Serendipity35

The latest National Survey of Student Engagement (AKA "Nessie" from NSSE) surveyed 260,000 freshman and seniors at 523 four-year colleges and universities.

NSSE tries to measure "engagement" (how involved students are in academics and campus activities) to assess quality rather than the criteria found in popular rankings like those of U.S. News & World Report.

Overall, the survey reports that students who participate in collaborative learning and educational activities outside the classroom and who interact more with faculty members get better grades, are more satisfied with their education, and are more likely to remain in college.

But the gains from those same engagements are even greater for students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds, or who come to college less prepared than their peers.

Some interesting results:

• student engagement had a "compensatory effect" on grades and students' likelihood of returning for a second year of college
• activities such as collaborating with peers on projects inside and outside the classroom helped students overcome previous educational disadvantages
• nontraditional students (adult and distance learners) engaged as often in rewarding educational activities as did traditional-aged students taking classes on the campus
• DL students reported higher levels of academic challenge and greater developmental gains than their campus-based peers did.
• DL students were less likely to participate in group projects than their traditional peers were, but spent a comparable amount of time writing papers and preparing for class
• DL students reported interacting with faculty members about as much as trad students - primarily using online forums
• 63% of DL were first generation, compared with 42 percent of other students
• For those of you interested, as I am, in andragogy, the survey found that adult students were more engaged in classroom activities, more likely to come to class prepared, ask questions in class, and rewrite papers before submitting them than their younger counterparts
• nine out of 10 students in both the F2F & DL populations rate their college experiences as "good" or "excellent."
• students on average spend 14 hours a week preparing for class - however, faculty reported that they felt 24-30 hours was appropriate (entering freshman reported expecting to spend 16-20 hours per week
• Some gender differences among first-year students: women spent more time than men preparing for class and were more likely to write multiple drafts of an assignment before submitting it
• women were less likely than men to interact with faculty members outside of class
• women used e-mail more frequently to communicate with an instructor and were more likely to perform community service or volunteer work
• men were more likely to: tutor or teach other students
• discuss ideas from assigned readings with faculty members outside of class
• work outside class with classmates