THE REAL STUDENT AFFAIRS

Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs

Spring 1999

THE ETSU STUDENT EXPERIENCE

The CSEQ was first administered to our student body in 1994. The results indicated that our students were not engaged in their learning in either the classroom or in the co-curricular environment. Further, the results described students who were less involved than those at both a peer institution and the comprehensive colleges and universities norm group. This was true for all involvement scales in the questionnaire.

The results of the 1998 administration are very similar to those obtained in 1994. However, where specific systematic strategies have been implemented, we do see some positive results, specifically in the areas of analytical thinking and computers. Overall our students still report little involvement, and their responses indicate that they are putting forth little effort. They estimate their gains in various areas as being minimal and below the norm. Concurrently, our students indicate a relatively high level of satisfaction with their ETSU experience.

The CSEQ was administered in the spring of 1998 to a non-random stratified sample of approximately 100 undergraduate classes. There were 2,042 useable responses. This sample adequately represents the on-campus, day student undergraduate population. It should be noted that a disproportionately large number of respondents (94.3%) were full-time students, (compared to only 81% of the actual student enrollment in fall 1997).

Single..................................................................81.2%

Live off campus.....................................................74.1

Have B or higher GPA............................................73.0

Expect to enroll for advanced degrees......................71.4

Entered here (non-transfer)......................................67.3

Age 22 or younger..................................................63.6

Females................................................................57.6

Employed 15+ hours per week.................................54.9

Neither parent graduated from college.......................52.2

None or very little support provided by relatives..........51.3

The number of first generation college students with neither parent graduated from college decreased from 57.6 percent in 1994 to 52.2 percent in 1998. This gradual reduction in the percentage of first generation students is consistent over time as reflected in other ETSU studies. Families are providing less support for college expenses in 1998 than in 1994, with a 6.4 percent decrease.

The College Activities section of the instrument includes 14 scales which measure the quality of effort, or time and energy, students expend in a variety of activities empirically linked with desired outcomes.

Twelve scales have 10 questions, while one has only six questions and one has 12 questions. The first question represents minimal involvement and the last question represents major involvement. For example, in the Library Experiences section the first question asks if the student used the library as a quiet place to read or study materials you brought with you and the last question asks if the student checked out books to read (not textbooks). The student responded with one of four responses: very often, often, occasionally or never.

Responses are scored using the following metric: very often = 4 points, often = 3 points, occasionally = 2 points, and never = 1 point. Each numeric for the response is added together for the questions in the scale so the maximum score for most scales would be 40 representing a student who answered very often to all 10 questions. A minimal response would be 10 representing a student who answered never to all 10 items. Hence, the higher the score on the respective scale, the more involved a student is in the group of activities defining the scale.

Across all Quality of Effort (Activity) scales, the responses of our students indicate minimal effort and involvement. In fact, all of our mean scores for 1998, with the exception of the Science Scales, are lower than the national norm.

On the Library Experiences, Experiences with Faculty, Course Learning (study habits), Art Music and Theater, Experiences in Writing, and Science Scales, both the 1994 and 1998 ETSU scores and the 1997 norm scores are remarkably similar. Incidentally, if there was any change between our students’ 1994 and their 1998 scores, it was generally positive in nature.

On the co-curricular activity scales, (the students’ experiences with the student center, and the athletic/recreational facilities), scores remain remarkably similar across test administrations and norms. Personal experiences also reflect this similarity.

In short, the summary scales for the 1998 administration reflect a response above never and below often. The most prevalent response for our students to the individual questions therefore was occasionally.

As class level increases from freshman to senior, the percentage of students reporting working on a job while in school also increases. Hence, our seniors report working at higher rates than any other class.

Of those students who are employed, the majority of them indicate working on a job only about 10 or 15 hours per week.

When comparing the 1994 and 1998 ETSU responses, the data looks very much the same. However, a larger percentage of students reported working 30 or more hours per week in 1998 than did in 1994.

With regard to time spent on school work or related activities, there was a slight shift from 1994 to 1998 toward studying more hours per week; this includes time spent in class and time spent studying. 1998 results indicate 26.5 percent reporting 40 or more hours per week up from 21.1 percent in 1994.

The grades of the student body appear to be rising: the 1998 (73 %) response for B or higher GPA was 8.3 percentage points higher than the 64.7 percent in 1994. This coincides with an increase in time spent on school work or related activities. In addition, there is a statistically significant relationship between student satisfaction and GPA, the higher the GPA, the higher the satisfaction (p<.05). We have experienced a slight increase in 1998 over 1994 in both the GPA response and overall satisfaction with ETSU.

Students were asked their opinions of college life and of their overall experiences at ETSU. Thirty-two percent of the norm group indicated I am enthusiastic about college, while only 23.8 percent of our students indicated this response. Obviously, this means ETSU students have a lower level of enthusiasm. Our students were more likely to respond more/less neutral or I like it.

