Mapping High-Impact Practices to Advising Research Briefs
Kinzie, J., Keup, J., Holmes, B. Hilliard, K.
National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 2024.
Mapping High-Impact Practices to Advising is a research brief series published by the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition in collaboration with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) with grant funding from the Advising Success Network. This four-issue series explores a range of novel connections between advising and HIPs, elaborating on the multiple ways advising can be transformative in undergraduate education.
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Can Shorter Surveys Motivate Nonrespondents to Respond? A Randomized Controlled Experiment with College Students
Sarraf, Shimon
Atlanta, GA: , 2024.
During the spring 2023, NSSE conducted a randomized controlled experiment with nonrespondents to assess the impact of administering shorter surveys on response rates and question completion. This poster documents the experiment's major findings and concusions.
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Expanding our knowledge of LGBQ+ faculty
BrckaLorenz, A., Fassett, K., Merckle, R., & Chamis, E.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, , , 2023.
Most research about queerness at colleges and universities has been aimed at examining the student experience. Research on queer faculty often has quantitative limitations, has grown outdated, or is qualitative in nature, but from this work, we know that the experiences of queer faculty are often difficult. Through a large-scale, multi-institution, multiyear investigation of LGBQ+ faculty, this study gives an overview of the academic lives of these understudied academics. We investigate who they are, what institutions employ them, and different ways they contribute to undergraduate education. With this story, we hope to strengthen the voices of qualitative studies and encourage higher education to think more broadly about notions of diversity and identity.
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How do university faculty feel about grading? Insights from a control-value theory perspective
Schwab, C., Frenzel, A. C., BrckaLorenz, A., Jaeger, J., & Stupnisky, R.
Studies in Higher Education, , , 2023.
Research on faculty emotions is scarce, despite their evident relevance for faculty well-being, higher education quality, and student outcomes. The present studies aimed to investigate six discrete emotions (enjoyment, pride, boredom, anxiety, anger, frustration) faculty may experience during grading. Study 1 compared faculty emotions for grading with emotions for research and teaching (US sample, N�??=�??1226). Mean comparisons showed that grading generally elicited less positive and more negative emotions than research and teaching. Study 2 further examined faculty emotions for grading through the lens of control-value theory, by identifying emotion-specific appraisal patterns in two countries (US, n�??=�??244 and Germany, n�??=�??201). Multiple linear regressions revealed that the most consistent predictor for grading emotions across both samples was cost, in terms of the extent to which faculty perceived grading as a thankless task that kept them away from more meaningful tasks. Our findings further point to the important role of faculty�??student relationships and faculty members�?? confidence in their grading ability for eliciting grading emotions. This study extends existing research on emotions in higher education by considering grading as a relevant emotion-inducing task, and by applying control-value theory to a new context in two countries, thereby contributing to the question of this theory�??s generalizability. Practical implications of our findings entail that universities should aim to improve the circumstances of grading and equip their faculty with the means to handle their grading duties well, to optimize their somewhat worrisome emotional experiences in this context.
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International students�?? career preparation
Oktafiga, D., Zhu, Y. & BrckaLorenz, A.
In M. Mohamad & J. Boyd International Student Support and Engagement in Higher Education: Exploring Innovative Practices in Campus, Academic and Professional Support Services Routledge, 2023.
International students (ISs) are a significant and growing student group with unique needs. We use 2015�??2019 National Survey of Student Engagement data that includes over 4,000 ISs, senior undergraduate college students in the United States from other countries studying at more than 450 colleges and universities. We describe these ISs�?? future career plans, how prepared they are in terms of career-related skills and abilities, and how internships and other career preparation experiences relate to these skills and abilities. Findings indicate that ISs�?? country of origin, major, and participation in internships play an important role in understanding students�?? confidence in the use of selected skills and abilities. We will provide detailed information about the IS landscape and the benefits that career services would bring to them, with implications for practice and future research that include finding effective ways to balance ISs�?? academic and social lives.
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Teaching development opportunities & faculty teaching practice at four-year institutions
Fassett, K., Hiller, S. C., BrckaLorenz, A., & Nelson Laird, T.
College Teaching, 71(3), 165-175, 2023.
To contextualize the myriad of teaching development efforts available to faculty, this large-scale study of nearly 4,500 faculty at four-year institutions broadens our understandings of who participates in teaching development practices, how their participation relates to their institutional environments, and how their participation connects to their use of effective teaching practices. Results show some notable patterns by academic field, social identity, the type of courses taught, and institutional characteristics. The overview of educational development participation in this study gives strength to positive findings from smaller-scale research studies and provides a solid base for more specific studies of these practices.
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Understanding international student experiences and career preparation challenges through COVID-19
Zhu, Y., Gopal, K., & BrckaLorenz, A.
In A.W. Wiseman, C. Matherly, & M. Crumley-Effinger Internationalization and Imprints of the Pandemic on Higher Education Worldwide Emerald Publishing, 2023.
College support and career development are two significant challenges international students encountered during the pandemic, and these two factors have an enormous impact on the internationalization of higher education. The data for this study came from the 2020 to 2021 administrations of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that includes over 500 international students enrolled at over 120 four-year colleges and universities in the United States. These students specifically responded to an open-ended item asking them what they think institutions should do better to assist their academic achievement and career goals. This study takes an in-depth look at international students�?? qualitative responses about ways that institutions could better support their preparation for future careers. Using theories of cultural wealth and ecological systems to understand the unique experiences of international students during the pandemic offers an opportunity to help students not just in times of crisis but more holistically as they continue to pursue their higher education experiences in the United States. Ultimately, the authors provide recommendations for higher education professionals working with international students to better support their students�?? career development and overall college experience.
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Delivering on the Promise of High-Impact Practices: Research and Models for Achieving Equity, Fidelity, Impact, and Scale
Zilvinskis, J., Kinzie, J., Daday, J., O�??Donnell, K & Vande Zande C.
Stylus, 2022.
Research shows that enriching learning experiences such as learning communities, service-learning, undergraduate research, internships, and senior culminating experiences �?? collectively known as High-Impact Practices (HIPs) �?? are positively associated with student engagement; deep, and integrated learning; and personal and educational gains for all students �?? particularly for historically underserved students, including first-generation students and racially minoritized populations. Delivering on the Promise of High-Impact Practices is to provide examples from around the country of the ways educators are advancing equity, promoting fidelity, achieving scale, and strengthening assessment of their own local high-impact practices. Its chapters bring together the best current scholarship, methodologies, and evidence-based practices within the HIPs field, illustrating new approaches to faculty professional development, culture and coalition building, research and assessment, and continuous improvement that help institutions understand and extend practices with a demonstrated high impact.
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Exploring the Influence of Course-Based Career Experiences and Faculty on Students�?? Career Preparation
Kinzie, J. & Akuyz, F.
NACE JournalNACE Journal, 83(4), 23-31, 2022.
The effective preparation of college students for careers is an important college outcome. Yet, employers and the public increasingly feel that universities are not doing enough to prepare students for the workforce. This article features NSSE data to focus on courses, exploring the extent to which students are exposed to course-based career experiences using new evidence of college students�?? career and workforce preparation. We explore facets of course-based career experiences, along with students�?? perceptions of their career preparation outcomes, and the influence of interactions with faculty and advisers on their career plans.
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Centering Black women faculty: Magnifying powerful voices
Priddie, C., Palmer, D., Silberstein, S., & BrckaLorenz, A.
To Improve the Academy, 41(2), 96-127, 2022.
While much of the quantitative research on Black women faculty has taken a comparative approach to understanding their experiences, this study provides a counternarrative, centering their experiences as faculty. This large-scale, multi-institution glance at Black women faculty helps to give us an overview of these women across the country, looking at who they are, where they are, how they spend their time, and what they value in undergraduate education. This study allows us to strengthen various arguments made in qualitative studies of Black women faculty and amplify their perspectives and experiences. Furthermore, it reaffirms and reinvigorates the need for educational developers to practice intentional assessment of Black women faculty�??s teaching, support the current teaching efforts of Black women faculty on their campus, and advocate for policy change centering the work of Black women faculty.
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Delivering on the Promise of High-Impact Practices: A New Resource for Assessment
Zilvinskis, J., Kinzie, J., Daday, J., O�??Donnell, K & Vande Zande C.
Assessment Update, 34(4), 1-2, 16, 2022.

Is a HIP Always a HIP? The Case of Learning Communities
Fosnacht, Kevin; Graham, Polly
Journal of Student Affairs Research and PracticeJournal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, , , 2021.
With the increasing adoption of learning communities, it is imperative to document their effectiveness. Using a large, longitudinal, multi-institutional dataset, we found that linked-learning communities positively impact students�?? engagement and perceived gains. We also found that the estimated effect of learning communities varies widely across institutions on various measures. Some learning communities are very beneficial, while others have a negligible impact on students.
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Elevating Student Voice in Assessment: Approaches to Using NSSE's Student Comments
Kinzie, Jillian; Silberstein, Samantha; Palmer, Dajanae
Assessment Update, 33(2), , 2021.
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Linking Faculty Involvement in High-Impact Practices to First-Year Student Participation
Fassett, Kyle T. and BrckaLorenz, Allison
National Resource Center Research Brief, 2021(2), 1-4, 2021.
Tasked with developing, encouraging, and participating in highly impactful educational experiences, faculty serve in roles vital to first-year student success. Known for benefiting many students, high-impact practices assist institutions in promoting a variety of outcomes ranging from retention to civic engagement. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), we investigated the relationship between faculty emphasis and participation in high-impact practices with first-year student participation at over 80 diverse four year institutions. We found that faculty values for participation are positively related to student participation, but faculty involvement in more high-impact practices could decrease student participation. Administrators should consider ways to support their faculty in providing these experiences and to assess potential barriers for providing equitable quality high impact practices.
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An Examination of Inclusivity and Support for Diversity in STEM Fields
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Haeger, Heather; Priddie, Christen
Journal for STEM Education Research, , , 2021.
The lack of diversity in STEM professions is an ongoing concern for the US both in terms of social justice and in having a globally competitive workforce. This study provides information for campus leaders to be proactive in considering a wide array of identities to meet the needs of students beyond attending to structural forms of diversity. Data from a large-scale, multi-institution study of students�?? perceptions of inclusive coursework and institutional commitment to diversity in STEM fields furthers what we know about diversity in these majors. Results encourage campus leaders to additionally consider sexual orientation and disability status in conversations about diversity and to think about how culturally engaging and inclusive courses go beyond the content of the course.
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Assessing intersectional experiences: Where to begin?
BrckaLorenz, A., & Kirnbauer, T.
Assessment in Practice, , , 2021.
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Campus climate (college & university)
BrckaLorenz, A.
In K. K. Strunk & S. A. Shelton Encyclopedia of Queer Studies in Education Brill, 2021.

Expectations for and quality experiences in undergraduate research over time: Perspectives of students and faculty
Kinzie, J. & BrckaLorenz, A.
Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Special Issue on Undergraduate Research, 21(1), 35-56, 2021.
Attention to undergraduate research (UGR) is not surprising given its widespread appeal and evidence of educational benefit. Tracking participation and identifying equity gaps in UGR are important markers of access to and equity in educationally beneficial experiences. Information about students�?? exposure to elements of quality in UGR and how this corresponds to faculty perspectives and instructional practice can help inform efforts to advance and improve UGR. In this article, we use 7 years of data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to explore the national landscape of UGR by examining the responses of 972,088 1st-year students who reported that they planned to participate in UGR before they graduated and the responses of 1,248,854 senior students who reported that they had done or were currently involved in a UGR experience. To complement our student perspectives, we present perspectives on faculty importance of and instructional practice in UGR with data from NSSE�??s companion survey, the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, by examining the experiences of 106,000 faculty respondents. Our presentation of descriptive statistics provides a national overview of UGR participation by a variety of salient institutional and student characteristics, a broad summary of faculty involvement in UGR, and baseline data about students�?? exposure to elements of high-impact UGR.
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Honors college faculty support for high-impact practice participation
Miller, A., Silberstein, S., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 44(3), , 2021.
Much of the existing research on honors colleges or programs is focused on the student experience, with less information offered concerning the faculty perspective. This study presents findings from the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), comparing support for high-impact practices between faculty who teach honors courses and those who do not. Along with core FSSE items, this study uses responses from 1,487 faculty members at 15 institutions on two experimental items about teaching honors courses. A series of ordinary least squares and binary logistic regression analyses suggest that faculty who teach honors courses are more likely to supervise undergraduates on research and internships and to think that it is important for students to participate in learning communities, study abroad, and research with faculty. These findings are interpreted within the context of previous research and current theory, bridging knowledge from the fields of higher education and gifted education.
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Teaching honors courses: Perceptions of engagement from the faculty perspective.
Miller, A., Silberstein, S., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Journal of Advanced Academics, 32(1), 3-27, 2021.
Research suggests that honors students are more likely to be engaged in some, but not all, aspects of the college experience, although there is less information available from the faculty perspective. This study presents findings from the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), comparing various engagement-related practices between faculty who teach honors courses and those who do not. Along with core FSSE items, this study uses responses from 1,487 faculty members at 15 institutions on two items about teaching honors courses. A series of ordinary least squares regression analyses suggest that faculty who teach honors courses are more likely to encourage engagement in the areas of student�??faculty interaction, learning strategies, and collaborative learning, even after controlling for other demographic and institutional variables. These findings are considered within the context of existing research and theory, connecting knowledge from higher education and gifted education.
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The COVID Pivot and Quality of the Undergraduate Experience: NSSE Pulse Project Report

National Survey of Student Engagement, , 2021.

The coronavirus upended all aspects of education. The 2020?21 academic year required rapid adaptation to unprecedented and unpredictable circumstances. Amidst these circumstances, it was especially important to understand students' experiences and support educators working to implement effective educational practices. In response to these challenges, NSSE offered a special fall 2020 survey at no charge (NSSE 2021 registration not required). The short online survey—NSSE Pulse—included selected questions from NSSE critical to persistence to help colleges and universities take the pulse of the undergraduate student experience and use results to diagnose shortcomings and strengths and to inform campus action.

Approximately 1.2 million bachelor's degree–seeking students attend the colleges and universities that participated in NSSE Pulse. These institutions reflect the diversity of U.S. bachelor's–granting colleges and universities with respect to institution type, public or private control, size, region, and locale. Eight headline findings are discussed in the NSSE Pulse Report, along with implications and recommendations for colleges and universities.

An Overlooked Factor? How Religion and Spirituality Influence Students' Perception of the Campus Environment
Fosnacht, K. & Broderick, C.
Journal of College and CharacterJournal of College and Character, 21(3), 186-203, 2020.
Postsecondary institutions are frequently forced to respond to discriminatory acts, including those against religious minorities. Such actions can create the perception of a hostile campus for students, which impinges on their learning and development. Research on the campus environment has traditionally focused on race and sex but has largely neglected other important aspects of students? identities like religion and spirituality. This study investigates how the religious/spiritual aspects of the campus environment influenced students? perceptions of the overall campus environment using data from a multi-institutional sample of first-year and senior undergraduates. The multivariate results show that the religious/spiritual dimensions of the campus environment account for a significant proportion of the variance in students? campus environmental perceptions.
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How to reorient assessment and accreditation in the time of COVID-19 disruption
Kinzie, J.
Assessment Update, 32(4), 4-5, 2020.
Among the many issues facing higher education during COVID-19 is uncertainty about the status of student learning outcomes assessment and accreditation. Will necessary shifts in course assignments and assessments affect completion, particularly for those scheduled to graduate this year? Will a suspension (or slowdown) of program-level assessment put the institution out of compliance with state regulations or accreditation requirements? If accreditation visits are postponed, will the institution find its federal funding in jeopardy? All of these concerns are understandable, and it is good to have them aired and discussed. However, the disruptions caused by COVID-19 may also provide an occasion for some useful rethinking of assessment. What those disruptions underscore is that decisions about assessment and accreditation must, above all, be sensitive to current realities and do what is best for students and faculty. Rather than aiming for compliance, or sticking with the plan to ?just give students the exam and asterisk the results,? now is the time to prioritize what people need and embrace compassion-driven assessment, and reassess the fundamental goals of assessment. To help think about the issues at hand, I offer some practical suggestions for course- and program-level assessment and accreditation demands. Then I suggest we take advantage of this moment to make some meaningful improvements to assessment and accreditation.
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Pick and Choose
Gonyea, Robert; Fosnacht, Kevin; Graham, Polly
Talking Stick, 37(5), , 2020.
Getting a roommate is one of the first milestones of a student?s campus experience. Is there a best way to manage this process and support students of color?
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Information Literacy's Influence on Undergraduates' Learning and Development: Results from a Large Multi-institutional Study
Fosnacht, Kevin
College & Research Libraries, 81(2), 272-287, 2020.
This paper investigated the reliability and validity of the National Survey of Student Engagement's Experiences with Information Literacy module, an assessment instrument developed in collaboration with a group of instructional librarians. After identifying three information literacy?related factors in the module, it assessed the relationship between the factors and students' engagement in Higher-Order Learning and Reflective and Integrative Learning activities and students' perceived gains. The results from these analyses indicated that information literacy activities were positively and significantly correlated with student engagement and students' perceived gains.
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NSSE's Quest for Quality: Seven Lessons in Designing a Better Survey
Gonyea, Robert M. and Sarraf, Shimon
Assessment UpdateAssessment Update, 32(2), 6-14, 2020.
In 20 years NSSE has learned much about how to manage a successful survey administration, and how to continuously improve the questionnaire, data collection tools, and reporting. This article includes seven lessons that may help assessment professionals improve their own surveys.
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The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) at Twenty
Ewell, P. and McCormick, A.C.
Assessment UpdateAssessment Update, 32(2), 1-16, 2020.
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Twenty Years of NSSE Data Use: Assessment Lessons for the Collective Good
Kinzie, J. and Franklin, K.
Assessment UpdateAssessment Update, 32(2), 4-15, 2020.
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Expectations for Engagement: What 1st-year Students and Transfers Say
Cole, J. S., & Kinzie, J.
Washington, DC: , 2020.
Understanding entering student expectations is critical to assure that staff can align appropriate institutional resources for each student. This session will include how the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) provides comprehensive information about your entering first-year and transfer student?s prior academic experiences, as well as their expectations and beliefs regarding the upcoming academic year. Participants will learn how other institutions use BCSSE for academic advising, retention efforts, faculty and staff development, and other activities. Participants will be encouraged to share their campuses current practices and how BCSSE could facilitate best practices on their campus.
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Examining the Meaning of Vague Quantifiers in Higher Education: How Often is "Often"?
Rocconi, L.M., Dumford, A.D., & Butler, B.
Research in Higher Education, 61, 229-247, 2020.
Researchers, assessment professionals, and faculty in higher education increasingly depend on survey data from students to make pivotal curricular and programmatic decisions. The surveys collecting these data often require students to judge frequency (e.g., how often), quantity (e.g., how much), or intensity (e.g., how strongly). The response options given for these questions are usually vague and include responses such as "never," "sometimes," and "often." However, the meaning that respondents give to these vague responses may vary. This study aims to determine the efficacy of using vague quantifiers in survey research. More specifically, the purpose of this study is to explore the meaning that respondents ascribe to vague response options and whether or not those meanings vary by student characteristics. Results from this study indicate a high degree of correspondence between vague and numeric response and suggest that students seem to adapt the meaning of "sometimes," "often," and "very often" based on the appropriate reference for the question. Overall, findings provide evidence of the utility and appropriateness of using vague response options. Some differences by student characteristics and the implications of these differences are discussed.
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The Relationship of First-Year Residence Hall Roommate Assignment Policy with Interactional Diversity and Perceptions of the Campus Environment
Fosnacht, K., Gonyea, R. M., & Graham, P.
The Journal of Higher Education, , , 2020.
A heterogeneous student body is valued in part because diverse interactions among students help create educated and competent citizens and promote learning and development. Campus housing is a primary setting for diverse interactions as students navigate living with individuals who differ from themselves. This study investigated how the roommate assignment process influences interactional diversity and perceptions of the campus environment for first-year students living on campus, and if these relationships differ by race/ethnicity and national origin. On average, students whose roommates were assigned by the institution (as opposed to choosing their own roommates) did not interact with diverse others more often. At the same time, however, Asian, Black and multiracial students who were assigned roommates by the institution perceived a substantially less welcoming campus environment than their same-race peers who chose their roommates. This difference was not observed for White students.
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Graduate Student Instructors, the Courses They Teach, and the Support They Value
Allison BrckaLorenz, Rong Wang, Thomas F. Nelson Laird
New Directions for Teaching & Learning, 2020(163), 25-34, 2020.
This chapter presents a study exploring the diverse characteristics of Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) employed at eight research universities in the United States and investigates the ways in which these characteristics impact the value GSIs place on types of professional development and support in teaching.
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Teaching honors courses: Perceptions of engagement from the faculty perspective
Miller, A., Silberstein, S., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Journal of Advanced Academics, , , 2020.
Research suggests that honors students are more likely to be engaged in some, but not all, aspects of the college experience, although there is less information available from the faculty perspective. This study presents findings from the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), comparing various engagement-related practices between faculty who teach honors courses and those who do not. Along with core FSSE items, this study uses responses from 1,487 faculty members at 15 institutions on two items about teaching honors courses. A series of ordinary least squares regression analyses suggest that faculty who teach honors courses are more likely to encourage engagement in the areas of student?faculty interaction, learning strategies, and collaborative learning, even after controlling for other demographic and institutional variables. These findings are considered within the context of existing research and theory, connecting knowledge from higher education and gifted education.
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The relationship between residential learning communities and student engagement
Hurtado, S. S., Gonyea, R. M., Graham, P. A., & Fosnacht, K.
Learning Communities Research and Practice, 8(1), 5, 2020.
Residential learning communities (RLCs) are residence hall environments designed to deliver academic and social benefits. For decades, many have argued RLCs are an effective means for increasing student success. Yet substantial changes in the defining characteristics of campus housing and student diversity have led to new questions about the impact of living on campus and the benefits of RLCs in particular. Consequently, we investigated the continued efficacy of RLCs as an effective educational practice. Using data from a diverse, multi-institution sample of first-year and sophomore students, this study provides insight into the relationships between RLC participation, student engagement, and perceived gains in learning.
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The relationship between residential learning communities and student engagement
Hurtado, S.S., Gonyea, R.M., Graham, P. A., & Fosnacht, K.
Learning Communities Research and PracticeLearning Communities Research and Practice, 8(1), , 2020.
Residential learning communities (RLCs) are residence hall environments designed to deliver academic and social benefits. For decades, many have argued RLCs are an effective means for increasing student success. Yet substantial changes in the defining characteristics of campus housing and student diversity have led to new questions about the impact of living on campus and the benefits of RLCs in particular. Consequently, we investigated the continued efficacy of RLCs as an effective educational practice. Using data from a diverse, multi-institution sample of first-year and sophomore students, this study provides insight into the relationships between RLC participation, student engagement, and perceived gains in learning.
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Reassessing disparities in online learner student engagement in higher education
Paulsen, J., & McCormick, A. C.
Educational Researcher, 49(1 January-February), 20–29, 2020.
Online learning is the fastest growing segment in U.S. higher education and is increasingly adopted in public and private not-for-profit institutions. While the impact of online learning on educational outcomes is becoming more clear, the literature on its connection with student engagement is sparse. Student engagement measures identify key aspects of the learning process that can improve learning and outcomes like retention and achievement. The few studies investigating the link between online learning and student engagement found positive benefits for online learners compared to face-to-face learners in terms of perceived academic challenge, learning gains, satisfaction, and better study habits. On the other hand, face-to-face learners reported higher levels of environment support, collaborative learning, and faculty interaction. However, these studies did not effectively account for the differences in background characteristics like age, time spent working or caring for dependents, and enrollment status. Further, they did not consider the increasingly large population of students who enroll in both online and face-to-face courses. In our study, we used propensity score matching on the 2015 National Survey of Student Engagement data to account for the disparities in these groups? demographics variables. After matching, we found that some of the previous literature?s differences diminish or disappear entirely. This suggests differences in supportive environments and learning strategies have more to do with online student characteristics than learning mode. However, online learning still falls well below other modes in terms of collaborative learning and interaction with faculty.

