutes up to the
nearest 15 minutes. It then charges $7.90 per hour of
phone usage, dividing this charge into 15-minute
segments if you used less than a full hour. If your office
makes 5 hours 3 minutes worth of calls this month
using the company with the lower price, how much will
these calls cost?
A. $41.48 B. $39.50 C. $41.87 D. $54.00 E. $54.54
WorkKeys Assessments by ACT- http://www.act.org/workkeys/assess/
(B)
WorkKeys Assessments
APPLIED TECHNOLOGY: Level 4 Sample Question
•
Your industrial services company has been hired to deliver a small but
heavy gearbox. The container is too small to justify renting a large truck
and too heavy for the company's pickup truck. You decide to rent a heavyduty utility trailer and pull it with the pickup truck. At which spot, labeled 15, on the trailer shown below should you place the container to pull the
load most easily and safely?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
WorkKeys Assessments by ACT- http://www.act.org/workkeys/assess/
(C)
Collegiate Assessment of
Academic Proficiency (CAAP)
Writing Skills Sample Passage and Items

Item # 1
In the end, everyone gives up
jogging. Some find that
their strenuous efforts to earn a
living drains (1) away their
energy.

Question #1
A. NO CHANGE
B. drain
C. has drained
D. is draining

Item # 2
Others suffering from (2) defeat
by the hazards of the course,
from hard pavement to muddy
tracks, and from smog to sleet
and snow.

Question # 2
A. NO CHANGE
B. suffered
C. suffer
D. suffering with
CAAP by ACT- http://www.act.org/caap/index.html
( B, C)
Locally Developed
Outcome Measures
James Madison battery
IU general education test
Major field tests (e.g. Coker)
Capstone projects
Electronic portfolios
Process Indicators
Evidence that students and
institutions are devoting effort
to engaging in educationally
purposeful activities
Process Indicators
National instruments
Cooperative
Institutional Research
Program (CIRP)
Your First College Year
(YFCY)
College Student
Experiences
Questionnaire (CSEQ)
NSSE, FSSE, BCSSE
What Really Matters in College:
Student Engagement
Because individual effort and
involvement are the critical
determinants of impact,
institutions should focus on
the ways they can shape their
academic, interpersonal, and
extracurricular offerings to
encourage student
engagement.
Pascarella & Terenzini, How College Affects
Students, 2005, p. 602
Foundations of Student Engagement
Time on task (Tyler, 1930s)
Quality of effort (Pace, 1960-70s)
Student involvement (Astin,
1984)
Social, academic integration
(Tinto,1987, 1993)
Good practices in
undergraduate education
(Chickering & Gamson, 1987)
Outcomes (Pascarella, 1985)
Student engagement (Kuh, 1991,
2005)
Student Engagement Trinity
What students do -- time and energy
devoted to educationally purposeful
activities
What institutions do -- using
effective educational practices to
induce students to do the right
things
Educationally effective institutions
channel student energy toward the
right activities
Good Practices in
Undergraduate Education
(Chickering & Gamson, 1987;
Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005)
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Student-faculty contact
Active learning
Prompt feedback
Time on task
High expectations
Respect for diverse learning styles
Cooperation among students
National Survey of
Student Engagement
(pronounced “nessie”)
Community College
Survey of Student
Engagement
(pronounced “cessie”)
College student surveys that assess
the extent to which students engage
in educational practices associated
with high levels of learning and
development
NSSE Project Scope
 One million+ students from
1,000+ different schools
 80% of 4-yr U.S. undergraduate
FTE
 50 states, Puerto Rico
 35 Canadian universities
 70+ consortia
NSSE Survey
Student Behaviors
Institutional Actions &
Requirements
Reactions to People
& Environment
Student Background
Information
Student
Learning &
Development
In your experience at your institution
during the current school year, about how
often have you done each of the following?
1
Effective Educational Practices
Level of
Academic
Challenge
StudentFaculty
Interaction
Enriching
Educational
Experiences
Active &
Collaborative
Learning
Supportive
Campus
Environment
What Are Students Telling Us?
ACHA-NCHA
ACHA-NCHA and NSSE Respondents
ACHA-NCHA
 63% female
 80% <25 years old
 81% White
5% African Amer
5% Hispanic
6% Asian Amer
2% Amer Indian
 40% A grades
NSSE
 63% female
 83% <25 years old
 72% White
7% African Amer
5% Hispanic
4% Asian Amer
2% Amer Indian
 41% A grades
Health Impediments
to Student Success
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






Stress (32%)
Cold/flu/sore throat (27%)
Sleep difficulties (25%)
Troubled friends/family (18%)
Depression/anxiety (16%)
Relationships (16%)
Internet/computer games (14%)
Alcohol (8%)
Student Engagement Quiz
What percent of students
nationally study two hours or
more for every hour in class?
(a) 13% (b) 27% (c) 41% (d) 60%
(e) none of the above
Student Engagement Quiz
What percent of first-year
students relax or socialize five
or fewer hours weekly?
(a) 9 (b) 17% (c) 29% (d) 38% (e)
none of the above
Student Engagement Quiz
What percent of first-year
students frequently exercise or
participate in physical fitness
activities on a weekly basis?
(a) 20% (b) 32% (c) 43% (d) 52%
(e) 61%
Student Engagement Quiz
What percent of first-year
students frequently participate
in activities to enhance their
spirituality on a weekly basis?
(a) 14% (b) 19% (c) 33% (d) 46%
(e) 65%
What else have
we learned so
far?
Grades, persistence,
student satisfaction,
and engagement go
hand in hand
What matters to grades?
 Pre-college achievement +
 Female
+
 African American
 Part-time enrolled
-
 21+ hrs work off campus  21+ hrs socializing
 6+ hrs co-curricular
 Engagement
+
What matters to persistence?
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


Female
Pre-college achievement
Part-time enrolled
Merit grant
Transfer status
Work off campus
6+ hrs co-curricular
College grades
Engagement
+
+
+
0
+
+
+
Does institutional size matter to
engagement?
Benchmark Scores for All Students by
Undergraduate Enrollment
Benchmark Scores for All Students by Undergraduate Enrollment Intervals
Level of
Academic
Challenge
65
Active and
Collaborative
Learning
55
Student
Interactions
with Faculty
Members
Enriching
Educational
Experiences
45
35
25
01000
1001 1500
1501 2000
2001 2500
2501 3000
3001 4000
4001 - 5001 5000 7500
Enrollment Intervals
7501 - 10001 - 15001 - 20001 - 25001 10000 15000 20000 25000 highest
Supportive
Campus
Environment
Level of Academic
Challenge
Academic Challenge,
Active
Learning,
Active and Collaborative
Student-Faculty Interaction
by Learning
Enrollment
Student Interactions with Faculty Members
60
50
40
30
20
186
1238
1921
3060
6337
11343
29426
Behold the compensatory
effects of engagement