Students were also asked Would you go to the same college again? While 33.7 percent of the norm group indicated yes, definitely, a smaller percentage of our students (26.2%) responded in this manner. However, almost 48 percent of our students responded probably yes to attending ETSU again. Combining the two affirmative responses, a large majority (74.2%) of our students indicate they would choose ETSU again.

Student responses from the previous two questions were combined to form the satisfaction index. As our students’ satisfaction with the university has increased somewhat since 1994, from 59.6 percent to 65.8 percent, we are still below the norm by 6.7 percent.

Students were asked about both non-assigned books read and the number of textbooks and assigned books read. With regard to the number of non-assigned books read, the ETSU student response looks very similar to the norm group. However, both ETSU response sets (1994 and 1998) are considerably below the norm on the number of textbooks or assigned books read. Thus our students are reading fewer required books than the norm.

With regard to intensive writing experiences, specifically essay exams and term papers, our students’ responses look remarkably similar across survey administrations and comparisons made to the norm group.

One of the most informative sections of the survey is the section where students indicate the extent to which they feel they have made gains or improved in certain areas while in college. Students may respond very much, quite a bit, some, or very little to each of 23 statements. Combining the very much and quite a bit responses and the some and very little responses creates one positive and one negative response. Then looking for positive differences of 5 percent or greater from 1994 to 1998, we find seven statements of improvement. These seven statements show statistically significant movement (p<.05) and are illustrated in the table below.

The survey asks students about the extent to which they feel various educational goals are emphasized. The scores range from 7 (strong) to 1 (weak). ETSU students indicate a weaker emphasis than the Comprehensive Colleges and Universities norms on all eight goals. They are:

Emphasis on the development of:

-academic, scholarly, and intellectual qualities;

-esthetic, expressive and creative qualities;

-vocational and occupational competence;

Emphasis on:

-being critical, evaluative and analytic;

-the personal relevance and practical values of your courses;

-other students, student groups, and activities;

-faculty members;

-administrative personnel and offices.

Approximately 30 questions were chosen from the CSEQ, in addition to items from other instruments, to assess the recent changes made to the general education core. Baseline data for the CSEQ comparison were gathered in 1994. Although some changes are slight, the 1998 responses indicate a positive change on 20 of the 30 items chosen for assessment across nine target areas: Using Information Technology, Science, Using Mathematics, Heritage and Humanities, Art & the Artistic Vision, Diversity, General Experiences, Writing, Identity Ethics & Social Responsibility, and Institutions & Society.

Using Information Technology

The greatest positive change on an assessment item involves computers. Our students were asked to think about their cumulative experiences at ETSU and to determine the extent to which (very much, quite a bit, some, or very little) they had gained or made progress in acquiring familiarity with the use of computers. The majority (58.4%) of our students indicate gaining quite a bit or very much familiarity with the use of computers in 1998. This is a 12.2 percent increase from the 1994 response and is 5 percentage points higher than the national norm.

Our students’ 1998 responses show a positive change in the science area from 1994 and are consistently above the national norm. Table 3 illustrates the percentage of students who indicate quite a bit or very much gain in understanding in the following areas: 1) the consequences of applications of science, 2) the nature of science and experimentation, and 3) new scientific and technical developments.

Our students were also asked about how often they discussed the topic of science, particularly, theories, experiments, and methods, during the current school year. Almost 19 percent of students responded that they had often or very often discussed these items. Although low, this is a 4.6 percentage point increase from 1994 and 2.2 percent above the national norm.

The disengagement of ETSU students continues. The majority of responses in 1998 are not significantly different from 1994. Where slight change has occurred it is mostly positive. It is evident, where concerted effort has occurred institutionally to improve, progress has resulted. Specifically in the area of science and computers. Therefore, if strategies are developed and implemented in other areas, positive results can be anticipated.

Student involvement at ETSU is currently confined primarily to the classroom. Strategies to increase the level of involvement in learning must begin with the classroom experience because that is where the greatest impact can be realized. Attention to all areas of co-curricular life should follow.

ETSU is not unique in the problem of low student involvement in learning. The variance between our student response and the norm for similar institutions is slight and generally not statistically significant. Strategies being attempted at other institutions nationally to increase student involvement include the following:

- Service-Learning Opportunities

-Co-operative Education

-Active Learning Strategies

-Freshman Orientation Classes

-Small Group Projects

-Outcomes Based Classes

-Threaded Discussion Groups

-Learning Communities

-Academic Cohorts

Some institutions have established a quality improvement team to define student experiences and behaviors that are considered desirable in promoting student learning. This was done in part at ETSU in conjunction with the recent change in the General Education Core. Further study of the findings of this survey which may not be adequately addressed in the Core could result in the formulation of additional strategies for improving student involvement in learning.

MORE DETAIL AVAILABLE

As with all studies produced by the Division of Student Affairs, we invite questions and comments. We would be pleased to present specific data of interest in your area upon request. Contact Dr. Sally Lee for more detail.