Supporting LGBQ+ students with disabilities: Exploring the experiences of students living on campus
BrckaLorenz, A., Fassett, K. T., & Hurtado, S. S
The Journal of College and University Student Housing, 46(3), 78–90, 2020.
Students with multiple oppressed identities, such as LGBQ+ students with disabilities, face a multitude of barriers on college campuses due to heterosexism and ableism, sometimes even from those in-group. This large-scale, multi-institution comparative quantitative study of LGBQ+ students with disabilities living on campus examines these students? experiences with belonging and discrimination. Guided by the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity, we compare the experiences of students in the intersections of sexual and ability identities to guide housing and residence life practitioners in supporting students with complex identities. A series of chi-square (?2) analyses and adjusted standardized residuals allowed us to explore the experiences of students who identify as LGBQ+ and without a disability, as well as students who identify as straight with or without a disability, in order to highlight the experiences of LGBQ+ students with disabilities. Findings indicate that LGBQ+ students most frequently report a mental health disorder or multiple disabilities or impairments and that these students feel less physically safe, comfortable being themselves, like part of the campus community, and valued by their institution than their peers. Most troubling is the large proportion of LGBQ+ students with a disability who have personally experienced offensive behavior, discrimination, or harassment at their institution based on their sexual orientation. Implications focus on creating partnerships with mental health, disability services, and LGBTQ/Pride Center professionals; evaluating roommate matching policies; the proactive creation of support systems; and applying concepts of Universal Design.
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How valid is grit in the postsecondary context? A construct and concurrent validity analysis
Fosnacht, K., Copridge, K., & Sarraf, S.
Research in Higher Education, 60(6), 803–822, 2019.
College admissions leaders increasingly desire to incorporate non-cognitive factors like grit into admissions decisions. Consequently, we examined the validity of the short grit scale (Grit-S) using data collected on undergraduates attending 38 colleges. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), we found that Grit-S does not possess adequate model fit; however, a modified version of the scale does possess this property. Using multi-group CFA, we also found that Grit-S is relatively invariant across multiple demographic groups. Next, we examined the concurrent validity of grit with students‘ engagement, perceived gains, time spent studying, and grades. These results confirmed previous research that most of the predictive power of grit is contained in its perseverance of effort, not consistency of interest, dimension.
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Behavior-based student typology: A view from student transition from high school to college
Mu, L., & Cole, J.
Research in Higher Education, , , 2019.
Several recent studies have successfully identified college student typologies based on individuals‘ behaviors. One limitation of past studies has been their reliance on one-time cross-sectional assessments. As a result, we are left to ponder the stability of students‘ behavioral types as their academic years move forward. This study used longitudinal student data from high school to college, to investigate the stability of a behavior-based student typology. Guided by findings in behavioral consistency from personality psychology, this study explored the associations of higher education institution‘s structure, and supportive elements of the environment and the transition of students‘ behavior-based types. The results showed that, in high school and higher education settings, students‘ behaviors in a variety of activities classified students into four types. In the higher education setting, about half of the students were of the same behavioral type while the remaining students engaged in changes as compared with their behavior-based types in high school. Students‘ background characteristics and institutional environment demonstrated an association related to these shifts.
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Better Together: How Faculty Development and Assessment Can Join Forces to Improve Student Learning
Kinzie, J., Landy, K., Sorcinelli, M. & Hutchings, P.
Change magazine, 51(5), 46-54, 2019.
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Effective advising: How academic advising influences student learning outcomes in different institutional contexts
Mu, L., & Fosnacht, K.
The Review of Higher Education, 42(4), 1283–1307, 2019.
Using survey data from 156 bachelor‘s-granting institutions, this study explored the relationship between academic advising services and seniors‘ grades and self-perceived gains. We found advising experiences has a positive relationship with students‘ grades and self-perceived gains. In addition, our results indicate that the institutional advising climate is positively correlated with perceived gains, but not grades. The results also showed that the relationships between advising and students‘ learning and development varied across institutions. Implications for policy and practice were discussed.
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How does faculty research motivation type relate to success? A test of self-determination theory
Stupnisky, R., BrckaLorenz, A., & Nelson Laird, T. F.
International Journal of Educational Research, 98, 25-35, 2019.
Studies show institutional, demographic, and social-environmental factors to be incomplete predictors of professor research productivity; meanwhile, the effects of motivation on faculty research are relatively understudied. The current study tested the extent to which self-determined motivation served as a predictor of faculty research success. Analysis of 1,846 U.S. faculty from 19 institutions using structural equation modeling found autonomous motivation (enjoyment, value) positively related to self-reported research productivity and number of publications, beyond demographics and position details. The basic needs of autonomy and competence predicted autonomous motivation, and indirectly predicted achievement. External motivation (rewards) had relatively smaller positive relationships with research productivity, while introjected motivation (guilt) had no relationships. The results contribute to both the faculty development and motivation research literatures.
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Opening the activism and postsecondary education black box: Relating high-impact practices and student identity with activist behaviors
Morgan, D. L., Zilvinskis, J., & Dugan, B.
Journal of Political Science Education, , , 2019.
Faculty and administrators at postsecondary institutions continue to grapple with understanding the dynamic nature of student activism. In response, the National Survey of Student Engagement administered a supplemental item set following the 2016 presidential election, in which more than 3,000 respondents were asked about their involvement in activism. Leveraging these data, this study employed multilevel modeling to measure the relationship between activist behaviors and student backgrounds, high-impact practice (HIP) participation, involvement in student activities, and institutional characteristics. The present study adds nuance to and models the connection among HIPs, student identities (e.g., queer, black or African American), and student activism. Implications for practice and research are shared that outline a renewed understanding of student activism as a pillar of civic learning and democratic engagement work in higher education.
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Predicting the quality of Black women collegians' relationships with faculty at a public historically Black university
Williams, M. S., & Johnson, J. M.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 12(2), 115-125, 2019.
Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement, multivariate analyses were conducted to examine the impact of effective teaching practices and student?faculty interactions on perceptions of faculty relationship quality for Black women collegians at a public historically Black university. Using a conceptual framework that integrates Tinto‘s (1993) interactionalist theory of college student departure, Astin‘s (1993) student involvement theory, and Weidman‘s (1989) undergraduate socialization model, the final regression model explained 56% of the variance in faculty relationship quality. Significant predictors included faculty feedback, course-related conversations outside of class, and discussions around academic performance. We close with implications for policy, praxis, and future investigations.
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The within-group differences in LGBQ+ college students? belongingness, institutional commitment, and outness
BrckaLorenz, A., Duran, A., Fassett, K. & Palmer, D.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, Advance online publication, , 2019.
Although scholars have examined how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ +) students perceive their collegiate environments, few quantitative studies disaggregate data to see how populations within the LGBQ + community experience certain outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate how student subgroups within the LGBQ + community differed in their perceptions of belongingness, institutional commitment, and outness. Using large-scale, multi-institution data from thousands of first-year and senior undergraduates, we examined how these important affective outcomes differ by sexuality groups (e.g., gay/lesbian, bisexual, or queer) and when the intersections of sexual and racial/ethnic identities are considered. Findings suggest that within-group differences exist in LGBQ + student populations that are not necessarily visible when understanding these communities in monolithic ways. We then offer implications for research and student affairs practitioners.
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Thwarting the temptation to leave college: An examination of engagement's impact on college sense of belonging among Black and LatinX students
Kitchen, J. A., & Williams, M. S.
Journal for the Study of Postsecondary and Tertiary Education, 4, 67-84, 2019.
Persistence rates among Black and LatinX students continue to fall behind those of their White peers. One way to address this issue is to promote a stronger college sense of belonging. While student involvement has been linked to sense of belonging, postsecondary institutions need to seriously reflect on, and re-commit to, their own role in engaging Black and LatinX students to promote their sense of belonging, a strong correlate of persistence and college completion. A sense of belonging has been linked to college success, including student persistence. One potential way to promote a sense of belonging among Black and LatinX students is through student engagement. This paper examines the relationship between student engagement and college sense of belonging among a national sample of 10,475 Black and LatinX students. Guided by student engagement theory, we parse out the role of student involvement and institutional engagement to examine the unique and net impact of each facet of engagement as it relates to college sense of belonging among Black and LatinX students. This study employs hierarchical linear regression modeling to examine the unique and net impact of two facts of student engagement: a) student involvement, and b)institutional engagement, as each relates to college sense of belonging among a national sample of 10, 475 Black and LatinX students.
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Time well spent: Flipped classrooms and effective teaching practices.
Fassett, K., BrckaLorenz, A., Strickland, J., & Ribera, A.
In E. Alqurashi Fostering Student Engagement with Instructional Technology in Higher Education ICI Global, 2019.
Good teaching practices are the crux of student education and require constant evaluation to meet current generations' learning needs. Flipped classrooms have sought a foothold in higher education to provide opportunities for deep learning through the delivery of content online prior to attending class while having activities related to processing and applying the information during class. Using a large-scale, multi-institution study of faculty teaching flipped courses, this study empirically links flipped procedures to other forms of effective educational practice and additionally focuses on the motivations and impacts on the faculty side of this pedagogical practice. Findings indicate numerous learning and development benefits for students with implications for supporting and motivating faculty across disciplines, faculty identities, and course types.
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Do working students buy into HIPs? Working for pay and participation in high-impact practices
Zilvinskis, J., & McCormick, A. C.
Journal of College Student Development, 60(5 September-October), 543–562, 2019.
High-impact practices (HIPs), a set of distinctive educational experiences associated with a range of educational benefits, have garnered the attention of educators, policy makers, and researchers alike. Concerns exist regarding who has access to HIPs, and one possible impediment is paid employment. We investigated the relationship between student employment and participation in two HIPs: service-learning and undergraduate research. Using data from 207,925 respondents to the 2015 and 2016 administrations of the National Survey of Student Engagement, we examined patterns of HIPs participation when considering the differing circumstances of part-time and full-time senior undergraduates with regard to paid employment on campus, off campus, and both. The findings can guide institutional practice, such as the design of campus employment opportunities as well as academic advising to promote HIPs participation.

Engagement insights: Survey findings on the quality of undergraduate education--Annual results 2018
National Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2018.
This year‘s Annual Results examines how colleges and universities are preparing students for work and careers. Our analyses investigated the importance of educational context?with special attention to major?in shaping students‘ development of workplace-relevant skills such as working with others and solving real-world problems, as well as basic skills valued by employers such as critical thinking and effective writing and speaking. We also asked a subset of respondents a set of targeted questions about their career goals and their use of career planning resources and related activities. Finally, we used results from NSSE‘s Topical Module on First-Year Experiences and Senior Transitions to study seniors planning to take less-traveled paths after college.
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The benefits of living on campus: Do residence halls provide distinctive environments of engagement?
Graham, P. A., Hurtado, S. S., & Gonyea, R. M.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 55(3), 255–269, 2018.
The changing landscape of on- and off-campus undergraduate residential options underline the need to reexamine the impact of on-campus living. Using multi-institutional survey data from first-year students, this study investigates the relationship of residential status with engagement and perceived gains in learning and development. Results indicate, after controlling for student and institution characteristics, that on-campus residence has small positive effects on some outcomes but not on others where effects might be expected.
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Engaging in the margins: Exploring differences in biracial students' engagement by racial heritage
Harris, J. C., BrckaLorenz, A., & Nelson Laird, T. F.
Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 55(2), 137–154, 2018.
The research presented in this article utilizes data from four years of the National Survey of Student Engagement to shed light on the biracial student population and their engagement practices in postsecondary contexts. Specifically, this study explored the ways in which biracial students with different racial heritages engage differently from one another and from their monoracial peers on campus. Study findings complicate the ideology that biracial individuals are a monolithic group, fostering a conversation concerning multiraciality in higher education and providing critical implications for future research and practice.
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Faculty members' motivation for teaching and best practices: Testing a model based on self-determination theory across institution types
Stupnisky, R., BrckaLorenz, A., Yuhas, B., & Guay, F.
Contemporary Educational Psychology, 58, 15-26, 2018.
This study tested a conceptual model based on self-determination theory to examine how university faculty members‘ motivation for teaching predicts their utilization of teaching best practices, and explored if faculty at various higher education institution types are differentially motivated for teaching. Data from a national online survey of 1,671 faculty from 19 universities was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Support for the overall model showed faculty autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively predicted autonomous motivation (intrinsic, identified), but not controlled motivation (introjected, external). Autonomous motivation, in turn, predicted greater incorporation of effective teaching strategies, namely instructional clarity, higher-order learning, reflective and integrative learning, and collaborative learning. There were no differences found across faculty at doctoral, master‘s, and bachelor‘s institutions in terms of autonomous motivation mean levels, nor for the predictive effects of autonomous motivation on teaching best practices. The findings have implications for the faculty motivation and teaching research literatures, as well as for faculty development initiatives aimed at improving teaching effectiveness.
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The role of religion and institution type in seniors' perceptions of the religious and spiritual campus climate
Fosnacht, K., & Broderick, C.
Journal of College and Character, 19(1), 18-31, 2018.
This study investigated the correlates of two measures that capture students‘ perception of the religious and spiritual campus climate. It focuses on how the factors, religious identity and attending a religiously affiliated institution, influence students‘ perception of the respect for their beliefs and comfort in expressing their views on campus. The results indicate few differences by religious identity in students‘ perception of the respect for their beliefs, but significant differences by religion in their comfort in expressing their views. Additionally, attending a religiously affiliated institution was positively associated with students‘ comfort in expressing their beliefs.
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A meta-analysis of queer-spectrum and trans-spectrum student experiences at U.S. research universities
Greathouse, M., BrckaLorenz, A., Hoban, M., Huesman, R., Rankin, S., & Stolzenberg, E.
In Krista M. Soria Evaluating Campus Climate at U.S. Research Universities: Opportunities for Diversity and Inclusion Palgrave MacMillan, 2018.
Queer-spectrum and trans-spectrum students remain a significantly underserved population within higher education, despite the presence of significant disparities related to campus climate, academic engagement, and health outcomes. In this chapter, the authors explore the climate for queer-spectrum and trans-spectrum undergraduate students attending US Public Research Universities within higher education through a meta-analysis of 2016 and 2017 national datasets assessing campus climate, academic outcomes, and health outcomes?each of which has incorporated sexual identity and gender identity demographics within their respective survey instruments.
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Activists, non-activists, and allies: Civic engagement and student types at MSIs
Fassett, K. T., Priddie, C., BrckaLorenz, A., & Kinzie, J.
Frontiers in Education, 3(103), , 2018.
Although civic engagement has been examined across various student groups, there is limited research on the impact of civic engagement at minority-serving institutions (MSIs). This study uses a large-scale, cross-sectional approach to analyze college students' participation in civic engagement activities at 24 MSIs from 2013 to 2017 using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Aspects of civic engagement examined include students' participation in events that address social or political issues, frequency of interactions with diverse others, participation in leadership and service-learning activities, and perceptions of their institution's contribution to their growth in areas such as becoming an informed and active citizen. Additionally, researchers explored students' ability to resolve conflicts that involve bias and prejudice and contribute to the well-being of their community; how frequently students inform themselves of state, national, or global issues; and how they may organize others around a common cause.
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Contextualizing effect sizes in the National Survey of Student Engagement: An empirical analysis
Rocconi, L. M., & Gonyea, R. M.
Research and Practice in Assessment, 13(Summer/Fall), 22-38, 2018.
The concept of effect size plays a crucial role in assessment, institutional research, and scholarly inquiry, where it is common with large sample sizes to find small relationships that are statistically significant. This study examines the distribution of effect sizes from institutions that participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and empirically derives recommendations for their interpretation. The aim is to provide guidelines for researchers, policymakers, and assessment professionals to judge the importance of an effect from student engagement results. The authors argue for the adoption of the recommendations for interpreting effect sizes from statistical comparisons of NSSE data.
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Do high achieving students benefit from honors college participation? A look at student engagement for first-year students and seniors
Miller, A. L., & Dumford, A. D.
Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 41(3), 217–241, 2018.
This study investigates findings from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), comparing various aspects of student engagement between honors college and general education students. Responses from 1,339 honors college students and 7,191 general education students across 15 different universities suggest a positive impact for honors college participation on reflective and integrative learning, use of learning strategies, collaborative learning, diverse discussions, student-faculty interaction, and quality of interactions for first-year students, even when controlling for student and institutional characteristics. For senior students, honors college participation was related to more frequent student-faculty interaction. Potential experiential and curricular reasons for these differences are discussed, along with implications for educators, researchers, parents, and students.

First-year students' time use in college: A latent profile analysis
Fosnacht, K., McCormick, A. C., & Lerma, R.
Research in Higher Education, 59(7), 958–978, 2018.
Students‘ time expenditures influence their learning and development. This study used latent profile analysis to identify a taxonomy of how first-year students spend their time using a large multi-institution sample. We identified four time usage patterns by first-year students titled Balanced, Involved, Partiers, and Parents. Sex, expected major field, on-campus residency, age, Greek-life membership, and standardized test scores were predictive of students‘ time use patterns. Holding a range of student and institutional factors constant, members of the involved group, on average, reported higher levels of engagement than the Balanced group, while Partiers reported lower levels of engagement. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
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Focus on the finish line: Does high-impact practice participation influence career plans and early job attainment?
Miller, A. L., Rocconi, L. M., & Dumford, A. D.
Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research, 75(3), 489–506, 2018.
High-impact practices (HIPs) are important co-curricular educational experiences in postsecondary education, as they promote learning, development, and persistence among students. The goal of this study was to extend the research on HIPs to explore potential connections with HIP participation and career outcomes. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement, this study explores whether HIP participation influences college seniors‘ post-graduation plans for career and further education, and whether HIP participation has a positive impact on early job attainment for these students. Results suggest that even after controlling for a variety of demographic and institutional factors, HIP participation is a statistically significant predictor of future career plans and early job attainment. HIP participation can give students a career-related advantage through transferable skill development, engaging in learning opportunities, and generating ?stories? for potential employers.

High-impact practices and student-faculty interactions across sexual orientations
Garvey, J. C., BrckaLorenz, A., Latopolski, K., & Hurtado, S. S.
Journal of College Student Development, 59(2), 211-226, 2018.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between high-impact practices and student?faculty interactions for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) students. Results yield few differences in participation of high-impact practices for LGBQ students compared to heterosexual students. Results also demonstrate the significant influences of student and institutional characteristics on high-impact practice participation for LGBQ students, and in particular student?faculty interactions.
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International student engagement: An exploration of student and faculty perceptions
Wang, R. & BrckaLorenz, A.
Journal of International Students, 8(2), 1002-1033, 2018.
An increasing number of faculty have brought up questions and concerns about supporting international students? academic engagement and success. However, little is known about faculty?s approaches to international student engagement and how they may differ from international students? self-reported engagement at four-year institutions. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement and Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, both large-scale and multi-institutional datasets, this study explores international student engagement in learning strategies, collaborative learning, and student-faculty interaction as well as international student engagement from the perspectives of faculty and students. Recommendations on supporting international student engagement from an individual faculty level, department level, and institutional level are discussed.
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Looking across high-impact practices: First-year student democratic awareness and democratic participation
Weiss, H. A., & Fosnacht, K.
Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 30(2), 45–64, 2018.
Creating educated and informed citizens for our diverse democracy has long been one of the objectives of the U.S. educational system. Traditionally, service-learning has been the primary tool for colleges and universities to promote civic outcomes; however, other practices, particularly those requiring substantial student investments of time and energy, also hold the potential to improve civic outcomes. Using data from nearly 13,000 first-year students who responded to the National Survey of Student Engagement's Civic Engagement module, we found that service-learning, learning communities, and research with faculty were positively and significantly correlated to two measures of democratic engagement. The results have important implications for how postsecondary institutions promote civic outcomes.
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Queer-spectrum and trans-spectrum student experiences in American higher education: The analysis of national survey findings
Greathouse, M., BrckaLorenz, A., Hoban, M., Huesman, R., Rankin, S., & Stolzenberg, E.
New Brunswick, NJ: , 2018.
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Reimagining student engagement: How nontraditional adult learners engage in traditional postsecondary environments
Rabourn, K., BrckaLorenz, A., & Shoup, R.
Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 66(1), 22-33, 2018.
Adult learners are a growing population in U.S. postsecondary education who experience distinct barriers to academic success. However, higher education institutions continue to create and adhere to policies that favor traditional college students. Thus, adult learner experiences must be better understood to ensure this population is supported. This study used data from the 2013 and 2014 administrations of the National Survey of Student Engagement to identify characteristics of adult learners and compare their engagement with traditional-aged students. Our regression analysis revealed that adult learners were more likely to take their classes online, begin their education at another institution, and enroll part-time. Adult learners also were more engaged academically and had positive perceptions of teaching practices and interactions with others, despite reporting fewer interactions with faculty and peers and less supportive campuses. These findings challenge institutions to continue to seek a deeper understanding of how adult learners engage with postsecondary education.
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The dependability of the updated NSSE: A generalizability study
Fosnacht, K., & Gonyea, R. M.
Research and Practice in Assessment, 13(Summer/Fall), 62–74, 2018.
This study utilized generalizability theory to assess the context where the National Survey of Student Engagement‘s (NSSE) summary measures, the Engagement Indicators, produce dependable group-level means. The dependability of NSSE group means is an important topic for the higher education assessment community given its wide utilization and usage in institutional assessment and accreditation. We found that the Engagement Indicators produced dependable group means for an institution derived from samples as small as 25 to 50 students. Furthermore, we discuss how the assessment community should use NSSE data.
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The role of creative coursework in skill development for university seniors
Miller, A. L.
Global Education Review, 5(Creativity & Education Special Issue 1), 88–107, 2018.
Previous research suggests that creativity training can be effective in academic settings and that teachers in particular can have an impact on creativity. Furthermore, creativity is one of many transferable skills in higher education that will benefit students when they enter the workforce. This study extends research on creativity training and transferable skills in higher education, using data from the Senior Transitions topical module of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Responses from over 48,000 seniors at 227 different U.S colleges and universities were used to explore curricular differences across disciplinary fields as well as how exposure to creative coursework can predict confidence in numerous skills and abilities. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a measure of exposure to creative coursework, and an ANOVA suggested significant differences by major fields, with arts majors showing a distinct advantage. Results from ordinary least squares regression models found that even after controlling for several demographic and institutional characteristics, creative coursework is a significant positive predictor of confidence in several different skills and abilities that are important for adapting to traditional and non-traditional work settings, including creative thinking, critical thinking, entrepreneurial skills, and networking abilities. Potential reasons for these patterns of results are discussed. These findings can help to inform curricular and programming enhancements for college students across all major fields, helping to better prepare them for their futures in various workplace settings.
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With retention, the key is "act locally"
Cole, J. S., Gonyea, R. G., & Rocconi, L.
In R. Feldman (Ed.) The first year of college: Research, theory, and practice on improving the student experience and increasing retention Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
The authors build on retention theory to show how data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) can be used to understand and potentially affect retention. Emphasizing the fact that solutions must be local and taking into account the unique characteristics of an institution, they highlight the ways in which retention outcomes can be improved by considering multiple variables that impact performance.
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Refining an Approach to Assessment for Learning Improvement
Stitt-Bergh, M., Kinzie, J., & Fulcher, K.
Research and Practice in Assessment, , , 2018.
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Promoting democratic engagement during college: Looking beyond service-learning
Howe, E. C., & Fosnacht, K.
Journal of College and Character, 18(3), , 2017.
Preparing students to be engaged participants in our democratic society has long been an important college outcome. Over the past few decades, postsecondary institutions have primarily attempted to improve civic outcomes by integrating service activities into their curricula. While research on the effects of service-learning are plentiful, research on how other educationally beneficial activities influence democratic outcomes is scarce. In this study, we find that service-learning may not be the only means for promoting democratic outcomes because other high impact practices, most prominently learning communities, have greater or equivalent relationship to two dimensions of democratic engagement.
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Black, White, and biracial students’ engagement at differing institutional types
Harris, J. C., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Journal of College Student Development, 58(5), 783-789, 2017.
The purpose of this research is to fill a large gap in the literature on college student engagement by exploring differences in engagement for White students, Black students, and Black/White biracial students within and between institutional types. To achieve this purpose, this study explores how engagement compares for Black, White, and biracial students with Black and White heritage within HBCUs and non-HBCUs and how engagement compares for these same biracial students between HBCUs and non-HBCUs.
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Undergraduate financial stress, financial self-efficacy, and major choice: A multi-institutional study
Fosnacht, K., & Calderone, S. M.
Journal of Financial Therapy, 8(1), Article 7, 2017.
Over time, undergraduates students been increasingly forced to assume a greater portion of college costs. For most students, this means borrowing larger sums and cutting back on expenses to fulfill their college dreams, which often leads to financial stress. Using financial self-efficacy theory, we sought to better understand how a lack of financial confidence and a diminished sense of financial well-being may serve to undermine students‘ intended short and long-term goals. To this end, we examined the predictors of financial stress based upon a multi-institutional sample of senior undergraduates and focus on the role of the earnings potential of different majors.
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Information literacy's influence on undergraduates' learning and development: Results from a large multi-institutional study
Fosnacht, K.
In D. M. Mueller, (Ed.) At the helm: Leading transformation: The proceedings of the ACRL 2017 conference, March 22?25, 2017, Baltimore, Maryland Chicago, IL: Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2017.
This paper investigated the reliability and validity of the National Survey of Student Engagement‘s Experiences with Information Literacy Topical Module, an assessment instrument developed in collaboration with a group of instructional librarians. After identifying three information literacy related constructs in the module, it assessed the relationship between the constructs and students‘ engagement in Higher-Order Learning and Reflective and Integrative Learning activities and students' perceived gains. The results from these analyses indicated that information literacy activities are positively and significantly correlated with student engagement and students‘ perceived gains.
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A glimpse of global learning: Assessing student experiences and institutional commitments
Kinzie, J., Helms, R. M., & Cole, J.
Liberal Education, 103(2), , 2017.
What do we know about the extent to which institutions are designing international activities, providing students with direct experience of different cultures and courses on global topics, and ensuring that graduates acquire global learning outcomes? To provide this information, the American Council on Education (ACE) and the Center for Postsecondary Research at the Indiana University School of Education collaborated on a study that takes advantage of national surveys administered by each organization. In this article, we discuss preliminary findings from a study of combined results from the 2016 administration of the ACE Mapping Internationalization on U.S. Campuses survey and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Global Learning Topical Module.
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Concluding comments about student transition to higher education
Cole, J. S.
Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education Research, 73, 539–551, 2017.
This special issue of Transition to Higher Education contained studies from nine countries across the globe. The following provides a brief review of all nine studies, identifying common themes. These common themes include the importance of student expectations regarding their first-year experiences, as well as the importance of student academic and social integration. Another common theme was first-year stagnation, where some students experience little to no growth regarding motivation or deep approaches to learning. This section concludes by stressing the need for campuses to utilize their local data to better understand the factors that facilitate or undermine successful student transition on their campus.

