Improving Student Learning through Student Engagement January 18, 2006

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Improving Student Learning through Student
Engagement January 18, 2006

• Community College Survey of Student Engagement
  2004 Findings

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Student Engagement

• The research is unequivocal students who are
  actively involved in both academic and
  out-of-class activities gain more from the
  college experience than those who are not so
  involved.
• Ernest T. Pascarella
• Patrick T. Terenzini,
• How College
• Affects Students

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Student Engagement

• Students involvement or engagement proves to be
  central to both persistence and learning. Even
  among students who persist, those who are more
  involved show greater learning gain.
• Vincent Tinto
• CCSSE Workshop 2005

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The Solution Engagement By Design

• Community college students challenges do not
  make student engagement impossible. They do mean
  it must be intentional. It must happen by design.

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Benchmarks for Effective Educational Practice

• CCSSE reports survey results in two ways
  national benchmarks areas that educational
  research has shown to be important in quality
  educational practice and students responses to
  individual survey items. The five benchmarks are
• Active and Collaborative Learning
• Student Effort
• Academic Challenge
• Student-Faculty Interaction
• Support for Learners

CCSSEville Community College 2004 Benchmark Scores
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Reaching for Excellence

• CCSSE encourages colleges continually to ask
  whether current performance is good enough and to
  reach for excellence in student engagement.
  Colleges can
• 1. Compare themselves to the national average
  (the 50 mark).
• 2. Compare themselves to high-performing
  colleges.
• 3. Measure their overall performance against
  results for their least-engaged group, aspiring
  to make sure allsubgroups engage in their
  education at similarly high levels.
• 4. Gauge their work in areas their college
  strongly values.
• 5. Contrast where they are now with where they
  want to be.

CCSSEville Community College 2004 Benchmark Scores
50--
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Reaching for Excellence 2004 CCSSE Benchmark
Scores
2004 Colleges
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Active and Collaborative Learning

• Students learn more when they are actively
  involved in their education and have
  opportunities to think about and apply what they
  are learning in different settings.

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Active and Collaborative Learning

• Key Findings All CCSSE 2004 colleges

Students Who Collaborated
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Active and Collaborative Learning

• Key Findings All CCSSE 2004 colleges

Students Who Collaborated
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Student Effort

• Students behaviors contribute significantly to
  their learning and the likelihood that they will
  attain their educational goals.

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Student Effort

• Key Findings All CCSSE 2004 colleges

Hours Full-Time Students Spend Studying
2 - MC
18 - MC
20 - MC
61 - MC
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Student Effort
Students Who Come to Class Unprepared
22 - MC
78 - MC
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Academic Challenge

• Challenging intellectual and creative work is
  central to student learning and collegiate
  quality.

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Academic Challenge

• Key Findings All CCSSE 2004 colleges

Are Students Writing Enough?
Are Students Reading Enough?
27 - MC 24 - MD
26 - MC 29 - MD
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Student-Faculty Interaction

• In general, the more interaction students have
  with their teachers, the more likely they are to
  learn effectively and persist toward achievement
  of their educational goals.

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Student-Faculty Interaction

• Key Findings All CCSSE 2004 colleges

Students Who Talked with Advisors or Instructors
about Career Plans
20 - MC 21 - MD
38 - MC 33 - MD
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Student-Faculty Interaction
Key Findings All CCSSE 2004 colleges Students
Who Discussed Ideas with Instructors Outside of
Class
14 - MC 14 - MD
43 - MC 49 - MD
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Support for Learners

• Students perform better and are more satisfied at
  colleges that are committed to their success and
  cultivate positive working and social
  relationships among different groups on campus.

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Support for Learners

• Key Findings All CCSSE 2004 colleges

Students Views of Academic and Student Support
Services
69 - MC 72 - MD
Percentage of students who say their college
provides the support they need to succeed
either quite a bit or very much.
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The Need for Inescapable Engagement
Students Who Earn Degrees
Students Who Transfer
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The Need for Inescapable Engagement
Students Plans after the Current Semester
When do you plan to take classes at this college
again?
20 - MC 15 - MD
20 - MC 12 - MD
6 - MC 6 - MD
55 - MC 68 - MD
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Strategy 1 Engage Early, Engage Often
CCSSE Respondents by Credit Hours Earned at the
College
38.8
18.1
14.8
13.2
10.7
4.3
MC are in red font
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The Best of Times, The Worst of Times The Front
Door of College

• Question
• What are your incoming students experiences when
  they first meet your college?

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Focus on the Front Door

• Question
• If we were to redesign students college
  experience from the moment of first contact with
  the college through to completion of 15 credit
  hours, what should be the key elements for that
  experience?