Exceeding statements: How students and faculty experience institutional missions
Graham, P. A., Ribera, A., BrckaLorenz, A., & Broderick, C.
Journal of College and Character, 18(4), 246-263, 2017.
While the importance of institutional mission is acknowledged within the higher education community, there is a lack of empirical evidence investigating how missions are experienced. Using survey data from students and faculty, this study investigates perceptions of mission engagement at religiously affiliated and independent institutions. Implications for practice are discussed.
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Frequency of first-year student interactions with advisors
Fosnacht, K., McCormick, A. C., Nailos, J. N., & Ribera, A. K.
NACADA Journal, 37(1), 74-86, 2017.
Although acknowledged that academic advising helps students adjust to and deal with the challenges of college, little is known about students' frequency of interactions with advisors. Using data from 52,546 full-time, first-year students at 209 diverse institutions, we examined the frequency with which students met with academic advisors and the way these interactions vary by student and institutional characteristics. We found that the typical first-year student met with an advisor 1 to 3 times during his or her first college year; however, the number of meetings varied across student subpopulations and institutional types.
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High-impact practices and student-faculty interactions for gender-variant students
BrckaLorenz, A., Garvey, J. C., Hurtado, S. S., & Latopolski, K.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, , Advance online publication, 2017.
The vast amount of research on student success and engagement in college focuses on a narrative for majority student populations that does not account for unique experiences across social identities. This article examines the experiences of gender-variant students (i.e., students who do not identify as either cisgender men or women) regarding engagement in high-impact practices and student?faculty interactions using a large-scale, multi-institution quantitative data set collected from the 2014 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement. Although high-impact practice participation was similar for gender-variant and cisgender students, positive student-faculty interaction was found to be a significant predictor for increased high-impact practice participation for gender-variant students. Results from this study may also point to chillier climates of certain major fields for gender-variant students. Implications for these findings focus on investigating major choice as a mediating factor for high-impact practice participation and advocating for the inclusion of different gender identities in surveys, institutional data, and higher-education research.
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How important are high response rates for college surveys?
Fosnacht, K., Sarraf, S., Howe, E., & Peck, L. K.
The Review of Higher Education, 40(2), 245–265, 2017.
Surveys play an important role in understanding the higher education landscape. However, declining survey participation rates threaten this source of vital information and its perceived utility. Although survey researchers have long assumed that the best way to obtain unbiased estimates is to achieve a high response rate, many survey researchers have begun to question the widely held assumption that low response rates provide biased results. Due to the prevalence of survey data in higher education research and assessment efforts, it is imperative to better understand the relationship between response rates and data quality. This study investigates this assumption with college student assessment data. It utilizes data from hundreds of samples of first-year and senior students with relatively high response rates using a common assessment instrument with a standardized administration protocol. It investigates how population estimates would have changed if researchers put forth less effort when collecting data and achieved lower response rates and respondent counts.
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How writing contributes to learning: New findings from a national study and their local application
Anderson, P., Anson, C. M., Fish, T., Gonyea, R. M., Marshall, M., Menefee-Libey, W., Paine, C., Palucki Blake, L., & Weaver, S.
Peer Review, 19(Winter, 1), , 2017.
This article summarizes findings from NSSE Consortium for the Study of Writing in College by which three writing constructs were derived ? Interactive Writing Processes, Meaning-Making Writing Tasks, and Clear Writing Expectations. Authors describe how to use the constructs to create better writing assignments, and provide examples from three institutions in their application.
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Indirect assessments in higher education
Nelson Laird, T. F. & BrckaLorenz, A.
In T. Cumming & M. D. Miller Enhancing Assessment in Higher Education: Putting Psychometrics to Work Stylus Publishing, LLC, 2017.
Assessment and accountability are now inescapable features of the landscape of higher education, and ensuring that these assessments are psychometrically sound has become a high priority for accrediting agencies and therefore also for higher education institutions. Bringing together the higher education assessment literature with the psychometric literature, this book focuses on how to practice sound assessment. This volume provides comprehensive and detailed descriptions of tools for and approaches to assessing student learning outcomes in higher education. The book is guided by the core purpose of assessment, which is to enable faculty, administrators, and student affairs professionals with the information they need to increase student learning by making changes in policies, curricula, and other programs. The book is divided into three sections: overview, assessment in higher education, and case studies. The central section looks at direct and indirect measures of student learning, and how to assure the validity, reliability, and fairness of both types. The first six chapters (the first two sections) alternate chapters written by experts in assessment in higher education and experts in psychometrics. The remaining three chapters are applications of assessment practices in three higher education institutions. Finally, the book includes a glossary of key terms in the field.
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Sense of peer belonging and institutional acceptance in the first year: The role of high-impact practices
Ribera, A. K., Miller, A. L., & Dumford, A. D.
Journal of College Student Development, 58(4), 545–563, 2017.
This study examines the role that high-impact practices play in shaping first-year students‘ sense of belonging as it relates to peers and institutional acceptance. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (n=9,371), results reveal troublesome gaps for historically underrepresented populations in their sense of belonging among their peers and affiliation with the institution. Yet, when students participated in certain high-impact practices (learning communities, service learning, research with faculty, and campus leadership), positive associations were found, even after controlling for other institutional and student-level characteristics. Implications for first-year programming are discussed.

The journey or the destination: Exploring engagement patterns of disabled student veterans
Kraus, A., Nicholls, R. C., & Cole, J. S.
In D. DiRamio (Ed.) What?s next for student veterans? Moving from transition to academic success Herndon, VA: Stylus, 2017.
Higher education has worked in recent years to create more inclusive campus practices for student veterans, and disability is an important aspect of this community. An estimated 25% of student veterans have a disability, and student veterans are twice as likely as their non-veteran peers to have at least one disability. To address the unique characteristics of student veterans, including those with disabilities, college and university professionals have developed vet-friendly campuses across the country with services such as dedicated spaces for student veterans to gather and seek refuge from the hectic nature of campus, Veterans Affairs work-study positions, and participation in the Yellow Ribbon program to more seamlessly facilitate the approval of transfer credit. Also, to respond to the concerns of military-connected students, campuses are identifying points of contact across important student services such as counseling and psychological services, financial aid, and disability services. However, little research has been conducted to help us understand the impact of these programs and services on student engagement. While we understand general trends and characteristics of student veterans, we do not have a clear sense with respect to involvement or engagement of what makes these students successful in higher education. Even less descriptive information is available to help us understand the behaviors and experiences of disabled student veterans. This chapter uses findings from the 2015 National Survey of Student Engagement as well as individual interviews to explore the engagement patterns of disabled student veterans in their final year of university to better understand how and why these students persist to graduation.
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The use of student engagement findings as a case of evidence-based practice
Kinzie, J.
New Directions for Higher Education, 2017(178), 47–56, 2017.
The chapter considers student engagement to discuss the use of assessment evidence to advance evidence-based practice and to illustrate a scholarship of practice.
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Creative cognitive processes in higher education
Miller, A. L., & Dumford, A. D.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 50(4), pp. 282–293, 2016.
This paper explores whether or not students in higher education settings are using creative cognitive processes, how these processes are related to deep approaches to learning, and in what types of settings and students these processes are most prevalent. Data collected from 8,724 students at 17 institutions participating in the 2010 National Survey of Student Engagement suggests that first-year and senior students employ several different creative cognitive processes in their everyday activities. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggest two distinct types of processes: deliberate creative processes and intuitive cognitive processes. Additional analyses indicate significant positive relationships between both types of creative processes and deep approaches to learning, as well as statistically significant differences in the use of creative processes based on gender, enrollment type, and type of institution. Potential reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.

To be or not to be (an arts major): Career aspirations and perceived skills of graduating seniors across multiple disciplines
Miller, A. L., Dumford, A. D., Gaskill, S., Houghton, R., & Tepper, S. J.
Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2016.
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A lottery improves performance on a low-stakes test for males but not females
Cole, J. S., Bergin, D. A., & Summers, J.
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy, and Practice, , 1–16, 2016.
The purpose of this study was to address the effectiveness of autonomy support and a lottery-based reward in enhancing test performance and test-taking motivation on a low-stakes test. Two hundred and forty-six university students were randomly assigned to three groups ? lottery, autonomy support and control ? and took a mathematics test. Students in the autonomy support and lottery group reported putting forth more test-taking effort than students in the control group. Males who were offered a chance at winning the financial reward scored almost 10 points higher on the exam compared to females. Results showed no significant difference in test scores for female students among groups, suggesting that neither intervention had an impact on females.

Impact of the environment: How does attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution influence the engagement of baccalaureate-seeking Latina/o students?
Fosnacht, K., & Nailos, J. N.
Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 14(3), 191–297, 2016.
Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) enroll the majority of Latina/o students in higher education; however, it is unclear how HSIs influence Latina/os‘ postsecondary experiences. In this study, we examined how the Latina/o student experience differed between students who did and did not attend 4-year HSIs. The results suggest that HSIs generally have positive, but modest, effects on Latina/o‘s student engagement and self-perceived gains. The differences were more pronounced for first-year students than seniors.
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Engaging Latino students for transfer and completion
Waiwaiole, E., Kinzie, J., & Brown, S.
Diverse Issues in Higher Education, , , 2016.
Both community colleges and bachelor‘s degree-granting institutions across the country are responding to a chorus of calls for dramatic improvements in student success and college completion, while maintaining and improving the quality of students‘ educational experiences. A companion challenge is to close persistent and troubling attainment gaps across a diverse population of students. Because Latinos are the largest under-served population and the numbers will continue to increase, achieving these goals requires consideration of how these students experience higher education and what institutions can do to better serve them.

An alternative approach: Using panels to survey college students
Sarraf, S. A., Hurtado, S., Houlemarde, M., & Wang, X.
AIR Professional File, (Fall), Article 138, 2016.
Eight short surveys based on select items from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) were administered to approximately five hundred students over a nine-week period at five diverse colleges and universities. The goal of the experiment was to investigate what impact a survey panel data collection approach would have on recruitment, survey data quality indicators, and scale properties. Results indicated higher response rates, shorter survey duration, and minimal impact on scale factor structures. However, both cost of incentives and panel member attrition make this alternative survey method less attractive than it would be otherwise.

Assessment in student affairs (2nd ed.)
Schuh, J. H., Biddix, P., Dean, L. A., & Kinzie, J.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2016.
A practical, comprehensive manual for assessment design and implementation, Assessment in Student Affairs (Second Edition) offers a contemporary look at the foundational elements and practical application of assessment in student affairs. Higher education administration is increasingly called upon to demonstrate organizational effectiveness and engage in continuous improvement based on information generated through systematic inquiry. This book provides a thorough primer on all stages of the assessment process. From planning to reporting and beyond, you'll find valuable assessment strategies to help you produce meaningful information and improve your program. Combining and updating the thoroughness and practicality of Assessment in Student Affairs and Assessment Practice in Student Affairs, this new edition covers design of assessment projects, ethical practice, student learning outcomes, data collection and analysis methods, report writing, and strategies to implement change based on assessment results. Case studies demonstrate real-world application to help you clearly see how these ideas are used effectively every day, and end-of-chapter discussion questions stimulate deeper investigation and further thinking about the ideas discussed. The instructor resources will help you seamlessly integrate this new resource into existing graduate-level courses. Student affairs administrators understand the importance of assessment, but many can benefit from additional direction when it comes to designing and implementing evaluations that produce truly useful information. This book provides field-tested approaches to assessment, giving you a comprehensive how-to manual for demonstrating?and improving?the work you do every day. ?Build your own assessment to demonstrate organizational effectiveness. ?Utilize quantitative and qualitative techniques and data. ?Identify metrics and methods for measuring student learning. ?Report and implement assessment findings effectively. Accountability and effectiveness are the hallmarks of higher education administration today, and they are becoming the metrics by which programs and services are evaluated. Strong assessment skills have never been more important. Assessment in Student Affairs gives you the knowledge base and skill set you need to shine a spotlight on what you and your organization are able to achieve.

Do later wake times and increased sleep duration of 12th graders result in more studying, higher grades, and improved SAT/ACT test scores?
Cole, J. S.
Sleep and Breathing, 20, 1053–1057, 2016.
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep duration, wake time, and hours studying on high school grades and performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)/ American College Testing (ACT) college entrance exams. Method: Data were collected from 13,071 recently graduated high school seniors who were entering college in the fall of 2014. A column proportions z test with a Bonferroni adjustment was used to analyze proportional differences. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine mean group differences. Results: Students who woke up prior to 6 a.m. and got less than 8 h of sleep (27 %) were significantly more likely to report studying 11 or more hours per week (30 %), almost double the rate compared to students who got more than 8 h of sleep and woke up the latest (16 %). Post hoc results revealed students who woke up at 7 a.m. or later reported significantly higher high school grades than all other groups (p < 0.001), with the exception of those students who woke up between 6:01 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. and got eight or more hours of sleep. The highest reported SAT/ACT scores were from the group that woke up after 7 a.m. but got less than 8 h sleep (M = 1099.5). Their scores were significantly higher than all other groups. Conclusion: This study provides additional evidence that increased sleep and later wake time are associated with increased high school grades. However, this study also found that students who sleep the longest also reported less studying and lower SAT/ACT scores.

The who, what, and where of learning strategies
Dumford, A. D., Cogswell, C. A., & Miller, A. L.
The Journal of Effective Teaching, 16(1), 72-88, 2016.
Learning strategies have been shown to be an important part of success in the classroom, but little research exists that examines differences across major fields concerning the use and faculty emphasis of learning strategies. This study uses data from the National Survey of Student Engagement and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement to explore whether there is congruence for academic disciplines between the student use and faculty encouragement of learning strategies. Patterns in the results suggest that are certain fields, including health professions, biology, agriculture, natural resources, and social service professions most frequently emphasizing and using learning strategies, while others, including engineering, physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science are less likely to do so. OLS regression models also suggest demographic and environmental predictors of student use of learning strategies, such as gender, enrollment status, cumulative college grades, Greek affiliation, and participation in a learning community. Potential reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.

Using student engagement results to oversee educational quality
Kinzie, J., McCormick, A. C., & Gonyea, R. M.
Trusteeship, 24(1), , 2016.
Since the advent of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in 2000, more than 1,600 bachelor‘s degree-granting colleges and universities have had access to reliable evidence about their students‘ engagement in effective educational practices that can inform discussions about educational quality. Yet too few institutions and boards take full advantage of this information to document and improve quality. Board members must come to understand the importance of student engagement and how institutions under their leadership can use it to improve educational quality.
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What is NSSE?
Paine, C., Gonyea, R. M., Anson, C. M., & Anderson, P. V.
In R. Malenczyk (Ed.) A rhetoric for writing program administrators Anderson, SC: Parlor Press, 2016.

The contributions of writing to learning and development: Results from a large-scale multi-institutional study
Anderson, P., Anson, C. M., Gonyea, R. M., & Paine, C.
Research in the Teaching of English, 50(2), 199-235, 2015.
Conducted through a collaboration between the Council of Writing Program Administrators(CWPA) and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), this study identified and tested new variables for examining writing‘s relationship to learning and development. Eighty CWPA members helped to establish a consensus model of 27 effective writing practices. Eighty US baccalaureate institutions appended questions to the NSSE instrument based on these 27 practices, yielding responses from 29,634 first-year students and 41,802 seniors. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) identified three constructs: Interactive Writing Processes, Meaning-Making Writing Tasks, and Clear Writing Expectations. Regression analyses indicated that the constructs were positively associated with two sets of established constructs in the regular NSSE instrument--Deep Approaches to Learning (Higher-Order Learning, Integrative Learning, and Reflective Learning)and Perceived Gains in Learning and Development as defined by the institution‘s contributions to growth in Practical Competence, Personal and Social Development, and General Education Learning--with effect sizes that were consistently greater than those for the number of pages written. These were net results after controlling for institutional and student characteristics, as well as other factors that might contribute to enhanced learning. The study adds three empirically established constructs to research on writing and learning. It extends the positive impact of writing beyond learning course material to include Personal and Social Development. Although correlational, it can provide guidance to instructors, institutions, accreditors, and other stakeholders because of the nature of the questions associated with the effective writing constructs.
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Independent colleges and student engagement: Descriptive analysis by institutional type
Gonyea, R. M., & Kinzie, J.
Washington, DC: Council of Independent Colleges, 2015.
Critics of traditional, residential, liberal arts colleges and universities contend that this form of higher education is outmoded, too costly, and no longer educationally relevant for 21st century students. Economies of scale, large classes taught by contingent faculty members and graduate students, and increasing reliance on technology and online learning, so the argument goes, are the only cost-effective means of meeting the educational challenges of the future. This report, prepared for the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), draws on the most current NSSE data, from 2013 and 2014, that include more than 540,000 first-year and senior students enrolled at more than 900 four-year colleges and universities. Findings are presented with comparisons across four institutional types: (1) baccalaureate and master‘s level private institutions (CIC‘s predominant membership profile), (2) baccalaureate and master‘s level public institutions, (3) doctoral private institutions, and (4) doctoral public institutions. Included in the analysis are measures from the updated NSSE that includes ten new Engagement Indicators, six High-Impact Practices, the Perceived Gains scale, and a Satisfaction scale. Findings from this study affirm the effectiveness of independent colleges and universities for undergraduate student learning. Students at private institutions are more likely to be engaged in educationally effective experiences than their peers at public institutions. Areas of distinction in the private institution undergraduate experience include a more academically challenging education, better relations with faculty members, more substantial interactions with others on campus, and the consistent perception that students have learned and grown more, in comparison with public institutions.
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College seniors' plans for graduate school: Do deep approaches learning and Holland academic environments matter?
Rocconi, L. M., Ribera, A. K., & Nelson Laird, T. F.
Research in Higher Education, 56(2, Special Forum Issue), 178–201, 2015.
This study examines the extent to which college seniors‘ plans for graduate school are related to their tendency to engage in deep approaches to learning (DAL) and their academic environments (majors) as classified by Holland type. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement, we analyzed responses from over 116,000 seniors attending 499 four-year institutions. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between seniors‘ uses of DAL and plans for earning a graduate degree. Further, seniors majoring in Investigative and Social environments were more likely to hold higher degree expectations. Significant interaction effects by DAL and Holland academic environment were also found. The impact of DAL on graduate degree expectations was greater for seniors majoring in Artistic environments than otherwise similar students in Investigative, Enterprising, or Social environments. In addition, the impact of DAL on degree expectations was greater for seniors in Enterprising environments than otherwise similar students in Social environments.
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Living with smartphones: Does completion device affect survey responses?
Lambert, A. D., & Miller, A. L.
Research in Higher Education, 56(2, Special Forum Issue), 166–177, 2015.
With the growing reliance on tablets and smartphones for internet access, understanding the effects of completion device on online survey responses becomes increasing important. This study uses data from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, a multi-institution online alumni survey designed to obtain knowledge of arts education, to explore the effects of what type of device (PC, Mac, tablet, or smartphone) a respondent uses has on his/her responses. Differences by device type in the characteristics of survey respondents, survey completion, time spent responding, willingness to answer complex and open-ended questions, and lengths of open-ended responses are discussed.
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Reflections on the state of student engagement data use and strategies for action
Kinzie, J., Cogswell, C. A., & Wheatle, K. I. E.
Assessment Update, 27(2), 1–2, 14–15, 2015.
Although the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) collects responses from hundreds of participating colleges and universities every year, its ultimate goal is not to collect data but to catalyze improvement in undergraduate education. Launched in 2000 by the Pew Charitable Trusts in response to growing national and local pressures for higher education to focus on measures of education quality and for colleges and universities to engage in meaningful improvement, the NSSE has become a leader in a campaign to focus attention on a number of relatively clear characteristics of effective environments for teaching and learning. The NSSE‘s process indicators related to good practices in undergraduate education provide diagnostic information about concrete activities that can guide interventions to promote improvement. By 2014, more than 1,500 institutions had participated in the NSSE, and over 4.5 million students had completed the questionnaire. In addition, the launch of two complementary instruments, the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) and the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE), have furthered efforts to encourage the use of data for improvement by equipping institutions with information about faculty perceptions and entering students‘ expectations for engagement. Given these noble goals and all the student engagement data, what impact has the NSSE had on the use of data for improvement on campuses? And what lessons does this work suggest for the improvement agenda in higher education?
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Development of the quantitative reasoning items on the National Survey of Student Engagement
Dumford, A. D., & Rocconi, L. M.
Numeracy, 8(1), Article 5, 2015.
As society‘s needs for quantitative skills become more prevalent, college graduates require quantitative skills regardless of their career choices. Therefore, it is important that institutions assess students‘ engagement in quantitative activities during college. This study chronicles the process taken by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to develop items that measure students‘ participation in quantitative reasoning (QR) activities. On the whole, findings across the quantitative and qualitative analyses suggest good overall properties for the developed QR items. The items show great promise to explore and evaluate the frequency with which college students participate in QR-related activities. Each year, hundreds of institutions across the United States and Canada participate in NSSE, and, with the addition of these new items on the core survey, every participating institution will have information on this topic. Our hope is that these items will spur conversations on campuses about students‘ use of quantitative reasoning activities.
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Are those rose-colored glasses you are wearing? Student and alumni survey responses
Dumford, A. D., & Miller, A. L.
Research and Practice in Assessment, 10, 5-14, 2015.

Lessons from the field—Volume 3: Using data to catalyze change on campus
National Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University School of Education, 2015.
Volume 3 of Lessons from the Field builds on insights from the earlier volumes illustrating the benefits of using NSSE results. Specifically, the highlighted institutional examples predominately feature the use of NSSE‘s updated measures and redesigned reports introduced with the survey‘s 14th administration in 2013. After more than three years of collaborative analysis, evidence-based item refinement, pilot testing, and student interviews, NSSE was revised to incorporate content enhancements and customization options that sustain the survey‘s relevance and value to participating institutions. The 25 institutional accounts featured in this volume illustrate how institutions are using results from the updated NSSE in assessment and improvement activities and in a variety of efforts to address important campus needs and priorities. Indeed, enlisting campus constituencies in the use of assessment results is essential during a time of heightened demands for accountability and pressures to increase student persistence and completion, support diversity, and ensure high-quality learning for all students. Even more, improvement efforts at colleges and universities are more likely to succeed when they emerge from a shared understanding of the evidence and of the priorities for action.
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Participation in undergraduate research at minority-serving institutions
Haeger, H., BrckaLorenz, A., & Webber, K.
Perspectives on Undergraduate Research and Mentoring, 4(1), 1-22, 2015.
This research used a national dataset to examine factors associated with participation for underrepresented minority (URM) students, benefits of participation at minority-serving institutions, and examples of programs that work to decrease barriers for URM participation in UR. Findings showed that Latino and first-generation students participated in UR less than White peers, but students at Minority Serving Institutions who participated in research with a faculty member reported using more learning strategies, increased collaboration, and having more experience with quantitative reasoning than students not participating in an UR experience.
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Using National Survey of Student Engagement data and methods to assess teaching in first-year composition and writing across the curriculum
Paine, C., Anson, C., Gonyea, R. M., & Anderson, P.
In A. E. Dayton (Ed.) Assessing the teaching of writing: Twenty-first century trends and technologies Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado, 2015.
In this chapter, we describe the origins, aims, and general structure of the NSSE (student engagement) and the Consortium for the Study of Writing in College (CSWC) (writing instruction) surveys. We describe how the CSWC was developed and offered and provide a brief overview of major findings of the national study. We describe how WPAs can adopt and adapt both the CSWC questions and the general approach to local needs. Finally, we describe some best practices (what to do and what to avoid) for using this approach, and we provide a few ideas for sharing results and making improvements.

Creative cognitive processes in higher education
Miller, A. L., & Dumford, A. D.
The Journal of Creative Behavior, 50(4), pp. 282–293, 2014.
This paper explores whether or not students in higher education settings are using creative cognitive processes, how these processes are related to deep approaches to learning, and in what types of settings and students these processes are most prevalent. Data collected from 8,724 students at 17 institutions participating in the 2010 National Survey of Student Engagement suggests that first-year and senior students employ several different creative cognitive processes in their everyday activities. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggest two distinct types of processes: deliberate creative processes and intuitive cognitive processes. Additional analyses indicate significant positive relationships between both types of creative processes and deep approaches to learning, as well as statistically significant differences in the use of creative processes based on gender, enrollment type, and type of institution. Potential reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.

A survey of college-bound high school graduates regarding circadian preference, caffeine use, and academic performance
Cole, J. S.
Sleep and Breathing, 19, 123–127, 2014.
Background: This study examines the relationships between circadian preference and caffeine use with academic performance and hours spent studying for recent high school graduates entering their first year of college. Method: Entering first-year college students enrolled at 90 baccalaureate-level institutions across the USA were invited to complete the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) and the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) as well as answer questions regarding caffeine consumption. Surveys were administered on each campus during the summer months of 2013. Only those that graduated from a US high school in the spring of 2013 were included in this study. The final sample for this study included 25,200 students that completed the BCSSE, CSM, and questions regarding caffeine consumption. Results: Evening types (E-types) were significantly less likely to report earning A/A?‘s in high school and less likely to study 16 or more hours per week compared to intermediate or morning types (M-types) (p<0.05). Overall, entering first year students reported an average of 1.1 servings of caffeine per day, with 39 % reporting no caffeine consumption. M-types were more likely to consume no caffeine (54 %) compared to E-types that also indicated no daily caffeine (31 %) (p<0.05). However, E-types were approximately 2.5 times more likely to consume three or more daily servings of caffeine (18 %) compared to M-types that consume the same amount (7 %) (p<0.05). M-types that consumed no caffeine reported the highest grades with nearly 64 % reporting they earned mostly A‘s or A-‘s in high school. However, the apparent advantage that morning types had over evening types regarding high school grades was completely ameliorated once three or more servings of caffeine were consumed per day. Conclusions: This study provides additional information to educators and health professionals to create programs and provide resource to help adolescents better understand the impact of their sleep behaviors and use of caffeine on their academic performance.

Do good assessment practices measure up to the principles of assessment?
Kinzie, J., Jankowski, N., & Provezis, S.
Assessment Update, 26(3), 1–2, 14–16, 2014.
The American Association for Higher Education's Nine Principles of Good Practice for Assessing Student Learning (AAHE 1992) have appeared to stand the test of time, as evidenced by the fact that they are often referred to within the pages of Assessment Update and appear on various assessment websites and in texts (see Banta, Jones, and Black 2009). In fact, Hutchings, Ewell, and Banta (n.d.) reviewed the principles in 2010, declaring that they had ?aged nicely.? Looking back to 1992, the principles were conceived as a way to codify the responsible and effective conduct of assessment, advance assessment for educational improvement, and assist campuses to develop approaches that make a difference for students and their learning. The principles serve as a foundation for assessment practice. Guidelines for assessment continue to be promulgated, such as the New Leadership Alliance‘s Committing to Quality: Guidelines for Assessment and Accountability in Higher Education (2012), which intended to help institutions evaluate their assessment practices and to establish shared commitments among sectors of higher education; and the Principles for Effective Assessment of Student Achievement (Western Association for Schools and Colleges 2013), endorsed in July 2013 by six higher education associations and all regional accreditors, which succinctly expressed the value of assessment. The newer statements share tenets of the AAHE principles and also reflect specific organizational commitments. Similar to the AAHE Assessment Forum, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) has sought to move the needle on assessment efforts by surveying the landscape of assessment in higher education and by assisting institutions and others in discovering and adopting promising practices in the assessment of undergraduate student learning outcomes. Toward these ends, this article considers the most widely cited guidelines for effective assessment, namely, the AAHE Principles against the backdrop of NILOA‘s collection of accounts of good assessment practice. Simply put, how well do institutions‘ assessment activities align with stated principles for effectiveness?

High-impact practices and the first-year student
Tukibayeva, M., & Gonyea, R. M.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2013(160, Special Issue), 19–35, 2014.
High-impact practices?programs and activities in which students commit considerable time and effort in different settings?can help to define the first-year college experience and are likely to increase success in areas like persistence, deep learning, and self-reported gains.

One size does not fit all: Traditional and innovative models of student affairs practice
Manning, K. M., Kinzie, J., & Schuh, J. H.
New York, NY: Routledge, 2014.
In the day-to-day work of higher education administration, student affairs professionals know that different institutional types, whether a small liberal arts college, a doctoral intensive institution, or a large private university, require different practical approaches. Despite this, most student affairs literature emphasizes a "one size fits all" approach to practice, giving little attention to the differing models of student affairs practice and their diversity across institutions. In the second edition of this influential book, leading scholars Kathleen Manning, Jillian Kinzie, and John H. Schuh advocate an original approach by presenting 11 models of student affairs practice, including both traditional and innovative programs. Based on a qualitative, multi-institutional research project, One Size Does Not Fit All explores a variety of policies, practices, and programs that contribute to increased student engagement, success, and learning. New to this revised edition: Refinement of models in light of recent NSSE data and current developments in higher education, including budget cuts and the economic crisis; updated information throughout about model assessment and techniques to renew divisions of student affairs; a deeper analysis of how models of student affairs practice relate to institutional mission and purposes; end-of-chapter discussion questions to guide thinking about ways to incorporate models in one‘s own context; an entirely new Part IV, including chapters on "Catalysts and Tools for Change" and "Redesigning Your Student Affairs Division."

Reconsidering the inclusion of diversity in the curriculum
Nelson Laird, T. F.
Diversity & Democracy, 17(4), 12–14, 2014.
As institutions seek to improve all students' success, the inclusion of people with diverse backgrounds, ideas, and methods of teaching and learning is an educational imperative. Such inclusion simultaneously (1) creates more equitable opportunities for students from marginalized groups to participate in higher education and (2) promotes the kinds of outcomes for all students that employers and society need, such as complex thinking skills, the ability to work across difference, increased civic participation, and decreased prejudice (see, for example, National Leadership Council 2007). Faculty members often recognize that inclusion is a key to learning. Even among students who have access to an educational experience, those who feel excluded from the full experience struggle to learn as well as those who feel included (Hurtado et al. 1999). To create an inclusive learning environment throughout the curriculum and in all fields, all faculty members should consider how they are incorporating diversity into their courses and how they can be more inclusive in their teaching. Incorporating diversity into one's teaching takes time and depends on the specifics of the situation (who is teaching which students, and in what context). Faculty members do not need simple solutions that may not work for their circumstances. Therefore, I offer the framework described below not as a prescription, but as a guide for faculty seeking their own ways of including diversity in their courses.

Refocusing the quality discourse: The United States National Survey of Student Engagement
McCormick, A. C., & Kinzie, J.
In H. B. Coates & A. C. McCormick (Eds.) Engaging university students: International insights from system-wide studies Singapore: Springer, 2014.
This chapter reports on work conducted with nearly 1,500 bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities in the USA to assess the extent to which their undergraduates are exposed to and participate in empirically proven effective educational activities. The chapter begins with a discussion of the prevailing quality discourse in the USA. It then explores the conceptual and empirical foundations of student engagement and the origins of NSSE as both a response to the quality problem and as a diagnostic tool to facilitate improvement. The chapter also discusses tensions between internal improvement and external accountability efforts, and NSSE‘s role in the assessment and accountability movements. It concludes with a discussion of challenges that confront the project going forward.

Research on successful learning practices
Kinzie, J.
In B. Tobolowsky (Ed.) Paths to learning: Teaching for engagement in college Columbia, SC: National Resource Center, 2014.

Survey page length and progress indicators: What are their relationships to item nonresponse?
Sarraf, S., & Tukibayeva, M.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2014(161, Special Issue), 83–97, 2014.
The popularity of online student surveys has been associated with greater item nonresponse. This chapter presents research aimed at exploring what factors might help minimize item nonresponse, such as altering online survey page length and using progress indicators.

Using NSSE to understand student success: A multi-year analysis
Fiorini, S., Shepard, L, Liu, T., & Ouimet, J.
Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 2014.
This research focuses on using NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement) responses to predict student academic success. The analysis is based on 16,630 Indiana University Bloomington first-year beginner students and seniors who completed the NSSE survey administered from 2006 to 2012. Logistic regression and linear regression on student background and pre-college information, financial aid, previous college academic performance, NSSE Benchmarks and individual NSSE items were conducted to predict academic success defined as: 1) first-year students‘ fall-to-fall retention and end-of-first-year cumulative GPA, 2) seniors number of terms taken to degree completion and 4-year graduation. Results show that certain student characteristics and earlier achievement are indicative of college success with higher levels of student engagement marginally contributing to the models. Analyses also highlighted elements of engagement that go counter to their expected effect on retention and performance.
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Assessing learning spaces: Purpose, possibilities, approaches
Kinzie, J.
In J. L. Narum (Ed.) A guide: Planning for assessing 21st century spaces for 21st century learners Washington, DC: Learning Spaces Collaboratory, 2013.
The deep interest in knowing what would improve the quality of learning is driving assessment into every nook and cranny of colleges and universities. Colleges and universities are more accountable for educational effectiveness and for the performance of their students and graduates. Thus, concern about improving educational quality, coupled with the need for individual campuses to demonstrate learning outcomes, has made assessment an unavoidable activity on campuses since the 1980s. Renewed efforts to enhance quality and increase persistence and success for all students?particularly under-represented minorities?has made it essential to collect evidence on a regular basis of the extent to which effectiveness has been achieved, evidence intended to mobilize attention to improving educational conditions in light of the findings. Assessment has always been a critical component in teaching and learning. Educators regularly assess at the individual student level, evaluating student work and giving grades, and some aggregate this information to guide improvements efforts at the level of an individual course. Assessment also moves beyond the course when faculty consider strengths and weaknesses of students‘ work in relation to departmental learning goals. The department can then use these findings and other data, such as a graduating senior survey, to inform decisions about curriculum, pedagogy, and perhaps to prepare for a specialized accreditation review or an institutional review. The demand for information from assessment has broadened its definition and purpose, now embracing the collection and analysis of student learning outcomes and other institutional outcomes, including cost-effectiveness, satisfaction, and the achievement of standards?all to determine the impact of educational programs, practices, and policies. Good information in the right hands can be a vitally important lever for change. When done well, assessment can provide a foundation for wise planning, budgeting, improvements to the curriculum, pedagogy, staffing, programming, and ensuring that resources are dedicated to what is most effective.

NSSE benchmarks and institutional outcomes: A note on the importance of considering the intended uses of a measure in validity studies
Pike, G.
Research in Higher Education, 54(2), 149–170, 2013.
Surveys play a prominent role in assessment and institutional research, and the NSSE College Student Report is one of the most popular surveys of enrolled undergraduates. Recent studies have raised questions about the validity of the NSSE survey. Although these studies have themselves been criticized, documenting the validity of an instrument requires an affirmative finding regarding the adequacy and appropriateness of score interpretation and use. Using national data from NSSE 2008, the present study found that the NSSE benchmarks provided dependable means for 50 or more students and were significantly related to important institutional outcomes such as retention and graduation rates.

Student and faculty member engagement in undergraduate research
Webber, K., Nelson Laird, T. F., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Research in Higher Education, 54(2), 227–249, 2013.
Undergraduate research (UR) is a valued co-curricular activity that has involved an increasing number of students and faculty members in recent years. While there is a growing body of research on student participation in UR, there is less research available examining faculty perceptions of, participation in UR, and how those factors influence student participation in UR. This study examined approximately 110,000 responses to the National Survey of Student Engagement and 40,000 responses to the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement at over 450 four-year institutions. Findings revealed that individual and institutional characteristics predicted student and faculty member involvement and that the majority of faculty members perceived UR to be of importance. Implications for fostering faculty involvement, student success, and viewing UR as an institutional asset are discussed.

Advancing the study of a movement: The status of methods and measures in first-year experience and student transition research
Kinzie, J.
The Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 25(2), 39–52, 2013.
The essay examines the variety of research methods and measures used in the first-year experience and students-in-transition field over the past 25 years. Interrogating the extant research, Kinzie explores whether the methods and analytic processes most commonly employed are adequate to advance our understanding of complex issues in the field. The author concludes with four recommendations for broadening understanding of the conditions that contribute to student learning and success: (a) adopting more varied and sophisticated research methods; (b) identifying more refined outcomes, especially outcomes focused on student learning; (c) expanding the populations of interest and selecting relevant methods and measures for examining their unique experiences; and (d) designing studies that help us understand more about the characteristics and structures of proven educational initiatives that contribute to positive student outcomes.

Estimating college student behavior frequencies: Do vague and enumerated estimation strategies yield similar results?
Cole, J. S., & Korkmaz, A.
Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 5(1), 58–71, 2013.
Purpose. Surveys that collect data regarding behavior estimates are found in many fields including, but not limited to, those that conduct consumer research, health studies, sexual behavior, drug use, political polls, and many types of education studies. These studies typically use either vague behavioral quantifiers as the response set, or enumerated response sets where the respondent needs to select or tally the target behavior, or a combination of both types. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between these two methods of estimating educationally related behaviors. Design/methodology/approach. Data for this study was taken from the 2010 administration of Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE), which is administered to incoming first?year students. Respondents included 30,964 first?year entering students from 81 higher education institutions in the USA. Data analysis was then carried out. Findings. This study found that the more frequent the behavior, the shorter the time frame the respondent uses when estimating the behavior using enumerated strategies. In addition, this study showed that for many educationally relevant behaviors vague quantifiers are associated with increasing enumerated responses for the same behavior showing that two behavioral estimates are providing consistent estimations of the same behavior. Another equally important finding is that there were few meaningful group differences regarding these estimates. Originality/value. Overall, the results from this study shed new light on interpreting behavior estimations using vague and enumerated responses.

First-year students’ psychological well-being and need for cognition: Are they important predictors of academic engagement?
Cole, J. S., & Korkmaz, A.
Journal of College Student Development, 54, 557–569, 2013.
This study focused on the dispositions of entering first-year students, their perceptions of classroom and institutional environments, and their subsequent academic engagement. Total variance explained by variables included in the path model for academic engagement was 30%. The results of this study found evidence to support the theoretical model that environment does mediate the relationship between two personality constructs (Need for Cognition and Psychological Well-Being) and academic engagement. Results of this study provide additional evidence that the environment matters and that institutions should continue to focus on creating supportive, positive environments that foster engagement.

Linking the assessment of student engagement to student success
Gonyea, R. M., BrckaLorenz, A., & Ribera, T.
In G. McLaughlin, R. Howard, J. McLaughlin, & W. E. Knight (Eds.) Building bridges for student success: A sourcebook for colleges and universities Norman, OK: Consortium for Student Retention Data Exchange, 2013.
In this chapter, we explore the conceptual foundations and measurement of student engagement and share studies that link student engagement to student success. We also provide examples from several institutions that use student engagement measures in formative assessment to improve their students‘ learning experiences. Finally, we look at the researcher‘s role in effectively using engagement data to create a culture of evidence that documents student success.

Making college count: An examination of quantitative reasoning activities in higher education
Rocconi, L. M., Lambert, A. D., McCormick, A. C., & Sarraf, S. A.
Numeracy, 6(2), Article 10, 2013.
Findings from national studies along with more frequent calls from those who employ college graduates suggest an urgent need for colleges and universities to increase opportunities for students to develop quantitative reasoning (QR) skills. To address this issue, the current study examines the relationship between the frequency of QR activities during college and student and institutional characteristics, as well as whether students at institutions with an emphasis on QR (at least one QR course requirement for all students) report more QR activity. Results show that gender, race-ethnicity, major, full-time status, first-generation status, age, institutional enrollment size, and institutional control are related to the frequency of QR activities. Findings also suggest that such activities are indeed more common among institutions that emphasize QR.
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Refreshing engagement: NSSE at 13
McCormick, A. C., Gonyea, R. M., & Kinzie, J.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(3), 6–15, 2013.
Thirteen years ago, 276 bachelor's-granting colleges and universities inaugurated a new approach to assessing college quality by participating in the first national administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The timing was right. Policymakers were growing increasingly impatient with an ongoing yet unsustainable pattern of cost escalation, skepticism was building about how much students were learning in college, and regional accreditors were ratcheting up their demands on colleges and universities to adopt assessment for purposes of improvement. Meanwhile, higher education's leaders were frustrated by the crude metrics dominating the discourse about college quality. It's been said that a dean at one of those early-adopting institutions enthusiastically proclaimed: ?Finally, a test I actually want to teach to!?NSSE introduced a simple yet effective reframing of the quality question: ask undergraduates about their educationally purposeful experiences. It incorporated several important design principles: emphasize behaviors that prior research found to be positively related to desired learning outcomes; emphasize actionable information?behaviors and experiences that institutions can influence; standardize survey sampling and administration to ensure comparability between institutions; provide participating institutions with comprehensive reports detailing their own students' responses relative to those at comparison institutions, plus an identified student data file to permit further analysis by the institution. NSSE was administered to first-year students and seniors, opening a window on quality at these ?bookends? of the undergraduate experience. In addition to reporting item-by-item results, the project created summary measures in the form of five ?Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice? that focused attention on key dimensions of quality in undergraduate education: level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, enriching educational experiences, and supportive campus environment. The new survey caught on fast. Annual participation now numbers 600?700 institutions, for a cumulative total of more than 1,500 colleges and universities in the US and Canada. What started as a bold experiment in changing the discourse about quality and improvement in undergraduate education?and providing metrics to inform that discourse?is now a trusted fixture in higher education's assessment landscape. High rates of repeat participation offer compelling testimony of the project's value. Of the first group of 276, 93 percent administered the survey in NSSE's tenth year or later. The Web-based survey is now offered as a census of first-year students and seniors, permitting disaggregated analyses by academic unit or demographic subgroup. In 2013, some 1.6 million undergraduates were invited to complete the survey, providing both valuable information for more than 620 participating campuses and a comprehensive look at student engagement across a wide variety of institutions. The 2013 administration marks the first major update of the survey since its inception. In the following pages, we summarize what we've learned over NSSE's first 13 years, why we're updating the survey, and new insights and diagnostic possibilities represented by these changes. Although NSSE's companion surveys, the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) and the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE), are incorporating parallel changes, here we focus on the changes to NSSE.
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Student engagement: Bridging research and practice to improve the quality of undergraduate education
McCormick, A. C., Kinzie, J., & Gonyea, R. M.
In M. B. Paulsen (Ed.) Higher education: Handbook of theory and research, Vol. 28 Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2013.
This chapter traces the development of student engagement as a research-informed intervention to shift the discourse on quality in higher education to emphasize matters of teaching and learning while providing colleges and universities with diagnostic, actionable information that can inform improvement efforts. The conceptual lineage of student engagement blends a set of related theoretical propositions (quality of effort, involvement, and integration) with practice-focused prescriptions for good practice in undergraduate education. The development of survey-based approaches to measuring student engagement is reviewed, including a treatment of recent criticisms of these approaches. Next, we summarize important empirical findings, including validation research, typological research, and research on institutional improvement. Because student engagement emerged as an intervention to inform educational improvement, we also present examples of how engagement data are being used at colleges and universities. The chapter concludes with a discussion of challenges and opportunities going forward.
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The Degree Qualifications Profile: What it is and why we need it now
Jankowski, N., Hutchings, P., Ewell, P. T., Kinzie, J., & Kuh, G. D.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 45(6), 6–14, 2013.
There is no shortage of challenges facing postsecondary institutions in the US. One that cuts to the core of the enterprise is whether they are preparing their graduates to live productive, civically responsible lives in a dynamic global marketplace mapped onto diverse, yet increasingly interdependent, social and cultural systems. Much of the evidence presented in recent Change articles suggests that what undergraduate students know and are able to do falls well short of what employers, policymakers, and educational leaders say is needed. Whether one accepts the available evidence as sufficient to draw such a sweeping conclusion ultimately rests on resolving two non-trivial issues. First, key stakeholders?those mentioned above and others, including students?must agree on the constellation of knowledge, skills, competencies, and dispositions that need to be signaled by postsecondary degrees and credentials if they are to be attuned to the demands of the times. Various individuals and groups representing business and education have issued sets of preferred outcomes. Perhaps best known are the Essential Learning Outcomes promulgated by the Association of American Colleges and Universities' (AAC&U) Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) campaign. But while there is considerable overlap in the attributes that various groups deem desirable, there is less agreement as to the expected level of proficiency associated with a given credential or degree (associate's, baccalaureate, and post-baccalaureate). Second, what evidence do we have that students have achieved the desired levels of proficiency in the respective outcome areas? Countries throughout the world?in Europe, Australasia, and Central and South America?have made considerable progress in addressing these challenges by developing degree qualifications frameworks that articulate what outcomes graduates of their colleges and universities should have, along with behaviorally anchored indicators and other measures that mark the extent to which students have acquired them. A handful of institutions in the US?such as Alverno College, the military academies, and Western Governor's University?have done something akin to this. But it is only recently that concerted efforts have been mounted to bring greater clarity and more widespread agreement about what credentials and degrees should represent by more precisely defining what college students in this country need to know and be able to do and at what level of proficiency. This paper is about the status and aspirations of one such effort, Lumina Foundation's Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP).Over the past 18 months, the staff of the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) and their colleagues at Public Agenda and Lumina Foundation have collected information from faculty and staff at scores of colleges and universities across the country, as well as from participants at various conferences and convenings, about how the DQP is being used. The DQP authors will take this information into account as they prepare a revised iteration of the document, which should be available in 2014. Drawing from our work as members of the NILOA team and on the perspective of Peter Ewell as one of the DQP authors, what follows is a brief overview of the DQP's defining features, a summary of general trends in its use, brief descriptions of several projects, and an analysis of the DQP's implications for assessment. We conclude with some comments about the promise of the DQP for both individual institutions and for higher education writ large.

Examining effective faculty practice: Teaching clarity and student engagement
BrckaLorenz, A., Ribera, T., Kinzie, J., & Cole, E. R.
To Improve the Academy, 31, 149–160, 2012.
As colleges and universities shift to a learning- centered paradigm, a growing emphasis is being placed on understanding which teaching practices are effective in promoting student learning (Barr & Tagg, 1995). Reviewing the literature, there are varying ideas on what constitutes effective teaching; however, one that is often referenced when discussing the characteristics of effective teaching is teaching clarity (Feldman, 1989; Hativa, Barak, & Simhi, 2001; Sherman et al., 1987). Teaching clarity can be thought of as a teaching method where faculty demonstrate a level of transparency in their approach to instruction and goal setting in an effort to help students better understand expectations and comprehend subject matter (Ginsberg, 2007b). This includes providing examples and summarizing key points of lectures (Chesebro & McCroskey, 2001; Myers & Knox, 2001). Teaching clarity has been shown to have a positive effect on key outcomes of an undergraduate education (see Chesebro & McCroskey, 2001; Myers & Knox, 2001; Pascarella, Edison, Nora, Hagedorn, & Braxton, 1996). Unfortunately, little is known about the extent to which students are exposed to specific teaching clarity behaviors and the relationship to other important elements of an undergraduate education, such as student engagement, deep learning, and self-reported gains.