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Focus on the Front Door

• What does the evidence suggest?
• HIGH EXPECTATIONS
• REQUIRED ORIENTATION
• COLLEGE SUCCESS COURSE
• LEARNING COMMUNITIES
• EARLY AND FREQUENT FEEDBACK
• TUTORING/SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION
• EARLY ALERT SYSTEMS

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Strategy 2 Stress Academic Advising
Students Use of Academic Advising/Planning
Services
14 - MC
39 - MC 37 - MD
9 - MC 12 - MD
37 - MC 43 - MD
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Strategy in Action
Central Piedmont Community College (NC)

• Central Piedmont Community College initiated a
  student success planning initiative entitled
  ICAN. After initial advising, students consult
  with faculty advisors who are experts in their
  field, familiar with specific courses in their
  department, and knowledgeable about educational
  and career opportunities in their areas.
• Peer advisors, who are usually students, assist
  other students in navigating the catalog,
  preparing schedules, locating classrooms, etc.
  Finally, ICAN has developed a comprehensive
  online interactive advisement system intended to
  supplement the student/advisor relationship.
• http//www.cpcc.cc.nc.us/

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Strategy in Action
Valencia Community College (FL)

• The LifeMap program at Valencia Community College
  provides developmental advising that supports
  student planning (for education, career and life)
  and aims to strengthen students self-confidence
  and decision-making skills.
• Developmental advising refers to the process of
  making students self-sufficient. Faculty and
  staff are students advising partners, providing
  significant information and support initially.
  The expectation, however, is that as students
  gain experience, they will increasingly take the
  lead in defining and implementing their
  educational and career goals until ultimately,
  they are completely directing their own learning
  process.
• http//valencia.cc.fl.us/
• Emily Hooker, Learning Evidence Associate
• ehooker_at_valenciacc.edu

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Strategy 3 Emphasize Effective Developmental
Education
27 - MD
34 - MC
36 - MC
31 - MD
51 - MD
43 - MC
30 - MD
33 - MC
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Strategy in Action

• Miami-Dade College (FL)
• has learning communities that combine
  mathematics and student life skills (SLS)
  courses. The math classes focus on math
  competencies while paying attention to study
  skills and habits. The SLS course addresses time
  management, math anxiety reduction, test-taking
  strategies, learning styles and self confidence.
  This approach leads to math retention and pass
  rates that are consistently above the norm.

http//www.mdc.edu/home/
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Strategy 4 Redesign Educational Experiences
Collaborative Learning among Students
Interaction with Faculty Members
59 - MC
34 - MC
34 - MC
24 - MC
14 - MC
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Strategy in Action

• Northwest Vista College (TX)
• New instructors participate in an extensive
  orientation each semester involving exercises on
  active and collaborative learning.
• A full-time instructor serves as a mentor to each
  adjunct. Mentors guide new instructors to
  incorporate active learning and ASK outcomes into
  curriculum. ASK (Attitudes, Skills, and
  Knowledge) is a college-wide initiative aimed at
  providing all students with specific critical
  thinking and collaboration skills.

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Building a Culture of Evidence

• Better educational outcomes do not just happen.
  They depend on building and working within a
  culture of evidence
• Being relentless about putting data in front of
  faculty and staff and using the data to promote
  positive change.
• Being honest about current student performance to
  identify the means for improving.
• Setting goals and implementing strategies to
  achieve them.
• Basing every decision about programs, policies,
  budgets, and staffing on which action will have
  the best effect on student learning.

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COMMUNITY COLLEGE FACULTY SURVEY OF STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT (CCFSSE) A FIRST LOOK
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CCFSSE A First Look

• In 2005, the Community College Faculty Survey of
  Student Engagement (CCFSSE) was administered for
  the first time.
• CCFSSE
• Elicits information from faculty about their
  teaching practices, the ways they spend their
  professional time both in and out of class, and
  their perceptions regarding students educational
  experiences.
• Is aligned with CCSSE to allow colleges to
  contrast student and faculty perceptions.

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CCFSSE A First Look

• Effective Educational Practice Student and
  Faculty Responses

CCFSSE data are based on results from 39
colleges. When student (CCSSE) and faculty
(CCFSSE) views are shown side-by-side in this
presentation, the student responses include data
only from colleges that participated in the
faculty survey. It also is important to note that
while CCSSE results are expressed in terms of
benchmarks, which are created through a complex
statistical analysis and peer review, there are
no benchmarks for CCFSSE. For this presentation,
CCFSSE results are presented in groupings of
survey items that correspond to the CCSSE
benchmarks.
Source CCSSE 2005 data
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CCFSSE A First Look

• Student-Faculty Interaction Student
  Experiences/Faculty Perceptions

Source CCSSE 2005 data
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The Metaphor

• This college is like a
• ______________.