An engagement-based student typology and its relationship to college outcomes
Hu, S., & McCormick, A. C.
Research in Higher Education, 53, 738–754, 2012.
Using data from the 2006 cohort of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we developed a student typology based on student responses to survey items on the National Survey of Student Engagement. We then examined the utility of this typology in understanding direct-assessment learning outcomes, self-reported gains, grade-point average, and persistence from the first to second year of college. Results from linear and logistic regression models indicated there were relationships between student types and the various outcomes, and that an engagement-based student typology could help deepen our understanding of the college student experience and college outcomes.

Examining the relationship between student learning and persistence
Hu, S., McCormick, A. C., & Gonyea, R. M.
Innovative Higher Education, 37, 387–395, 2012.
Using data from the 2006 cohort of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, we developed a student typology based on student responses to survey items on the National Survey of Student Engagement. We then examined the utility of this typology in understanding direct-assessment learning outcomes, self-reported gains, grade-point average, and persistence from the first to second year of college. Results from linear and logistic regression models indicated there were relationships between student types and the various outcomes, and that an engagement-based student typology could help deepen our understanding of the college student experience and college outcomes.

Financial stress affects academics for college students, survey finds
National Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2012.
Findings illuminate how financial challenges affect college students. A majority of students surveyed worry about paying for college, and as many as one in three frequently opt not to purchase required academic materials due to cost. Full-time students working more than 20 hours per week face the greatest financial stress: three in five said that their job interfered with their academic performance, yet just as many had considered working more hours.
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Going deep into mechanisms for moral reasoning growth: How deep learning approaches affect moral reasoning development for first-year students
Mayhew, M. J., Seifert, T. A., Pascarella, E. T., Nelson Laird, T. F., & Blaich, C. F.
Research in Higher Education, 53, 26–46, 2012.
The purpose of this paper was to determine the effects of deep approaches to learning on the moral reasoning development of 1,457 first-year students across 19 institutions. Results showed a modest positive relationship between our measures of deep approaches to learning and moral reasoning at the end of the first year of college even after controlling for precollege moral reasoning. After accounting for a host of demographic and relevant student characteristics and for the natural clustering of students, we found that the integrative learning subscale, which captures students' participation in activities designed to integrate information from varied sources and diverse perspectives, positively affected moral reasoning among first-year students. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.

High-impact practices: Promoting participation for all students
Kinzie, J.
Diversity & Democracy, 15(3), 13–14, 2012.
Certain educational activities, such as learning communities, undergraduate research, study abroad, and service learning, have been identified as high-impact practices (HIPs) because they engage students in active learning that elevates their performance on desired outcomes (NSSE 2007; Kuh 2008). When done well, these practices require students to make their own discoveries and connections, grapple with challenging real-world questions, and address complex problems?all necessary skills if students are to become engaged and effective members of their communities. The strong positive effects of several HIPs are well-documented in extant research about programs that support student learning. Brownell and Swaner conclude that high-impact practices ?live up to their name,? noting a wide range of benefits for participants (2009, 30). Participation in HIPs, including those that emphasize civic engagement, has powerful educational benefits for all students. These kinds of educational experiences are especially powerful for students who may be the first in their family to attend college, and those who are historically underserved in postsecondary education. This article briefly introduces the benefits of HIPs, examines participation in them, and suggests approaches to making these valuable practices more widespread to advance educational equity and social justice goals.

Investigating social desirability bias in student self-report surveys
Miller, A. L.
Educational Research Quarterly, 36(1), 30-47, 2012.
The frequent use of student self-report surveys in higher education calls into question the possibility of social desirability having an unwanted influence on responses. This research explores the potential presence of social desirability bias with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), a widely used assessment of student behaviors. Correlations between a short social desirability scale and NSSE benchmarks, subscales, and selected items suggest that the majority of scores have no significant relationship with a measure of social desirability. A series of regression models controlling for demographic variables produce similar results. Effect sizes and estimates of explained variance are also discussed.

Lessons from the field—Volume 2: Moving from data to action
National Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University School of Education, 2012.
In this publication we highlight approaches different types of institutions have taken to improve the undergraduate experience. Because NSSE focuses on student behavior and effective educational practice, colleges and universities have found many productive ways to use survey results: accreditation self-studies, benchmarking, curricular reform, faculty and staff development, grant writing, institutional research, retention, and state system comparisons. The stories about data use illustrate various ways that assessment can be a worthwhile undertaking when meaningful data are generated and discussed with a wide campus audience, and results are used to inform efforts to improve educational effectiveness. Understanding how colleges and universities use results and achieve improvements in undergraduate education is important. to advancing systemic improvement in higher education. The examples in this volume provide ample inspiration for encouraging institutions to move from collecting data to taking action.
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Optimizing high-impact educational practices in the senior year
Kinzie, J.
In M. S. Hunter, J. R. Keup, J. Kinzie, & H. Maietta (Eds.) The senior year: Culminating experiences and transitions Columbia, SC: National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience Students in Transition, 2012.
This chapter addresses how high-impact practices can be used to improve institutional efforts in supporting seniors.

Understanding undergraduate students’ experience: A content analysis using NSSE open-ended comments as an example
Chambers, T., & Chiang, C.-H.
Quality & Quantity, 46, 1113–1123, 2012.
This study demonstrates how a qualitative content analysis method may be used to help understand undergraduate students‘ experience. We examine and rationalize the methodological concerns regarding content analysis of open-ended comments in the qualitative study. We describe a data analysis technique, using qualitative responses from National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) as an example, and highlight the findings in a thematic way to convey how undergraduate students perceive issues that challenge them to develop skills, awareness, and confidence, as well as the potential factors that influence student engagement and future success. Finally, we provide potentials of how these findings can be utilized to improve student experience, limitations of this study as well as suggestions for future research.
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Will these trees ever bear fruit? A response to the special issue on student engagement
McCormick, A. C., & McClenney, K.
The Review of Higher Education, 35(2), 307–333, 2012.
There is broad consensus that U.S. higher education needs to do better. Researchers, policymakers, and practitioners have called attention to a range of challenges: too many students enter college unprepared for college-level work, yet many developmental programs are little more than revolving doors; too many students who begin college never graduate, often accumulating considerable debt; the most rapid enrollment growth is among the groups that higher education has historically served least well?so institutions have to do more to ensure their students‘ success; students‘ development of generalized critical-thinking and problem-solving skills falls short of what we want and need; we are not producing enough graduates in science, technology, engineering, and math; cost escalation is unsustainable, with most of the growth occurring outside of core educational functions; and the United States is losing ground to other countries with regard to postsecondary degree attainment. And as we confront these challenges, the national understanding of college quality is dominated by beauty contests that privilege reputation and resources over teaching and learning. The higher education research community has the capacity to contribute to our understanding of and response to these challenges. Indeed, scholars have engaged with many of them. Any could justifiably serve as the organizing theme for a special issue of one of the field‘s leading scholarly journals. Given the range of important topics where systematic, focused scholarly treatment could advance both research and practice, we find it curious that student engagement trumps these subjects as meriting a special issue of the Association for the Study of Higher Education‘s signature scholarly journal. We might be flattered that our work is seen as deserving such attention, but we are instead dismayed that the ?special issue on student engagement? was in fact devoted to critiques focused exclusively on the two university-based research and service projects that we direct; that it included no contributions from scholars with a record of inquiry on student engagement; and that we had no opportunity to respond to the critique in the special issue itself so as to better advance scholarly discourse and professional practice. While our projects have always welcomed reasoned critique (continuous improvement based on feedback is a hallmark of both projects), we find these precedents worrisome. We are nevertheless grateful for the opportunity to submit this response after the fact. In the following pages, we situate our response relative to the long-decried disconnect between higher education research and practice, a gap that our respective projects attempt to bridge. We offer brief comments about the Olivas preface, mostly to correct factual errors and omissions, and then provide more detailed responses to the substantive critiques in the articles by Porter; Dowd, Sawatzky, and Korn; Campbell and Cabrera; and Nora, Crisp, and Matthews (all 2011).
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An investigation of the contingent relationships between learning community participation and student engagement
Pike, G. R., Kuh, G. D., & McCormick, A. C.
Research in Higher Education, 52, 300–322, 2011.
This study examined the contingent relationships between learning community participation and student engagement in educational activities inside and outside the classroom using data from the 2004 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Results indicated that learning community participation was positively and significantly related to student engagement, both for first-year students and seniors. For some types of engagement, relationships were significantly stronger for seniors than for first-year students. Analyses also revealed there was substantial variability across institutions in the magnitude of the relationships between learning community participation and first-year students' levels of engagement. Although institutional characteristics accounted for some of the variability across institutions, a substantial amount of the variability in engagement-learning community relationships remained unexplained.

Career and technical education students who transition to four-year institutions: An exploratory study
Qi, W., & Cole, J. S.
The Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 23, 75–92, 2011.
Each year more students with career and technical education (CTE) backgrounds are transitioning to four-year institutions. This exploratory study investigated differences between CTE, community college transfers and native (nontransfer) students at four-year institutions in regard to how they balance their time and their academic engagement patterns. An important finding of this study was that CTE students, when compared to traditional nontransfer students and community college transfers, spent equal amounts of time studying and demonstrated equal or significantly greater levels of academic engagement. The findings also provide the higher education community much needed information regarding the CTE students‘ transition to college.
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Clearing the air about the use of self-reported gains in institutional research
Gonyea, R. M., & Miller, A.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2011(150), 99–111, 2011.
Correlations between self-reported learning gains and direct, longitudinal measures that ostensibly correspond in content area are generally inadequate. This chapter clarifies that self-reported measures of learning are more properly used and interpreted as evidence of students' perceived learning and affective outcomes. In this context, the authors supply evidence that social desirability bias in such self-assessments does not constitute a significant concern. Recommendations for use of self-reported gains in research and institutional assessment are discussed.

Establishing differences between diversity requirements and other courses with varying degrees of diversity inclusivity
Nelson Laird, T. F., & Engberg, M. E.
The Journal of General Education, 60, 117–137, 2011.
This study examines how diversity requirements differ from courses that are highly inclusive or less inclusive of diversity. Results suggest that instructor characteristics are statistically different and that highly inclusive and less inclusive diversity courses score highest and lowest, respectively, on measures of effective teaching compared with required diversity courses.

Gender gaps in collegiate teaching style: Variations by course characteristics
Nelson Laird, T. F., Garver, A. K., & Niskod�-Dossett, A.S.
Research in Higher Education, 52, 261–277, 2011.
Using data from over 9,000 faculty members that participated in the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), this study examined the moderating role a range of course characteristics played on the effects of gender on the percentage of class time spent on various activities, a measure of teaching style. Results revealed gender differences, but that the gaps between men and women in lecturing and active classroom practices varied by disciplinary area, course level, and the number of times a course had been taught by the same instructor. The results confirm that gender effects depend on context, which implies that efforts to improve teaching and learning must also adapt to the instructional context.

If and when money matters: The relationships among educational expenditures, student engagement, and students’ learning outcomes
Pike, G. R., Kuh, G. D., McCormick, A. C., Ethington, C. A., & Smart, J. C.
Research in Higher Education, 52, 81–106, 2011.
Calls for accountability in higher education are prompted in part by questions concerning whether colleges and universities use their resources effectively to promote student learning. Unfortunately, too little is known about whether money matters to desired outcomes of college. Using students‘ responses to the 2004 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in concert with institutional data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Board, this study examined the relationships between educational expenditures, student engagement and selected student self-reported learning outcomes, controlling for student and institutional characteristics. Results indicated that expenditures were modestly related to student engagement and learning outcomes. However, the nature of these relationships differed, depending on the engagement/outcome measure and student year in school.

Institutional encouragement of and faculty engagement in the scholarship of teaching and learning
Nelson Laird, T. F., & Ribera, T.
To Improve the Academy, 30, 112–125, 2011.
Nelson Laird and Ribera examine institutional encouragement of and faculty engagement in SoTL across forty-nine U.S. colleges and universities. Their results suggest that institutional encouragement of and faculty engagement in the public dissemination of teaching investigations lag behind encouragement and engagement in other aspects of SoTL.

It’s about time: What to make of reported declines in how much college students study
McCormick, A. C.
Liberal Education, 97(1), 30–39, 2011.
A substantial body of research affirms the commonsense notion that involvement in academic work and quality of effort pay off: the more students engage in educationally purposeful activities, the more they learn. An important element is how much time students invest in studying. Yet while time is important, it is increasingly clear that how students spend their study time also matters. Spending many hours memorizing facts in order to perform well on an exam may earn a good grade, but it is not likely to result in long-term retention or the ability to apply what was learned in novel situations. A recent longitudinal analysis of student performance on the open-ended performance task of the Collegiate Learning Assessment, administered to the same students at the beginning of the first year and at the end of the sophomore year, found that hours spent studying alone corresponded to improved performance, but hours spent studying with peers did not. While we should not ignore the importance of how study time is used, this article focuses on the simple question of how much full-time college students study, whether study time has declined, and if so, what may account for the decline.
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Measuring the diversity inclusivity of college courses
Nelson Laird, T. F.
Research in Higher Education, 52, 572–588, 2011.
Most studies of curricular diversity have focused on the effects of participation in diversity courses on student outcomes. Though the results have been positive, these studies have used limited measures of curricular diversity and there is a great need for a complimentary body of research demonstrating what faculty and what types of courses are more likely to include diversity. This study relies on 12 diversity inclusivity items derived from a comprehensive model of how diversity is included into a course to investigate how much diversity is being included in collegiate courses and what predicts diversity inclusivity, as measured by two scales: diverse grounding and inclusive learning. The results, based on 7,101 responses from faculty participating in the 2007 Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, suggest that most faculty are including diversity in their courses in some way, but that women and faculty of color tend to include diversity to a greater extent than their colleagues. Also, courses taught in the soft fields are more likely to be inclusive of diversity.

STEM/non-STEM differences in engagement at U.S. institutions
Nelson Laird, T. F., McCormick, A. C., Sullivan, D. F., & Zimmerman, C. K.
Peer Review, 13(3), 23–26, 2011.
A recent paper by one of us (Nelson Laird) and some colleagues brought some sobering news of differences between STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and non-STEM undergraduates with regard to approaches to learning that promote more complex, deeper understanding. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), Nelson Laird and colleagues examined disciplinary differences in the extent to which students are exposed to educational environments that promote deep approaches to learning. These approaches to learning are important because ?[s]tudents who use deep approaches to learning tend to perform better as well as retain, integrate, and transfer information at higher rates than students using surface approaches to student learning? (Nelson Laird, Shoup, Kuh, and Schwarz 2008, 470). Nelson Laird and colleagues found?using models with extensive statistical controls?that, nationally, STEM faculty generally use pedagogies that encourage higher-order, integrative, and reflective learning significantly less than faculty in non-STEM fields and, not coincidently, STEM seniors experience ?deep approaches to learning? less than seniors in non-STEM fields (for descriptions of the three measures, see Nelson Laird et al. 2008). The differences were small for Higher-Order Learning, the scale that is concerned with analysis, synthesis, and judgment regarding evidence?relatively good news?but quite large for the Integrative and Reflective Learning scales. The study by Nelson Laird and colleagues is a part of a larger body of work about students engaging in educationally purposeful activities?those educational practices known to positively influence valued educational outcomes, activities such as active and collaborative learning and those that involve much student?faculty interaction, as noted in many of the articles in this issue of Peer Review. We know of the positive impact of pedagogies of engagement not only on general student learning, but also on STEM learning, from years of research. It is discouraging that, nationally, faculty in STEM fields tend to have lower expectations for integrative and reflective learning relative to other faculty, and that results from seniors reflect those differences. The Integrative Learning scale assesses how often students use ideas from various sources and courses, include diverse perspectives in class discussions or writing assignments, and discuss ideas from readings or classes with faculty members and others outside of class. The Reflective Learning scale is a combination of responses to questions about trying out different perspectives and thinking about one‘s own beliefs. The kinds of intellectual self-reflection skills these questions are about are surely as important in the STEM disciplines as they are in other disciplines, but we see that STEM majors have far fewer opportunities to develop these skills than students in other majors. Indeed, one might argue that it is especially in STEM that students should acquire these skills, given the way empirical evidence tends to be seen as harder in science than in other disciplines. Discovering a bad premise or assumption and being open to other interpretations are just as important in STEM disciplines as elsewhere. These results caused us to want to look more closely at STEM/non-STEM differences and to determine whether there are circumstances where STEM seniors buck the general trends and are as engaged or more engaged than their non-STEM peers.

Student learning in fraternities and sororities: Using NSSE data to describe members’ participation in educationally meaningful activities in college
Bureau, D., Ryan, H. G., Ahren, C., Shoup, R., & Torres, V.
Oracle, 6(1), 1–22, 2011.
The benefits and challenges for college students involved in social fraternities and sororities have long been sources of heated discussion among higher education constituents. A liberal education is meant to incorporate elements of critical thinking, diverse experiences, and challenging and enriching interactions with peers and educators. Past research indicates that involvement in a fraternity or sorority has had some positive effect in these areas, especially as students persist at their chosen institutions. This study uses data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to explore indicators of student learning among senior members of social fraternities and sororities. Regression analyses controlling for conditional variables indicated that students in these groups report higher involvement in critical developmental practices and larger gains in important educational areas than their unaffiliated counterparts. Limitations and implications of the study are discussed.
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In their own words: Understanding the undergraduate student experience at the University of Toronto
Office of the Vice Provost, Students, & First-Entry Divisions, University of Toronto.
Toronto, ON, Canada: , 2010.

Accuracy of self-reported SAT and ACT test scores: Implications for research
Cole, J. S., & Gonyea, R. M.
Research in Higher Education, 51(4), 305–319, 2010.
Because it is often impractical or impossible to obtain school transcripts or records on subjects, many researchers rely on college students to accurately self-report their academic record as part of their data collection procedures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the validity and reliability of student self-reported academic performance. As expected the study finds overall validity of self-reported test scores to be high. However, correlations between self-reported and actual SAT scores are significantly lower than correlations for self-reported and actual ACT Composite scores. This study also confirms prior research which found that when students are inaccurate in reporting their scores, a disproportionate number of them over-report their scores. Also consistent with other studies, this study finds that lower achieving students for both tests are much less accurate when reporting their scores.
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Student success in college: Creating conditions that matter
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., & Whitt, E. J.
New York, NY: Wiley, 2010.
Student Success in College describes policies, programs, and practices that a diverse set of institutions have used to enhance student achievement. This book clearly shows the benefits to student learning and educational effectiveness that can be realized when these conditions are present. Based on the Documenting Effective Educational Practice (DEEP) project from the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University, this book provides concrete examples from 20 institutions that other colleges and universities can learn from and adapt to help create a success-oriented campus culture and learning environment.
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How effective are the NSSE benchmarks in predicting important educational outcomes?
Pascarella, E. T., Seifert, T. A., & Blaich, C.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Education, 42(1), 16–22, 2010.
Pursuant to a subcontract from the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College, the Center for Research on Undergraduate Education at the University of Iowa analyzed institution-level data from the first year of the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education to estimate the validity of the NSSE benchmarks in predicting seven traits and skills thought to be the outcomes of a general liberal arts education. Our study measured those outcomes directly; it also addressed the limitations of past research on the NSSE by using a longitudinal pre-test-post-test approach. No other investigation of which we are aware provides such a comprehensive validation of the NSSE benchmark scales.
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A comparison of student and faculty academic technology use across disciplines
Guidry, K. R., & BrckaLorenz, A.
EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 33(3), , 2010.
Our study extends the research into faculty and student use of contemporary academic technologies by asking five questions: How often do students report using academic technologies? How often do faculty report using academic technologies? Do students in different disciplines use these technologies more or less than their peers? Do faculty in different disciplines use these technologies more or less than their peers? Are there noticeable differences between how often students and faculty use these technologies? Our study examined responses to a pair of surveys ? the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) ? administered in the spring of 2009.

Assessment for advancement
McCormick, A. C.
CASE Currents, 36(3), 11–12, 2010.

Comparing the undergraduate experience of engineers to all other majors: Significant differences are programmatic
Lichtenstein, G., McCormick, A. C., Sheppard, S. D., & Puma, J.
Journal of Engineering Education, 99(4), 305–317, 2010.
This paper examines the experiences of students in undergraduate engineering compared to students in other fields, using responses on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). NSSE is a cross-sectional survey that is widely used by four-year undergraduate institutions in the United States and Canada, with adaptations for use in Australia, China, New Zealand, and South Africa. The data analyzed in this paper reflect responses from a longitudinal sample of nearly 12,000 U.S. students, representing a wide range of majors, who took the NSSE survey as first-year students and then again as seniors. Using NSSE variables, we explored the extent to which the collegiate experiences of engineering majors compared to the collegiate experiences of non-engineering majors with respect to student engagement. We also compared the experiences of those who persisted in engineering, those who left engineering to pursue another major, and those who migrated into engineering from another major. Finally, we developed a predictive model for engineering persistence based on students‘ reported educational experiences and demographic characteristics. We found that, in most ways, the undergraduate experiences of engineering majors are similar to the experiences of students who major in other disciplines. However, in some key areas, the experiences of engineering students are very different.

Foreword
Kinzie, J.
In J. Melius (Ed.) Student engagement as a factor in academic achievement: The case study of undergraduates at Norfolk State University, Virginia New York, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2010.

Here's looking at you: Transparency, institutional self-presentation, and the public interest
McCormick, A. C.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 42(6), 35–43, 2010.
Accountability figures prominently in the higher education policy discourse these days. Critics of higher education (for instance, members of the Spellings Commission) argue that colleges and universities need to be more ?transparent? to justify support by taxpayers, payers of tuition, and other funders. To better inform prospective students and other stakeholders, we are being asked to go public about our programs, educational processes, and results. But transparency can be about more than consumer information. It can provide an opportunity for a college or university to proclaim its successes while acknowledging that it needs to improve in some areas. Information about results can also document progress toward important goals. For internal audiences, this kind of information focuses attention and signals priorities for improvement, while for external observers it offers evidence that the academy takes its educational mission seriously and practices what it preaches regarding the use of evidence to support assertions, interpretations, conclusions, and prescriptions for action. Such openness is risky for several reasons, though. Revealing shortcomings invites negative consequences, whether from a legislature that may be seeking ways to cut budgets or to demonstrate a hard-nosed commitment to quality, from competitors seeking to exploit vulnerabilities, from alumni or other constituents on the lookout for evidence of a decline in standards, and so on. As a result, ?transparency? is sometimes a euphemism for what might be more accurately described as strategic communication or image management, in which information is carefully selected and presented so as to portray a successful and effective institution. This should come as no surprise. A persistent, paradoxical, and problematic characteristic of accountability systems in general is that they create a powerful incentive for those being held accountable ?to look as good as possible, regardless of the underlying performance? (Ewell, 2009, p. 7). In this article, I examine various forms of public reporting of student engagement information. Some are controlled by third parties and others by the institutions themselves. I look at four third-party efforts: the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), the Voluntary System of Accountability (VSA), Transparency by Design (TbD), and the institutionally authorized online publication of results from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) by the daily newspaper USA TODAY (USAT). (See Resources for links to these Web sites.) The Center for Community College Student Engagement (which houses CCSSE) recently introduced a new survey focused on the early experience of entering community college students; while this review focuses on CCSSE, it applies equally to the Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE), which uses a comparable reporting framework.
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How gender and race moderate the effect of interactions across difference on student perceptions of the campus environment
Nelson Laird, T. F., & Niskod�-Dossett, A. S.
The Review of Higher Education, 33(3), 333–356, 2010.
Relying on data from 37,122 first-year students and 42,285 seniors who participated in the 2006 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement, this study illustrates how student interactions across difference positively affect student perceptions of the campus environment. The magnitude of the effect of these interactions varies meaningfully by racial/ethnic group, but not by gender.

Perspectives from campus leaders on the current state of student learning outcomes assessment.
Kinzie, J.
Assessment Update, 22(5), 1–2, 14–15, 2010.
The assessment of student learning outcomes is of keen interest to the federal government, accrediting bodies, and education associations and policymakers. Colleges and universities have been under increased pressured to demonstrate accountability for student learning and be more transparent about dimensions of educational quality. Although institutions are responding to these demands, it is not altogether clear where learning outcomes assessment ranks in importance on institutions‘ action agenda, or the extent to which colleges and universities are using assessment results to make real improvements in the quality of student learning. The National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) is a multiyear effort to understand and further the student learning outcomes agenda nationally. One of NILOA‘s primary activities is tracking the journey of higher education institutions responding to the challenge of outcomes assessment. To this end, NILOA conducts surveys, focus groups, and case studies to learn more about what colleges and universities are doing to assess student learning and how they are using the results. This paper highlights lessons from four focus group sessions with campus leaders ? presidents, provosts, academic deans and directors of institutional research from a variety of two- and four-year institutions ? regarding their perspectives on the state of learning assessment practices on their campuses. The perceptions are considered in relation to findings from the 2009 NILOA survey report, More Than You Think, Less than We Need: Learning Outcomes Assessment in Higher Education. The perspectives of campus leaders provide first-hand accounts of a range of student learning outcomes activities on campus and help contextualize results from the 2009 NILOA survey. Focus group findings illustrate the extent to which assessment has taken hold on campus, explicate the role of accreditation and the responsibility of faculty in student learning outcomes assessment, and showcase how assessment has been furthered on campuses. The institutional examples of innovative assessment practices, particularly those that involve faculty in meaningful ways and lead to institutional improvements, and the promising ways that assessment has been woven into administrative structures and processes, are instructive for advancing understanding of what is happening on the ground at colleges and universities. The paper concludes by articulating questions and challenges raised by campus leaders including reservations about identifying and using assessment measures, issues of transparency and communicating results, and concerns about financing assessment. As the demand for greater emphasis on student learning outcomes assessment intensifies, it is important to document both the successes and challenges associated with campus efforts to respond. Campus leaders provide an important perspective on what is most likely to help assessment efforts grow and deepen in institutions.

Research and discovery across the curriculum
Elrod, S., Kinzie, J., & Husic, D.
Peer Review, 12(2), 4–8, 2010.
The national conversation on undergraduate research is gaining momentum, in part because of its identification as one of the ten high-impact educational practices identified in an analysis of data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (Kuh 2008). However, the trend is not new; the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) has been a leading proponent of undergraduate research for the past thirty years. According to CUR, undergraduate research is ?an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.? Ramirez and Hoagland (2003) state that faculty and students should be encouraged to ??collaborate as partners in their explorations of uncharted intellectual terrain. The symbiosis established between the faculty member and undergraduate collaborator energizes and informs the faculty member‘s teaching and research while simultaneously introducing the student to the joys of discovery as well as to lessons in persistence, problem-solving and critical thinking.? Thus, it is as much a matter of effective teaching and learning as it is a matter of research and scholarship. In STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines, Project Kaleidoscope, working over the past twenty years to advance effective STEM education, has also played a role. The National Science Foundation‘s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) programs and various scientific societies have also helped to promote, support, and highlight the work of undergraduate researchers. Many funding agencies, philanthropic foundations and other organizations have also touted and supported the educational benefits of undergraduate research across all disciplines for decades, including the National Humanities Alliance, which holds an annual Humanities Advocacy Day. Undergraduate research experiences are also held in high regard by faculty members: more than 50 percent of faculty members reported on the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) that participation in a research project with a faculty member is important for students (National Survey of Student Engagement 2008). Students in all disciplines are also increasingly calling for such experiences (Society of Physics Students 2008). In this article, we provide an analysis of the value of undergraduate research and suggest that its essence be used to infuse a pedagogy of research and discovery into courses across the curriculum for a more relevant, real-world, research-rich educational experience.

Student engagement and a culture of assessment
Kinzie, J.
In G. Kramer & R. Swing (Eds.) Higher education assessments: Leadership matters Lanham, MD: Rowman Littlefield, 2010.
The author asserts that many campuses have made significant advances in assessment practices that drive improvements in student learning and success. This chapter introduces a framework for assessment based on student engagement and success, then highlights nine characteristics of campus assessment activities associated with improvements to student learning. For convenience, characteristics are grouped according to their focus on 1. strong leadership, 2. inclusive involvement, or 3. outcomes-based program function. Most institutions still find it hard to use evidence for systematic improvement, and few report having well-developed assessment plans to sustain a culture of assessment. Fortunately, effective and inspirational models have been developed by many institutions that have adopted an effective student engagement framework for assessing and improving the conditions for students' success leading to improvements in their learning. In this chapter, the lessons learned from 20 educationally effective institutions are reexamined in light of information from additional institutions that have advanced a framework for student engagement and success.

Student engagement and learning: Experiences that matter
Kinzie, J.
In J. C. Hughes & J. Mighty (Eds.) Taking stock: Research on teaching and learning in higher education Montreal, Quebec/Kingston, ON, Canada: McGill-Queen?s University Press, 2010.
The author presents an overview of the current research on student engagement and learning. Taking into account decades of work on the subject, she concludes that ?engagement is . . . a robust proxy? for learning. More specifically, in a ?host of studies,? measures of student engagement correlate positively with measures of student learning. More plainly, when students are engaged, they are usually learning?and vice versa. The obvious pedagogical takeaway: We are encouraged to engage students more and to engage them more deeply. In other words, ?Engaging pedagogies matter . . .? (p. 151). In addition to this broad affirmation of efforts to engage students in the learning process, Kinzie proposes four specific propositions for how we should apply the research on student engagement and learning: 1. Expectations matter to student learning and success, particularly in the first year of university; 2. Stimulating educational experiences and certain ?high-impact? practices raise student learning and impart greater benefit to all students; 3. What faculty emphasize and think is important to learning and influences what students do; and 4. Educators must be concerned with the total learning environment, inside and outside the classroom.

The effect of teaching general education courses on deep approaches to learning: How disciplinary context matters
Nelson Laird, T. F., & Garver, A. K.
Research in Higher Education, 51, 248–265, 2010.
Building on work examining differences in the emphasis faculty place on effective educational practices, this study uses data from nearly 8,000 faculty members from the 2007 Faculty Survey of Student Engagement to explore how disciplinary area moderates the effect of teaching a general education course (GEC) on the emphasis faculty place on deep approaches to learning. Results showed that the GEC effect was strongest in hard-applied-life fields and weakest in hard-pure-life and soft-applied-life fields, suggesting that proponents of general education reform need to temper their efforts by a clearer understanding of disciplinary differences.

Using longitudinal data to improve the experiences and engagement of first-year students
Cole, J. S., & Korkmaz, A.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2010(Assessment Supplement), 43–52, 2010.
This chapter describes how campuses can use longitudinal data to investigate and improve the experiences and engagement patterns of their first-year students. The chapter has two goals. The first is to briefly describe the relationship between precollege student characteristics such as students‘ high school engagement and their engagement expectations for the first year of college with students‘ subsequent first-year engagement and experiences. The second is to present concrete examples of how campuses can use longitudinal data to better understand the experiences and engagement patterns of their first-year students.
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What I hear you saying is... : Analysis of student comments from the NSSE
Chambers, T.
College Student Journal, 44(1), 3–24, 2010.
A major challenge of assessing students' experiences in postsecondary education is collecting an array of information that inform institutions about what students do and how they make meaning of their experiences during their time in particular educational environments. While the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is highly respected and broadly administered throughout higher education, most, if not all, of the analyses of NSSE data have been conducted on the quantitative responses to its survey items. Very little attention is given to students' responses to the open-ended question at the end of the NSSE survey, "Do you have any other comments?" This study explored the open-ended responses undergraduate students provided on the NSSE regarding their engagement with educationally purposeful activities at a large urban research institution. Content analyses were conducted on 739 coded responses from students, yielding 10 thematic categories organized into 4 experience domains. Additionally the study explored the distinctions among the categorical and domain responses across and among the nine colleges/faculties within the study institution. Potential implications, limitations and opportunities related to the study findings are discussed as well. (Contains 2 tables.)

Work during college: Its relationship to student engagement and education outcomes
McCormick, A. C., Moore, J. V. III, & Kuh, G. D.
In In L. W. Perna (Ed.) Understanding the working college student: New research and its implications for policy and practice Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2010.
Research discussed in this chapter found that working either on campus or off campus is positively connected to several proportions of student engagement, particularly for full-time students. Specifically, students working more than 20 hours per week had the biggest gains on student engagement. First-year students were more likely to work longer hours and to work off campus more frequently than other students. Compared to students who had a parent with a bachelor‘s degree, a significant share of first-generation students worked more than 20 hours per week (e.g., among freshmen, 20% of first-generation students versus 10% second- or older-generation students worked and among seniors, 39% of first-generation students versus 25%second- or older-generation). Furthermore, first-generation seniors were twice as likely as their peers with college-educated parents to work at least 30 hours per week (20% versus 10%). Thus, with so many college students working, it is imperative that faculty and staff become more informed about the relationship between employment and both student engagement and educational outcomes.

Analyzing and interpreting NSSE data
Chen, P.-S. D., Gonyea, R. M., Sarraf, S. A., BrckaLorenz, A., Korkmaz, A., Lambert, A. D., Shoup, R., & Williams, J. M.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141, Special Issue), 35–54, 2009.
Colleges and universities in the United States are being challenged to assess student outcomes and the quality of programs and services (McPherson & Shulenburger, 2006; Commission on the Future of Higher Education, 2006). One of the more widely used sources of evidence is student engagement as measured by a cluster of student engagement surveys administered by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University. They include the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and its companion projects: the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement, Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, and Law School Survey of Student Engagement. The University of Texas?Austin hosts the two-year variation of the NSSE, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement. With more than 1,300 colleges and universities using NSSE, many institutional researchers may benefit from guidance about how to understand and use these data. This chapter shares practical tips and recommendations for the analysis and interpretation of NSSE data. We divided the chapter into three parts. The first offers six overarching tips and recommendations for working with student engagement data. We then discuss considerations for the analysis of multiple years of student engagement data. Finally, we describe how effect sizes can be used and interpreted to make student engagement results more meaningful. Although we use NSSE data and examples throughout the chapter, institutional researchers can almost always extrapolate the suggestions we provide to other student experience surveys. Instead of technical discussions of such topics as scale construction and factor analysis, we focus on practical, concrete data manipulations and applications for the analytical work of the institutional research professional.

Comparing the utility of the 2000 and 2005 Carnegie classification systems in research on students’ college experiences and outcomes.
McCormick, A. C., Pike, G. R., Kuh, G. D., & Chen, P. D.
Research in Higher Education, 50(2), 144–167, 2009.
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Converting engagement results into action
Kinzie, J., & Pennipede, B. S.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141), 83–96, 2009.

Editor's notes
Gonyea, R. M., & Kuh, G. D.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141, Special Issue), 1–4, 2009.

Effectively involving faculty in the assessment of student engagement
Nelson Laird, T. F., Smallwood, R., Niskod�-Dossett, A. S., & Garver, A. K.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141), 71–81, 2009.

Independent colleges and student engagement: Descriptive analysis by institutional type
BrckaLorenz, A., Ribera, T., & Gonyea, R. M.
(A 2009 NSSE special analysis update for the Council of Independent Colleges). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2009.

Individual and environmental effects of part-time enrollment status on student-faculty interaction and self-reported gains
Nelson Laird, T. F., & Cruce, T. M.
The Journal of Higher Education, 80, 290–314, 2009.

Lessons from the field—Volume 1: Using NSSE to assess and improve undergraduate education
National Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Center for Postsecondary Research, Indiana University School of Education, 2009.
Assessment is a worthwhile undertaking when meaningful data are generated, evidence-based improvement initiatives are thoroughly considered and discussed, and results are ultimately used to improve educational effectiveness. NSSE results are oriented toward such practical use. Each year, more campuses use their NSSE results in innovative ways to improve the undergraduate experience. In this publication we highlight the approaches different types of institutions have taken to move from data to action.
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NSSE, organizational intelligence, and the institutional researcher
Gonyea, R. M., & Kuh, G. D.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141, Special Issue), 107–113, 2009.

The National Survey of Student Engagement: Conceptual and empirical foundations
Kuh, G. D.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141), 5–20, 2009.

The role of precollege data in assessing and understanding student engagement in college
Cole, J. S., Kennedy, M., & Ben-Avie, M.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141, Special Issue), 55–70, 2009.
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The use of engagement data in accreditation, planning, and assessment
Banta, T. W., Pike, G. R., & Hansen, M. J.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141, Special Issue), 21–34, 2009.

Toward reflective accountability: Using NSSE for accountability and transparency
McCormick, A. C.
New Directions for Higher Education, 2009(141), 97–106, 2009.

Using NSSE in institutional research
Gonyea, R. M., & Kuh, G. D. (Eds.)
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2009(141, Special Issue), , 2009.
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What general education courses contribute to essential learning outcomes
Nelson Laird, T. F., Niskod�-Dossett, A. S., & Kuh, G. D.
The Journal of General Education, 58, 65–84, 2009.

Collecting survey data for assessment: A practice brief based on BEAMS project outcomes
Kinzie, J.
Washington, DC: Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2008.
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Classroom practices at institutions with higher-than-expected persistence rates: What student engagement data tells us
Nelson Laird, T. F., Chen, D., & Kuh, G. D.
In J. Braxton (Ed.), The role of the classroom in college student persistence , 2008.

Learning at a distance: Engaged or not?
Chen, P. D., Kuh, G. D., & Gonyea, R. M.
Innovate: Journal of Online Education, 4(3), , 2008.
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Predicting collegiate philanthropy: Student engagement as a correlate of young alumni giving
Moore III, J. V.
Journal of the Indiana University Student Personnel Association, 2008 Edition, , 39–55, 2008.
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Promoting persistence and success of underrepresented students: Lessons for teaching and learning
Kinzie, J., Gonyea, R., Shoup, R., & Kuh, G. D.
New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2008(115), 21–38, 2008.

Student engagement and student success at Historically Black and Hispanic-Serving Institutions
Bridges, B. K., Kinzie, J., Nelson Laird, T. F., & Kuh, G. D.
In In M. Gasman, B. Baez, & C. Turner (Eds.) Understanding minority-serving institutions San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2008.

The effects of discipline on deep approaches to student learning and college outcomes
Nelson Laird, T. F., Shoup, R., Kuh, G. D., & Schwarz, M. J.
Research in Higher Education, 49, 469–494, 2008.

Unmasking the effects of student engagement on first-year college grades and persistence
Kuh, G. D., Cruce, T. M., Shoup, R., Kinzie, J., & Gonyea, R. M.
The Journal of Higher Education, 79(5), 540–563, 2008.

Methodological challenges in multi-investigator multi-institutional research in higher education
Kinzie, J., Magolda, P., Kezar, A., Kuh, G. D., Hinkle, S., & Whitt, E
Higher Education, 54(3), 469–482, 2007.
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Student learning and faculty research: Connecting teaching and scholarship
American Council of Learned Societies
Washington, DC: The Teagle Foundation, 2007.
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Comparative review of British, American, and Australian national surveys of undergraduate students
Higher Education Academy
National survey comparative review York, UK: Author, 2007.
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Connecting the dots: Multi-faceted analyses of the relationships between student engagement results from the NSSE, and the institutional practices and conditions that foster student success
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Cruce, T., Shoup, R., & Gonyea, R. M.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2007.
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Student engagement in law school: Knowing our students
Law School Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2007.

African American and Hispanic student engagement at minority-serving and predominantly White institutions
Nelson Laird, T. F., Bridges, B. K., Morelon-Quainoo, C. L., Williams, J. M., & Salinas Holmes, M.
Journal of College Student Development, 48(1), 1–18, 2007.

Built to engage: Liberal arts colleges and effective educational practice
Kuh, G. D.
In F. Oakely (Ed.) Liberal arts colleges in American higher education New York, NY: American Council of Learned Societies, 2007.
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Contextualizing NSSE effect sizes: Empirical analysis and interpretation of benchmark comparisons
National Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2007.
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Engaging students in the first college year: Why librarians matter
Kuh, G. D., Boruff-Jones, P. D., & Mark, A. E.
In L. Hardesty (Ed.) The role of the library in the first college year Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 2007.

Engaging undergraduate students in research activities: Are research universities doing a better job?
Hu, S., Kuh, G.D., & Gaston Gayles, J.
Innovative Higher Education, , , 2007.
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Evaluating the rationale for affirmative action in college admissions: Direct and indirect relationships between campus diversity and gains in understanding diverse groups
Pike, G. R., Kuh, G. D., & Gonyea, R. M.
Journal of College Student Development, 48(2), 1–17, 2007.
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Risky business
Kuh, G. D
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 39(5), 31–35, 2007.
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Student engagement in the first year of college
Kuh, G. D
In M. L. Upcraft, J. N. Gardner, & B. O. Barefoot (Eds.) Challenging and supporting the first-year student: A handbook for improving the first year of college San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007.

What student engagement data tell us about college readiness
Kuh, G. D.
Peer Review, 9(1), 4–8, 2007.
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Who flourishes in college? Using positive psychology and student involvement theory to explore mental health among traditionally aged undergraduates
Ambler, G.
Williamsburg, VA: The College of William and Mary, 2007.

Why teacher-scholars matter: Some insights from FSSE and NSSE
Kuh, G. D., Chen, D., & Nelson Laird, T. F.
Liberal Education, 93(4), 40–45, 2007.

Women students at co-educational and women's colleges: How do their experiences compare?
Kinzie, J., Thomas, A. D., Palmer, M. M., Umbach, P. D., & Kuh, G. D.
Journal of College Student Development, 48(2), 145–165, 2007.
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What matters to student success: A review of the literature
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Buckley, J.A., Bridges, B. K., & Hayek, J. C.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2006.
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Are students ready for college? What student engagement data say
McCarthy, M. M., & Kuh, G. D.
Phi Delta Kappan, 87, 664–669, 2006.

Assessing what matters in law school: The Law School Survey of Student Engagement
O'Day, P. A., & Kuh, G. D.
Indiana Law Journal, 81(1), 401–409, 2006.
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DEEP lessons: Enhanced roles for SSAOs
Schuh, J. H., Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., & Manning, K.
Leadership Exchange, 4(1), 5–9, 2006.

Engaging legal education: Moving beyond the status quo
Law School Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2006.
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Expectations and engagement: How liberal arts college students compare with counterparts elsewhere
Gonyea, R. M., Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Cruce, T., & Nelson Laird, T. F.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2006.
To learn more about the relationships between students‘ pre-college educational experiences and their expectations for and experiences in the first college year, we turned to data collected via the newly developed Beginning College Survey of Engagement (BCSSE) and the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The BCSSE, a companion instrument to the NSSE, measures entering students‘ expectations for college (with a focus on participating in educationally purposeful activities). It also collects information about selected high school experiences. The NSSE assesses the extent to which first-year students in college engage in empirically-derived good educational practices and what they gain from their college experience. Thus, we can match entering students‘ responses to the BCSS with their responses to the NSSE at the end of the first year of college to obtain a more accurate picture of what students are like when they start college and what they expect of themselves and their college or university, and compare these responses to what students actually do during their first year of college. A better understanding of these phenomena will be instructive for revising pre-college socialization, orientation, and first-year experience initiatives as well as other efforts designed to enhance student learning and improve persistence and graduation rates. Because the Center of Inquiry in the Liberal Arts at Wabash College is committed to exploring various facets of and promoting liberal arts educational practices and ensuring that the nature of liberal arts education is better understood, we concentrate on the expectations and experiences of students at baccalaureate liberal arts colleges compared to students at other types of colleges and universities. Three central questions guided this analysis: (1) What do liberal arts college students expect to do during their first year of study in terms of academic, social and other activities? (2) How do the expectations of liberal arts college students compare with their experiences during the first year? (3) How do the expectations and experiences of liberal arts college students compare with those of their peers at other types of institutions?
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Increasing student participation in NSSE: Two success stories
Kinzie, J.
Assessment Update, 18(2), 4–6, 2006.
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Independent colleges and student engagement: Do religious affiliation and institutional type matter?
Gonyea, R. M., & Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2006.
This study extends previous work on the relationships between student engagement in spirituality-enhancing activities during college and selected student and institutional variables. Using the same data set and many of the same dependent variables as an analysis performed for the Teagle Foundation, this study for CIC examined more extensively the influence of institutional variables including multiple categories of religious affiliation, Carnegie classification, and control (public/private). Block hierarchical regression models were used to estimate the relationships between institutional type characteristics and nine dependent variables. Religious affiliation explained the most variance on three dependent variables ? participating in spiritual activities (worship), gains in spiritual development (gnspirit), and gains in ethical development (gnethics). Students at faith-based institutions scored the highest on these dimensions, followed by Roman Catholic and Other Protestant-affiliated institutions. At the same time, students attending non-affiliated, private institutions did not differ in any appreciable way from their public school peers, with both groups generally engaging least often in spiritual activities. Although the effects were not as strong as with religious affiliation, students attending private institutions scored higher than their public school counterparts in certain areas such as participating in spiritual activities, engaging in deep learning, and in self-reported growth in spirituality, ethical development, personal and social development, and intellectual skills. The findings indicate religiously affiliated colleges and universities are not all alike and that there is more to learn about how institutional mission and environments influence student engagement and learning.
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Intercollegiate athletes and effective educational practices: Winning combinations or losing effort?
Umbach, P. D., Palmer, M. M., Kuh, G. D., & Hannah, S. J.
Research in Higher Education, 47, 709–733, 2006.

Make the most of your NSSE data
Kinzie, J.
Leadership Exchange, 5(2), 31–35, 2006.

Making students matter
Kuh, G. D.
In J. C. Burke (Ed.) Fixing the fragmented university: Decentralization with direction Boston, MA: Jossey-Bass, 2006.
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Nonresponse bias in student assessment surveys: A comparison of respondents and non-respondents of the National Survey of Student Engagement at an independent comprehensive Catholic university
McInnis, E. D.
, 2006.

Relationship among structural diversity, informal peer interactions and the perceptions of the campus environment
Pike, G. R., & Kuh, G. D.
The Review of Higher Education, 29(4), 425–450, 2006.
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Spirituality, liberal learning, and college student engagement
Kuh, G. D., & Gonyea, R. M.
Liberal Education, Winter, 40–47, 2006.
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Student engagement and student learning: Testing the linkages
Carini, R. M., Kuh, G. D., & Klein, S. P
Research in Higher Education, 47(1), 1–32, 2006.
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Student success in college: Why it matters and what institutions can do about it
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., & Whitt, E. J.
, , 2006.
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Taking student expectations seriously: A guide for campus applications
Miller, T., Kuh, G. D., Paine, D., & Associates
Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 2006.

The convergent and discriminant validity of NSSE scalelet scores
Pike, G. R.
Journal of College Student Development, 47(5), 551–564, 2006.
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Student engagement: A missing link in improving high schools
McCarthy, M. M., & Kuh, G. D
Teachers College Record, , , 2005.

A typology of student engagement for American colleges and universities
Pike, G. R., & Kuh, G. D.
Research in Higher Education, 46(2), 185–209, 2005.
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Measurement and analysis of student engagement in university classes where varying levels of PBL methods of instruction are in use
Ahlfeldt, S., Mehta, S., & Sellnow, T.
Higher Education Research and Development, 24(1), 5–20, 2005.
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“Never let it rest”: Lessons about student success from high performing colleges and universities
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., & Whitt, E. J.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 37(4), 42–53, 2005.
A time-honored approach to improving effectiveness is to learn what high-performing organizations within a given industry do and then to determine which of their practices are replicable in other settings. A team of 24 researchers coordinated by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Institute for Effective Educational Practice at the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research set out to do just that. The Documenting Effective Educational Practices (DEEP) project was a two-year study of 20 four-year colleges and universities that had both higher-than-predicted graduation rates and higher-than-predicted scores on the NSSE. Graduation is increasingly used in accountability and performance systems as an indicator of institutional effectiveness, and student engagement is important because research shows that it's linked to a host of desirable outcomes of college.
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7 steps for taking student learning seriously
Kuh, G. D
Trusteeship, 13(3), 20–24, 2005.
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A comparison of international student and American student engagement in effective educational practices
Zhao, C. M., Kuh, G. D., & Carini, R. M
The Journal of Higher Education, 76(2), 209–231, 2005.
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An approach to measuring cognitive outcomes across higher-education institutions
Klein, S. P., Kuh, G. D., Chun, M., Shavelson, R., & Benjamin, R
Research in Higher Education, 46(3), 251–276, 2005.
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Assessing conditions to enhance educational effectiveness: The inventory for student engagement and success
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., & Whitt, E. J.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

Experiencing diversity: What can we learn from liberal arts colleges?
Kuh, G. D., & Umbach, P. D
Liberal Education, 91(1), 14–21, 2005.
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Exploring the relationships between spirituality, liberal learning, and college student
Kuh, G. D., & Gonyea, R. M
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
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First- and second-generation college students: A comparison of their engagement and intellectual development
Pike, G. R., & Kuh, G. D.
The Journal of Higher Education, 76, 276–300, 2005.
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Imagine asking the client: Using student and alumni surveys in accountability in higher education
Kuh, G. D.
In In J. Burke (Ed.) Achieving accountability in higher education: Balancing public, academic, and market demands. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

Institutional selectivity and good practices in undergraduate education: How strong is the link?
Pascarella, E. T., Cruce, T., Wolniak, G. C., Kuh, G. D., Umbach, P. D., Hayek, J. C., Carini, R. M., Gonyea, R. M., & Zhao, C. M.
The Journal of Higher Education, 77(2), 251–285, 2005.
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Promoting student success: Creating conditions so every student can learn
Chickering, A. W., & Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Accommodating diverse learning styles of students has long been espoused as a principle of good practice in undergraduate education. Much progress has been made during the past two decades in using active, collaborative, and problem-based learning, learning communities, student-faculty research, service learning, internships, and other pedagogical innovations to enrich student learning. Variable time blocks are more common--from three hours, to all day, to weekends, to six or eight weeks--to fit the desired outcomes, content, and processes. Peers tutor other students, deepening their own learning in the process. Increasingly sophisticated communication and information technologies provide students access to a broad range of print and visual resources and to an expanded range of human expertise. A wider range of assessment tools document what and how well students are learning. Despite all this activity, at too many schools these and other effective educational practices are underutilized. The suggestions offered here are drawn in large part from a study of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and, through the National Survey of Student Engagement, demonstrated that they have effective practices for fostering success among students of differing abilities and aspirations. These institutions clearly communicate that they value high quality undergraduate teaching and learning. They have developed instructional approaches tailored to a wide range of student learning styles, ensuring that students engage with course content and interact in meaningful ways with faculty and peers, inside and outside the classroom.
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Promoting student success: Making place matter to student success
Manning, K., & Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Some campuses have a ?special? feel about them. Students are quick to mention that they cannot imagine a better place for them personally or--for that matter--any better setting for a college or university. The college has become their home away from home, the place they‘d rather be than any other. Generations of graduates return for reunion weekends, passing through familiar buildings and pausing at favorite spots that evoke fond recollections of what was a very meaningful time in their lives. Built structures and memories are inextricably intertwined to form deep emotional ties to the institution and to those with whom they shared this place. Colleges and universities with such a palpable sense of place also have salutary effects on student success. In a uniquely human way, this powerful connection to something larger than oneself encourages students to engage with faculty, staff, and peers in meaningful ways and compels graduates to give back to alma mater by contributing their time, talents, and resources. Administrators at other colleges long to understand and create the conditions that bond people so tightly to the institution and to one another during and after graduation.
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Promoting student success: Small steps senior administrators can take
El Khawas, E.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Colleges and universities can increase the number of students who graduate by making a number of small, strategic changes in institutional policies and practices. Some schools have done this by focusing on effective educational practices and empowering faculty, staff and students to work together in new, productive ways. Others have improved the campus climate for learning by carefully assessing what students are experiencing or by realigning resources to induce students to participate in activities associated with persistence and other desired outcomes of college. Senior administrators play a key role in such efforts when they speak plainly and consistently about the importance of student success and make decisions congruent with this priority. The suggestions offered here are drawn from a study of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and, through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), demonstrated that they have effective practices for fostering success among students of differing abilities and aspirations. These institutions--called DEEP schools here because they were studied for the project on Documenting Effective Educational Practices--clearly communicate that they value high quality undergraduate teaching and learning, and provide effective, well-linked academic and support services. Despite constraints, they have found ways to create supportive learning environments, ensuring that students engage with course content, faculty and peers, inside and outside the classroom.
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Promoting student success: The importance of shared leadership and collaboration
Kezar, A.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Collaborative, shared leadership among administrators, students, faculty, and staff is a key component to creating campus environments that foster student success. Collaborative work groups can be powerful vehicles for launching and institutionalizing student-friendly policies and practices and for developing complementary programs such as first-year initiatives, fresh approaches to general education curricular offerings, service- learning, and student leadership development programs among others. Such initiatives almost always result in richer learning opportunities for students when done collaboratively than when an individual unit develops them. But collaborative approaches to leadership and program development do not come naturally within higher education institutions that reward individualistic endeavors over collaboration. The guiding principles offered here for promoting shared leadership and collaboration are based on an in-depth examination of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and, as demonstrated through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), effective policies and practices for engaging their students.
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Promoting student success: Using financial and other resources to enhance student success
Jacobs, B. A., & Schuh, J. H.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Howard Bowen (1996) wryly observed decades ago that colleges and universities raise all the money they can, and then they spend it. His point was that institutions have more good ideas than they can fully fund. As a consequence, they are constantly making choices as to how to best use their finite resources. Where and how resources are allocated reflect institutional priorities ideally guided by a deliberate planning process that values and supports student success. The principles that follow for using financial and other resources to enhance student learning are based on an in-depth examination of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and, as demonstrated through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), effective policies and practices for engaging their students. These institutions illustrate that it is not necessarily the amount of resources an institution allocates that is important to student success but how financial resources, faculty and staff time, and facilities are linked to create powerful, affirming learning environments.
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Promoting student success: What accreditation teams can do
Griego, E.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
The process of accreditation review in the U.S. serves two primary functions: quality assurance and continual improvement. The experienced educators who voluntarily serve on accreditation teams apply common standards of quality that serve students and meet public accountability expectations and offer suggestions and recommendations for institutional consideration and improvement. In the last decade, regional accreditation commissions and national professional and specialized accreditation agencies have increasingly focused on student learning results and institutional improvement. There has been a corresponding shift in focus from institutional resources, structures, and inputs as the primary indicators of institutional quality, toward increased emphasis on student learning results, appropriate to the degree level and mission of the institution. Accreditation review team reports are rich sources for examples of institutional practices that engage student learning. What have not been readily available to accreditation teams, however, are compilations of examples of good institutional practice. The suggestions offered here are drawn in large part from a study of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and, through the National Survey of Student Engagement, demonstrated that they have effective practices for fostering success among students of differing abilities and aspirations. These institutions?called DEEP schools here because they were studied for the project on Documenting Effective Educational Practices?clearly communicate that they value high quality undergraduate teaching and learning.
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Promoting student success: What advisors can do
De Sousa, D. J.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Students who are well prepared academically and highly motivated tend to do well in college and persist to graduation. But for various reasons?some of which are beyond their control?many students lack the requisite academic background for college-level work. As a result, most colleges and universities enroll students with a wide range of abilities. Some of these institutions are more effective than others in helping their students succeed in college. These schools recognize that in terms of learning and personal development, what students bring to college is less important than what they do when they get to college. Academic advisors can play an integral role in promoting student success by assisting students in ways that encourage them to engage in the right kinds of activities, inside and outside the classroom. Advisors are especially important because they are among the first people new students encounter and should see regularly during their first year. The guiding principles offered here are based on an in-depth examination of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and demonstrated through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that they have effective policies and practices for working with students of differing abilities and aspirations. These institutions are referred to below as either educationally effective schools or high-performing institutions.
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Promoting student success: What business leaders can do
Lovett, C. M.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
More than any other group of stakeholders, business leaders are aware that this country‘s ability to remain competitive in a global, technology-based economy is ever more closely tied to its ability to produce more and better prepared college graduates. Graduating more students from various backgrounds who are well prepared to meet the social, civic and economic challenges of the future is a national priority. Every college and university can improve its graduation rates and enhance the quality of its undergraduate programs by creating the conditions that matter to student success. Decades of research studies show that student engagement--the time and effort that students devote to their studies and related activities--is a key factor in student success. The Documenting Effective Educational Practice (DEEP) project gathered data from 20 very different institutions of higher learning whose student scores on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) were higher than what was predicted on the basis of their student and institutional profile, history, and other factors.
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Promoting student success: What campus leaders can do
Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Graduating more students and increasing the quality of their learning are national priorities. Every college and university can improve in these areas by focusing on the educational conditions that matter to student success. Decades of research studies show that a key factor is student engagement--the time and effort students devote to their studies and related activities and how institutions organize learning opportunities and provide services to induce students to take part in and benefit from such activities. The guiding principles offered here are based on an in-depth examination of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and demonstrated through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that they have effective policies and practices for working with students of differing abilities and aspirations. These institutions value high quality undergraduate teaching, diversity and support for all students. They clearly communicate and hold students to high standards, provide timely feedback, and encourage students to actively engage with course content and faculty and peers, inside and outside the classroom. When they complement the institution‘s mission and values, these conditions can create powerful learning environments that lead to desirable learning outcomes that are generally independent of institutional resources or students‘ background.
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Promoting student success: What department chairs can do
Schuh, J. H., & Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Department chairs are in a position to help shape a culture where student learning is the central focus of faculty, staff, and students (Gmelch & Schuh, 2004). They hire, socialize, and evaluate faculty members‘ performance, guide curriculum development, and maintain the quality of academic programs. At the same time, department chairs typically assume the role without any specific preparation for the position; many have little or no experience as academic administrators. Yet, they are expected to lead their peers in establishing and implementing departmental goals and objectives. If improving educational effectiveness and enhancing student learning are priorities, what should the department chair emphasize? The suggestions offered here are based on an in-depth examination of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and higher-than-predicted scores on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Taken together, these measures suggest that their policies, programs, practices, and campus climates challenge and support students of differing abilities and aspirations. How might these ideas be applied to your department?
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Promoting student success: What faculty members can do
Kinzie, J.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
What students do in college matters as much as anything else in terms of their educational success. Educationally effective colleges and universities--those that add value to the student experience--intentionally craft policies and practices that channel students‘ energy to the activities that matter to student learning. Students who participate in collaborative learning activities such as service-learning, coherent first-year programs, peer tutoring and senior capstone projects are more likely to persist and succeed--especially when these programs and practices are well conceived and delivered in an effective, coordinated manner. An essential ingredient is an unwavering, widespread commitment to enhancing student learning on the part of faculty members. The suggestions offered here are based on an in-depth examination of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and demonstrated through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that they have effective policies and practices for working with students of differing abilities and aspirations. These institutions value high quality undergraduate teaching, diversity, and support for all students. They clearly communicate and hold students to high standards, provide timely feedback, and encourage students to actively engage with course content, faculty and peers, inside and outside the classroom. When they complement the institution‘s mission and values, these conditions can create powerful learning environments that lead to desirable learning outcomes that are generally independent of institutional resources or students‘ background.
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Promoting student success: What new faculty need to know
Cambridge, B. L.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Starting a new position is exhilarating. The key challenge is to make the strange familiar as soon as possible. There are new policies to learn, new colleagues to get to know, and new surroundings to adapt to. All these aspects and more need to be understood and managed well in order to focus on the primary task at hand--teaching and learning. Of all that is new, to what should you attend first if you are committed to creating the conditions under which students learn best? How can you use your institution‘s resources to help your students take advantage of opportunities to deepen their learning? The suggestions offered here are based on an in-depth examination of 20 diverse four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and demonstrated through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that they have effective policies and practices for working with students of differing abilities and aspirations. Consider adapting some of their approaches to assist new faculty at your institution.
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Promoting student success: What SHEEOs and system heads can do
Ewell, P. T.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
States benefit considerably when their stocks of ?educational capital? grow. From a workforce and tax revenue standpoint, state rates of return on baccalaureate education are far higher than those associated with any other educational step. Additional benefits attributable to higher education?ranging from enhancements in citizen participation to improved health and avoidance of public support?are equally easy to document. It is, thus, in every state‘s interest to increase the numbers of its citizens who attain a baccalaureate degree. And it is equally in every state‘s interest to ensure that those who do earn a degree have experienced the kind of high quality learning environments that yield levels of knowledge and skills that are nationally and internationally competitive. Every college and university can improve its graduation rates and enhance the quality of its undergraduate programs by creating the conditions that matter to student success. Decades of research studies show that one key factor is student engagement?the time and effort that students devote to their studies and related activities. Institutions can organize their classes and other learning opportunities so that students put more effort in and benefit more from such activities. SHEEOs and System Heads can do their part by ensuring that matters of undergraduate quality and student success remain central to the state‘s approaches to planning, resource allocation, and accountability. And while their direct responsibility remains largely confined to public institutions, they can increasingly establish policies that affect independent institutions as well.
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Promoting student success: What student affairs can do
Whitt, E. J.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Interest in creating the conditions that enhance student learning and support students in achieving their educational goals is at an all-time high. Four-fifths of high school graduates need some form of postsecondary education to acquire the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to address increasingly complex social, economic, and political issues. Student engagement--what students do during college--generally matters more to what they learn and whether they persist to graduation than who they are or even where they go to college. The contribution of out-of-class experiences to student engagement cannot be overstated. Any institution that wishes to make student achievement, satisfaction, persistence, and learning a priority must have competent student affairs professionals whose contributions complement the academic mission of the institution in ways that help students and the institution realize their goals. The ?lessons‘ for student affairs practice offered here are based on an in-depth examination of 20 four-year colleges and universities that have higher-than-predicted graduation rates and, as demonstrated through the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), effective policies and practices for engaging their students.
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Promoting student success: What student leaders can do
Magolda, P.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
Student leaders reap many benefits and rewards as a result of their involvements with campus organizations. In addition to enjoying the respect of their peers, they have opportunities to meet a variety of faculty, staff and students, exposing them to a range of different personalities and cultures. They typically grow in self confidence and practical competence as they learn how to manage their time, energy, and their group‘s financial resources. In addition, the challenges they encounter in the course of these and other activities draw them out of their comfortable patterns of thinking and responding to situations, helping them to become more flexible, responsive, and reflective (Kuh, 1995; Kuh & Lund, 1994). In addition to these personal benefits, student leaders can contribute much to the quality of the learning environment, the experiences of their peers, and the larger campus community. Unfortunately, too often these potentially positive effects are not fully realized. Student governments get sidetracked on trivial issues. Social organizations inadvertently discourage participation by students from diverse backgrounds. Service clubs touch in relevant ways only a small fraction of those who need assistance. Established campus governance structures ignore or limit active, meaningful involvement by students.
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Promoting student success: What the media and the general public need to know
Kuh, G. D., & Kinzie, J.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
After several years of intense public focus on the need to improve K-12 education, more attention has turned recently to what happens when high school graduates move on to college. Students, parents, and lawmakers are asking whether undergraduates are getting adequate value for their investments of time and money, particularly as college and university tuition keeps rising. Employers are expressing concern about whether some graduates are adequately prepared for the world of work. Demographic pressures in some states also mean that institutions have to find places for more students, even though state appropriations to many public institutions have been cut or are barely increasing. In addition, legislators and policy experts are pressing institutions to make it possible for students to complete degree requirements in a reasonable period of time and worry that significant dropout rates at some colleges and universities may reflect a waste of public resources spent on those students.
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Putting student engagement results to use: Lessons from the field
Kuh, G. D
Assessment Update, 17(1), 12–13, 2005.
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Searching for the Peach Blossom Shangri-La: Student engagement of men and women STEM majors
Zhao, C.-M., Carini, R. M., & Kuh, G. D.
The Review of Higher Education, 28, 503–525, 2005.
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Self-reported data in institutional research: Review and recommendations
Gonyea, R. M.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2005(127), 73–90, 2005.

Seven steps for taking student learning seriously
Kuh, G. D.
Trusteeship, May/June, 20–24, 2005.
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Student engagement at minority-serving institutions: Emerging lessons from the BEAMS project
Bridges, B. K., Cambridge, B., Kuh, G. D., & Leegwater, L. H
In G. H. Gaither (Ed.), What works: Achieving success in minority retention , 2005.
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Student experiences with information technology and their relationship to other aspects of student engagement
Nelson Laird, T. F., & Kuh, G. D
Research in Higher Education, 46(2), 211–233, 2005.
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Student success in college: Creating conditions that matter
Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., Whitt, E. J., & Associates
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2005.

The law school years: Probing questions, actionable data
Law School Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2005.
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What students expect from college and what they get
Kuh, G. D., Gonyea, R. M., & Williams, J. M.
In In T. E. Miller, B. E. Bender, J. H. Schuh Associates (Eds.) Promoting reasonable expectations: Aligning student and institutional views of the college experience San Francisco, CA: , 2005.

A study of resource expenditures and allocation at DEEP colleges and universities: Is spending related to student engagement?
Gansemer-Topf, A., Saunders, K., Schuh, J., & Shelley, M
, , 2004.
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Disengaged jocks: Myth or reality?
Umbach, P. D., & Kuh, G. D.
LiberalArtsOnline, 4(4), , 2004.
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"Surfin" with a purpose: Examining how spending time online is related to student engagement
Nelson Laird, T. F.
Students Affairs Online, 5(3), , 2004.
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Adding value: Learning communities and student engagement
Zhao, C., & Kuh, G. D.
Research in Higher Education, 45, 115–138, 2004.
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Aligning faculty and student behavior: Realizing the promise of greater expectations
Kuh, G. D., Nelson Laird, T. F., & Umbach, P. D.
Liberal Education, 90(4), 24–31, 2004.
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College and character: Insights from the National Survey of Student Engagement
Kuh, G. D., & Umbach, P.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2004(122), 37–54, 2004.
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Do DEEP institutions spend more or differently than their peers?
National Center for Higher Education Management Systems [NCHEMS]
, , 2004.
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Forging a new direction: How UTEP created its own brand of excellence
Kuh, G. D., & Natalicio, D. S.
About Campus, 9(5), 9–15, 2004.
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Gender differences in student engagement among African American undergraduates at Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Harper, S. R., Carini, R. M., Bridges, B. K., & Hayek, J.
Journal of College Student Development, 45(3), 271–284, 2004.
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Going DEEP: Learning from campuses that share responsibility for student success
Kinzie, J., & Kuh, G. D.
About Campus, 9(5), 2–8, 2004.
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Principles for assessing student engagement in the first year of college
Hayek, J. C., & Kuh, G. D.
Assessment Update, 16(2), 11–13, 2004.
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Quality time: An in-depth look at the National Survey of Student Engagement
Kuh, G. D., & Hayek, J. C
Currents, 30(9), 11–12, 2004.

Student engagement in law schools: A first look
Law School Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2004.
Full version

Student engagement: Pathways to collegiate success
National Survey of Student Engagement
Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research.Bloomington, IN: , 2004.

The contributions of the research university to assessment and innovation in undergraduate education
Kuh, G. D.
W. E. Becker & M. L. Andrews (Eds.)The scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education: The contributions of research universities Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004.

Using focus groups to establish the validity and reliability of a college student survey
Ouimet, J. A., Bunnage, J. B., Carini, R. M., Kuh, G. D., & Kennedy, J.
Research in Higher Education, 45, 233–250, 2004.
Full version

What does institutional selectivity tell us about educational quality?
Kuh, G. D., & Pascarella, E. T
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 36(5), 52–58, 2004.
Full version

Nontraditional college students and the role of collaborative learning as a tool for science mastery
Lundberg, C. A.
School Science and Mathematics, 103(1), 8–17, 2003.

Active learning in and out of the classroom: Results from the National Survey of Student Engagement
Belcheir, M. J.
(Report No. BSU-RR-2003-02), , 2003.
Full version

College student responses to web and paper surveys: Does mode matter?
Carini, R. M., Hayek, J. H., Kuh, G. D., Kennedy, J. M., & Ouimet, J. A.
Research in Higher Education, 44(1), 1–19, 2003.
Full version

Cooperative college examinations: More gain, less pain when students share information and grades
Zimbardo, P. G., Butler, L.D., & Wolfe, V. A.
The Journal of Experimental Education, 71 (2) 101-125, , 2003.

Diversity experiences and college student learning and personal development
Hu, S., & Kuh, G. D.
Journal of College Student Development, 44(3), 320–332, 2003.

How are we doing at engaging students? Charles Schroeder talks to George Kuh
Schroeder, C. C., & Kuh, G. D.
About Campus, 8(2), 9–16, 2003.
Full version

Student academic and personal growth while at Boise State: A summary of 2002 National Survey of Student Engagement findings
Belcheir, M. J.
(Report No. BSU-RR-2003-03)., , 2003.
Full version

The campus environment as viewed through the lens of the National Survey of Student Engagement
Belcheir, M. J.
(Report No. BSU-RR-203-01)Boise, ID: Office of Institutional Advancement, 2003.
Full version

The campus visit
Kuh, G. D.
New York, NY: Kaplan, 2003.

The relationship between institutional mission and students’ involvement and educational outcomes
Pike, G. R., Kuh, G. D., & Gonyea, R. M
Research in Higher Education, 44(2), 241–261, 2003.
Full version

The role of the academic library in promoting student engagement in learning
Kuh, G. D., & Gonyea, R. M
College and Research Libraries, 64, 256–282, 2003.
Full version

Tomorrow's teachers: Do they engage in the "right things" during college?
Carini, R. M., & Kuh, G. D.
Phi Delta Kappan, 84(5), 391–398, 2003.

Utilizing the classroom peer group to address children's social needs: An evaluation of the circle of friends intervention approach
Fredrickson, N. & Turner, J.
Journal of Special Education, 36 (4), 234-245, , 2003.

Warts and all: Exposing history to high school students
Stanley, G.
Educational Horizons, 81 (2) 86-91., , 2003.

What we’re learning about student engagement from NSSE
Kuh, G. D
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 35(2), 24–32, 2003.
For years, judgments about the quality of the undergraduate experience have turned on evidence about an institution‘s reputation and resources?students‘ SAT scores, faculty credentials, library holdings, and so on. But students can be surrounded by impressive resources and not routinely encounter classes or take part in activities that engage them in authentic learning. A more meaningful approach to evaluating an institution is to determine how well it fosters student learning. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) was launched upon the premise that to assess the quality of the undergraduate education at an institution, we need good information about student engagement. This article outlines NSSE‘s evolution, summarizes some of what has been learned so far about engagement patterns of different groups of students, and discusses some of the questions and challenges the NSSE results raise.
Full version

Working and learning: The role of involvement for employed students
Lundberg, C. A.
Ashe National Conference, Sacramento, , 2002.

A profile of Boise State first year and senior students with comparisons to other urban universities
Belcheir, M. J.
Research Report 2002-07. (ERIC ED480930), 2002.

Disciplinary differences and undergraduates' information-seeking behavior
Whitmire, E.
Journal of American Society for Information Science and Technology, 53 (8) 631-638, , 2002.

Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: The Diversity Education & Exchange Program, 2002.

Kuh, G. D.
Wabash College Colloquium Address, Crawfordsville, IN, 2002.

Academic advising and student success: Lessons from NSSE
Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University, 2002.

Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2002.

Kuh, G. D.
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2002.

Being (dis)engaged in educationally purposeful activities: The influence of student and institutional characteristics
Hu, S., & Kuh, G. D
Research in Higher Education, 43(5), 555–576, 2002.
Full version

Comparing the academic engagement of American Indian and White college students
Cole, J. S., & Denzine, G. M.
Journal of American Indiana Education, 41(1), 19–34, 2002.

Higher education's self-reflexive turn: Toward an intercultural theory of student development
Tanaka, G.
The Journal of Higher Education, 73 (2) 263-296, , 2002.

Insights into effective educational practice
Hayek, J. C., & Kuh, G. D.
EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 25(1), 60–61, 2002.
Full version

The impact of college racial composition on African American students' academic and social gains: Additional evidence
Flowers, L. A.
Journal of College Student Development, 43(3), 403–410, 2002.

Triumph or tragedy: Comparing student engagement levels of members of Greek-letter organizations and other students
Hayek, J. C., Carini, R. M., O?Day, P. T., & Kuh, G. D
Journal of College Student Development, 43(5), 643–663, 2002.
Full version

The National Survey of Student Engagement
Bridges, B. K., Kuh, G. D., & O'Day, P.
NetResults, , , 2001.
Full version

The College Student Expectations Questionnaire: Assessing student expectations of their college education [14 paragraphs in online-series]
Gonyea, R. M.
FYA-List Series, , , 2001.

Undergraduate education at the turn of the century: Lessons from NSSE 2000
Kuh, G. D.
College of William & Mary Higher Education Lecture, Williamsburg, VA, 2001.

A longitudinal assessment of college student engagement in good practices in undergraduate education
Kojaltic, M., & Kuh, G. D.
Higher Education, 42, 351–371, 2001.

A report on the National Survey of Student Engagement
Whitfield, C. E.
, , 2001.
Full version

Assessing what really matters to student learning: Inside the National Survey of Student Engagement
Kuh, G. D.
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 33(3), 10–17, 66, 2001.
This article describes the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), one of the scores of efforts underway to assess student learning and improve the quality of undergraduate education, after the release of the project‘s first national report NSSE 2000: National Benchmarks of Effective Educational Practice and while the second round of data collection was nearing an end.
Full version

Computing experience and good practices in undergraduate education: Does the degree of campus "wiredness" matter?
Shouping, H. & Kuh, G.D.
Education Policy Analysis Archives v9 n49, , 2001.

Influences of student goals for college for freshman-year quality of effort and growth
Kaufman, M. A., & Creamer, D. G.
Journal of College Student Development, 32(3), 197–206, 2001.

Is it more than about getting along? The broader educational relevance of reducing students' racial biases
Chang, M.J.
Journal of College Student Development, 42 (2), 93-105, , 2001.

Learning productivity at research universities
Kuh, G. D., & Hu, S.
The Journal of Higher Education, 72(1), 1–28, 2001.

NSSE technical and norms report
Kuh, G. D., Hayek, J. C., Carini, R. M., Ouimet, J.A., Gonyea, R. M., & Kennedy, J.
, , 2001.
Full version

The disengaged commuter student: Fact or fiction?
Kuh, G. D., Gonyea, R. M., & Palmer, M
Commuter Perspectives, 27(1), 2–5, 2001.
Full version

The effects of student-faculty interaction in the 1990s
Kuh, G. D., & Hu, S.
The Review of Higher Education, 24, 309–332, 2001.

The fulfillment of expectations for college and student departure decisions
Helland, P. A., Stallings, H. J., et al.
Journal of College Student Retention, 3(4), 381–396, 2001.

The National Survey of Student Engagement: Conceptual framework and overview of psychometric properties
Kuh, G. D
, , 2001.
Full version

The relationship between undergraduate students' perceived past academic success and perceived academic self-concept
Schlosser, L. Z., & Sedlacek, W. E.
The Journal of the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 13(2), 95–105, 2001.

The relationship between undergrads’' background characteristics an college experiences and their academic library use
Whitmite, E.
College & Research Libraries, 62 (6) 528-540, , 2001.

The relationships between computer and information technology use, student learning, and other college experiences
Kuh, G. D., & Hu, S.
Journal of College Student Development, 42(3), 217–232, 2001.

Tools for assessing the first-year student experience
Kuh, G. D.
In R. Swing (Ed.) Proving and improving: Strategies for assessing the first college year Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition, 2001.

What predicts perceived gains in learning and in satisfaction?
Belcheir, M. J.
(Report No. BSU-RR-2001-02), , 2001.
Full version

"They shall be known by what they do": An activities-based typology of college students
Kuh, G. D., Hu, S., & Vesper, N.
Journal of College Student Development, 41(2), 228–244, 2000.

Faculty-student affairs collaboration on assessment: Lessons from the field
Kuh, G. D., & Banta, T. W.
About Campus, 4(6), 4-11, 2000.

Improving classroom instruction through "best-of-class" techniques
Blackbourn, J.M., Payne, J.S., Burnham, S., Elrod, F., & Thomas, C.
Journal of Instructional Psychology, 27, , 2000.

The National Survey of Student Engagement: Results from Boise State freshmen and seniors (Report No. BSU-RR-2000-04)
Belcheir, M. J.
Boise, ID: Office of Institutional Advancement: Office of Institutional Advancement, 2000.
Full version

The NSSE 2000 report: National benchmarks of effective educational practice
National Survey of Student Engagement
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, 2000.

Where are the liberal arts?
Pace, C. R., & Connolly, M.
Research in Higher Education, 41(1), 53–65, 2000.

Impact of the number of response categories on frequency scales: An examination of information obtained, reliability, and factor structure
Weems, G.H.
Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, Point Clear, Alabama, , 1999.

Another look at the fourth edition of the CSEQ
Kuh, G. D.
Assessment Update, 11(2), 13, 16, 1999.

Cognitive effects of college racial composition on African American students after 3 years of college
Flowers, L. & Pascarella, E.T.
Journal of College Student Development, 40 (6), 669-677, , 1999.

Gender, race, and performance expectations of college students
Mayo, M. W., & Christenfeld, N.
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 27(2), 93–104, 1999.

Increasing expectations for student effort
Schilling, K. M., & Schilling, K. L.
About Campus, 4(2), 4–10, 1999.

Interactions with peers and objective and self-reported cognitive outcomes across 3 years of college
Whitt, E. J., Edison, M., Pascarella, E.T., Nora, A. & Terenzini, P.T.
Journal of College Student Development, 40 (1) 61-78, , 1999.

Racial differences in the academic library experiences of undergraduates
Whitmire, E.
Journal of Academic Librarianship, 25(1), 33-37, 1999.

Setting the bar high to promote student learning
Kuh, G. D.
In G. S. Blimling, E. J. Whitt, & Associates (Eds.) Good practice in student affairs: Principles to foster student learning San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1999.

Solving for the x: Aspirations and expectations of college students
Eskilson, A., & Wiley, M. G.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 28(1), 51–70, 1999.

The effects of entering characteristics and instructional experiences on student satisfaction and degree completion: An application of the input-environment-outcome assessment model
House, J.
International Journal of Instructional Media 26 no4 423-34, , 1999.

Unraveling the complexity of the increase in college grades from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s
Kuh, G. D., & Hu, S.
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 21(3), 1–24, 1999.

Will higher education make a difference? African Americans’ economic expectations and college choice
Freeman, K.
College and University, 75(2), 7–12, 1999.

Women's perceptions of a "chilly climate" and cognitive outcomes in college: Additional evidence
Whitt, E. J., Edison, M. I., Pascarella, E. T., Nora, A., & Terenzini, P. T.
Journal of College Student Development, 40(2), 163–177, 1999.

The constant error of the halo in educational outcomes research
Pike, G. R.
Associtaion for Institional Research, Minneapolis, MN, , 1998.

Student expectations of, and satisfaction with, the university library
Harwood, N. & Bydder, J.
The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 24 (2) 161-171, , 1998.

Development of critical thinking skills: An analysis of academic library experiences and other measures
Whitmire, E.
College & Research Libraries, 59(3), 266–273, 1998.

Does work inhibit cognitive development during college?
Pascarella, E. T., Edison, M. I., Nora, A., Hagedorn, L, S., & Terenzini, P. T.
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 20(2), 75–93, 1998.

Gender-based differences in perception of experiences in higher education: Gaining a broader perspective
Drew, T. L., & Work, G. G.
The Journal of Higher Education, 69(5), 542–555, 1998.

Shaping student character
Kuh, G. D.
Liberal Education, 84(3), 18–25, 1998.

A comparison of student experiences with good practices in undergraduate education between 1990 and 1994
Kuh, G. D., & Vesper, N.
The Review of Higher Education, 21(1), 43–61, 1997.

A factor analytic model of college student development
Lavelle, E., & Rickord, B.
NASPA Journal, 36(4), 301–315, 1997.

African American men on college campuses: Their needs and their perceptions
Cuyjet, M. J.
New Directions for Student Services, 80, 5–16, 1997.

Engaging students in active learning
Warren, R.
About Campus, 2(1), 16–20, 1997.

Identifying indicators of curricular quality
Ewell, P. T.
Handbook of the undergraduate curriculum San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1997.

Organizing for learning - a new imperative
Ewell, P.T.
AAHE Bulletin, , 1997.

Strengthening assessment for academic quality improvement
Ewell, P. T.
In M. W. Peterson, D. D. Dill, L. A. Mets, & Associates Planning and management for a changing environment San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1997.

The "chilly climate" for women and cognitive outcomes in the first year of college
Pascarella, E. T., Whitt, E. J., Edison, M. I., Hagedorn, L. S. Nora, A., Yeager, P., & Terenzini, P. T.
Journal of College Student Development, 38(2), 109-124, 1997.

The development of process indicators to estimate student gains associated with good practices in undergraduate education
Kuh, G. D., Pace, C. R., & Vesper, N.
Research in Higher Education, 38(4), 435-454, 1997.

The relations of Holland-typed majors to students' freshman and senior work values
Huang, Y. R., & Healy, C. C.
Research in Higher Education, 38(4), 455-477, 1997.

Using process indicators to estimate student gains associated with good practices in undergraduate education
Kuh, G. D., Vesper, N., & Pace, C. R.
Research in Higher Education, 38, 435–454, 1997.

Additional evidence on the cognitive effects of college racial composition: A research note
Pascarella, E., Edison, M., Nora, A., Hagedorn, L. S., & Terenzini, P.
Journal of College Student Development, 37 (5) 494-501., , 1996.

Assessing student involvement in learning
Froh, R. C.
Using scholarships to improve practice San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996.

Assessment in practice: Putting principles to work on college campuses
Banta, T. W., Lund, J. P., Black, K. E., & Oblander, F. W. (Eds.).
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996.

Collaboration between general education and the major
Saint Joseph College
Assessment Update, 8(2), , 1996.

Differential impacts of academic and social experiences of college-related outcomes across different ethnic and gender groups at four-year institutions
Nora, A., Cabrerra, A., Hagedorn, L., & Pascarella, E.
Research in Higher Education, 37(4), 427-451, 1996.

Does institutional racial composition make a difference in what Black students gain from college?
DeSousa, D. J., & Kuh, G. D.
Journal of College Student Development, 37(3), 257–267, 1996.

Editor's notes: Bob Pace tells us what students do while in college
Banta, T. W.
Assessment Update, 8(1), 3, 13, 1996.

First-generation college students: Characteristics, experiences and cognitive development
Terenzini, P., Springer, L., Yeager, P., Pascarella, E., & Nora, L.
Research in Higher Education, 37(1), 1-22, 1996.

Gender differences among incoming African American freshmen on academic and social expectations
Kim, S. H., & Sedlacek, W. E.
Journal of the Freshman Year Experience and Students in Transition, 8(1), 25-37, 1996.

How standards-based high school assessment can affect admission to colleges and universities
Griffith, F. A.
Progress, Trends, and Practices in Higher Education, 8 (1), 1-15, , 1996.

Influences on students' internal locus of attribution for academic success in the first year of college
Pascarella, E., & Edison, M.
Research in Higher Education, 37(6), 731–756, 1996.

Influences on students' openness to diversity and challenge in the first year of college
Pascarella, E., & Edison, M.
The Journal of Higher Education, 67(2), 174–195, 1996.

Limitation of using students' self-reports of academic development as proxies for traditional achievement measures
Pike, G. R.
Research in Higher Education, 37(1), 89-113, 1996.

Participation in a racial or cultural awareness workshop and attitudes toward diversity on campus
Springer, L., Palmer, B., Terenzini, P. T., Pascarella, E. T., & Nora, A.
The Review of Higher Education, 20(1), 53–68, 1996.

Relationship between learner attitudes, prior achievement, and performance in a general education course: A multi-institutional study
House, J.D., Keely, E.J., & Hurst, R.S.
International Journal of Institutional Media, 23 (3), 257-271, , 1996.

Resetting expectations
Marchese, T.
Change, pg. 4, , 1996.

Residence hall social climates and student learning
Kerr, K. G.
, , 1996.

The influence of dominant race environment on students' involvement, perceptions, and educational gains: A look at Historically Black and Predominantly White liberal arts institutions
Watson, L. W., & Kuh, G. D.
Journal of College Student Development, 37(4), 415–424, 1996.

What have we learned from the first year of the national study of student learning?
Pascarella, E. T., Whitt, E., Nora, A., Edison, M., Hagedorn, & Terenzini, P. T.
Journal of College Student Development, 37(2), 182-192, 1996.

Academic and out-of-class influences affecting the development of students' intellectual orientations
Terenzini, P., Springer, L., Pascarella, E., & Nora, A.
The Review of Higher Education, 19, 28-44, 1995.

Assessing the immediate and residual effects of the residence hall experience: Validating Pace's 1990 analysis of on-campus and off-campus students
Ballou, R. A., Reavill, L. K., & Schultz, B. L.
Journal of College and University Housing, 25(1), 16-21, 1995.

Expectations for college and student persistence
Braxton, J. M., Vesper, N., et al.
Research in Higher Education, 36(5), 595–612, 1995.

Freshman to senior year gains reported on the college student experiences questionnaire
Bauer, K. W.
NASPA Journal, 32(2), 130-137, 1995.

From teaching to learning - a new paradigm for undergraduate education
Barr, R.B. & Tagg, J.
Change, , 1995.

High expectations or high hopes?: Using high expectations as an indicator for learning
Lund, J.
Unpublished manuscript. Bloomington: Indiana University., , 1995.

Individual and environmental predictors of adjustment during the first year of college
Brooks II, J.H. & DuBois, D.L.
Journal of College Student Development, 36 (4), 347-360, , 1995.

Influences affecting the development of students' critical thinking skills
Terenzini, P., Springer, L., Pascarella, E., & Nora, A.
Research in Higher Education, 36(1), 23-39, 1995.

Influences on college students' orientations toward learning for self-understanding
Springer, L., Terenzini, P., Pascarella, E., & Nora, A.
Journal of College Student Development, 36(1), 5-18, 1995.

Reasonable expectations
Kuh, G. D., Miller, T., Lyons, J., & Trow, J.
Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 1995.

The relationships between self-reports of college experiences and achievement test scores
Pike, G. R.
, , 1995.

A comparison of student effort and educational gains of White and African-American students at predominantly White colleges and universities
MacKay, K. A., & Kuh, G. D.
Journal of College Student Development, 35(3), 217-223, 1994.

A preliminary study of the feasibility and utility for national policy of instructional "good practice" indicators in undergraduate education
National Center for Higher Education
, , 1994.

Student learning at metropolitan universities
Kuh, G. D., Vesper, N., & Krehbiel, L.
Handbook of theory and research New York, NY: Agathon, 1994.

A structural model of perceived academic, personal, and vocational gains related to college student responsibility
Davis, T. M., & Murrell, P. H.
Research in Higher Education, 34(3), 267-289, 1993.

An empirical typology of college students
Astin, A. W.
Journal of College Student Development, 34, (36-45, , 1993.

Cognitive impacts of living on campus versus commuting to college
Pascarella, E. T., Bohr, L., Nora, A, Zusman, B., Inman, P., & Desler, M.
Journal of College Student Development, 34(3), 216-220, 1993.

Making a difference: Outcomes of a decade of assessment in higher education
Banta, T. W., & Associates
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1993.

Staying ahead of the curve
Dehne, G. C.
Trusteeship, 1(1), 18-23, 1993.

Student age and enrollment status as determinants of learning and personal development at metropolitan institutions
Arnold, J. A., Kuh, G. D., Vesper, N., & Schuh, J. H.
Journal of College Student Development, 34(1), 11-16, 1993.

The relationship between perceived learning and satisfaction with college: An alternative view
Pike, G. R.
Research in Higher Education, 34(1), 23-40, 1993.

Turning teaching into learning: The role of student responsibility in the collegiate experience (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 8)
Davis, T. M., & Murrell, P. H.
Washington, DC: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development, 1993.

Test-retest and other repeated use of the college experiences questionnaire
Fidler, P.P.
ASHE Presentation, , 1992.

A comparison of student learning at "involving" and other metropolitan universities
Kuh, G. D. & Vestper, N.
American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, , 1992.

College student experiences questionnaire: Norms for the third edition
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Center for the Study of Evaluation, 1992.

Joint determination of college student achievement and effort
Erekeson, O. H.
Research in Higher Education, 33(4), 433-446, 1992.

Psychometric supplement to the CSEQ third edition, 1990
Pace, C. R., & Swayze, S.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Center for the Study of Evaluation, 1992.

Self-reported gains in academic and social skills
Bauer, K. W.
Journal of College Student Development, 33(3), 492–498, 1992.

Students at metropolitan universities: Viewing involvement through different lenses
Schuh, J. H., Andreas, R. E., & Strange, C. C.
Metropolitan University, 2(3), 64-74, 1992.

Academic locus of control, self-esteem, and perceived distance from home as predictors of college adjustment
Mooney, S.P, Sherman, M.F., & Lo Priesto, C.T.
Journal of Counseling & Development, 69 445-448., , 1991.

Involving colleges: Successful approaches to fostering student learning and personal development outside the classroom
Kuh, G. D., Schuh, J. S., Whitt, E. J., & Associates
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1991.

Research findings on the seven principles
Sorcinelli, M. D.
New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 47, , 1991.

The role of admissions and orientation in creating appropriate expectations for college life
Kuh, G. D.
College and University, 66(2), , 1991.

Assessing the undergraduate experience
Pace, C. R.
Assessment Update, 2(3), 1, 2, 4, & 5, 1990.

Assessment measures
Pike, G. R.
Assessment Update, 2(1), 8-9, 1990.

College student experiences questionnaire (3rd ed.)
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Center for the Study of Evaluation, 1990.

Joint factor analysis of the college student experiences questionnaire and the ACT Comp objective exam
Davis, T. M., & Murrell, P. H.
Research in Higher Education, 31(5), 425-441, 1990.

The impact of the freshman year on epistemological development: Gender differences
Magolda, M. B.
The Review of Higher Education, 13(3), 259–284, 1990.

The undergraduate experience: Commonalities and differences among colleges
Baird, L. L.
Research in Higher Education, 31(3), 271-278, 1990.

The undergraduates: A report of their activities and progress in college in the 1980s
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Center for the Study of Evaluation, 1990.

Quality of student experiences of freshman intercollegiate athletes
Stone, J. A., & Strange, C. C.
Journal of College Student Development, 30(2), 148-154, 1989.

Review of the College Student Experiences Questionnaire
DeCoster, D. A.
In J. C. Conoley & J. J. Kramer (Eds.) The tenth mental measurements yearbook Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1989.

Review of the College Student Experiences Questionnaire
McCammon, S.
In J. C. Conoley & J. J. Kramer (Eds.) The tenth mental measurements yearbook Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1989.

Accuracy of self-reported activities and accomplishments of college-bound students
Laing, J., Sawyer, R., & Noble, J.
Journal of College Student Development, 29(4), 362-368, 1988.

Assessing institutional effects on retention
Mencke, R. & Sahoo, C.
The Twenty-Eighth Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, , 1988.

College involvement, perceptions, and satisfaction: A study of membership in student organizations
Abrahamowicz, D.
Journal of College Student Development, 29(3), 233-238, 1988.

Contradicting the critics (Report No. 5)
Pace, C. R.
, , 1988.

Extent of involvement, satisfaction with college, and progress toward educational goals
Sanders, J., & Kress, D.
Terre Haute, IN: Indiana State University, Office of Student Research, 1988.

Involvement and growth of students in three academic programs
Ory, J. C., & Braskamp, L. A.
Research in Higher Education, 28(2), 116-129, 1988.

Outcomes, assessment, and academic improvement: In search of usable knowledge
Ewell, P. T.
In J. Smart (Ed.) Higher education: Handbook of theory and research New York, NY: Agathon, 1988.

The college environment revisited: A review of research and theory
Baird, L. L.
In J. C. Smart (Ed.) Higher education: Handbook of theory and research New York, NY: Agathon, 1988.

The impact of college residence on the development of critical thinking skills in college freshmen
Inman, P., & Pascarella, E.
Journal of College Student Development, 39(6), 557-568, 1988.

Comparison of opinions about college between humanities program students and non-humanities program students
Berryman-Miller, S.
The Journal of Negro Education, 56, 162-171, 1987.

CSEQ: Test manual and norms: College student experiences questionnaire
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Center for the Study of Evaluation, 1987.

Good things go together
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Higher Education Research Institute, 1987.

Achievement and the quality of student effort
Pace, C. R.
In T. M. Tomlinson & H. S. Walberg (Eds.) Academic work and educational excellence: Raising student productivity Berkeley, CA: McCutchan, 1986.

Researching academic programs: An inquiry into an emerging field
Conrad, C., & Pratt, A.
In J. C. Smart (Ed.) Higher education: Handbook of theory and research New York, NY: Agathon, 1986.

Separate paths to separate places
Pace, C. R.
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A conceptual model of nontraditional undergraduate student attrition
Bean, J.P. & Metzner, B.S.
Review of Educational Research, 55 (4), 485-540, , 1985.

Expectation and reality in freshman adjustment to college
Baker, R., McNeil, O. V., & Siryk, B.
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 32 (1), 94-103, , 1985.

Perspectives and problems in student outcomes research
Pace, C. R.
New Directions for Institutional Research, 1985(47), 7-18, 1985.

Program quality in higher education: A review and critique of literature and research
Conrad, C., & Blackburn, R.
In J. C. Smart (Ed.) Higher education: Handbook of theory and research New York, NY: Agathon, 1985.

Review of college student experiences questionnaire
Brown, R. D.
In J. V. Mitchell, Jr. (Ed.) The ninth mental measurements yearbook Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, 1985.

Review of college student experiences questionnaire
Miller, J. K.
In J. V. Mitchell, Jr. (Ed.) The ninth mental measurements yearbook Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, 1985.

The college curriculum: Where's the content?
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Higher Education Research Institute, 1985.

The credibility of student self-reports
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Center for the Study of Evaluation, 1985.

Historical perspectives on student outcomes assessment with implications for the future
Pace, C. R.
NASPA Journal, 22(2), 10-18, 1984.

Measuring the quality of college student experiences: An account of the development and use of the College Student Experiences Questionnaire
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: Higher Education Research Institute, 1984.

Student effort: A new key to assessing quality
Pace, C. R.
Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Higher Education Research Institute, 1984.

Self- and teacher expectancy effects on academic performance of college students enrolled in an academic reinforcement program
Haynes, N.M. & Johnson S.T.
American Education Research Journal, 20 (4), 511-516, , 1983.

Student background and quality of effort correlates of reported grades, opinions about college, and perceptions of magnitudes of cognitive and affective attainment by students in a public comprehensive university
Michael, J. J.
Educational and Psychological Measurement, 43(2), 49, 1983.

Tests in print iii: An index to tests, test reviews, and literature on specific tests
Mitchell, J. V., Jr. (Ed.).
Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, 1983.

Faculty expectations of college students
Forsberg, I., & Greenbaum, A.
College Student Journal, 15(4), 387-392, 1981.

Inspiration, aspiration, and expectations of college freshmen at Jackson State University
Nichols, O. C.
College Student Journal, 15(4), 384-386, 1981.

The meaning of response categories: How often is 'occasionally,' 'often,' and 'very often'?
Pace, C. R., & Friedlander, J.
Research in Higher Education, 17(3), 269-281, 1981.

Measuring the quality of student effort
Pace, C. R.
Improving teaching and institutional quality Washington, DC: American Association for Higher Education, 1980.

Educational expectations and college attrition
Muskat, H.
NASPA Journal, 17(1), 17-22, 1979.

Measuring outcomes of college: Fifty years of findings and recommendations for the future
Pace, C. R.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1979.

Perceptions of the university climate among students in different academic majors at two colleges of arts and sciences
Pascarella, E.T.
Research in Higher Education, 4 165-176., , 1976.

Perceptions of the university climate among students in different academic majors at two colleges of arts and sciences
Pascarella, E.T.
Research in Higher Education, 4 165-176., , 1976.

Student expectations of college: Some implications for student personnel administrators
Karman, T. A.
NASPA Journal, 11(4), 52-59, 1974.

The characteristics of subject matter in different academic areas
Biglan, A.
Journal of Applied Psychology, 57 (3), 195-203., , 1973.

Change in environmental expectations and perceptions
King, H. & Walsh, W.B.
Journal of College Student Personnel, 331-337, , 1972.

Relationship between the psychosocial maturity of entering college freshmen and their expectations about college
Waterman, A. S.
Journal of Counseling Psychology, 19(1), 42-46, 1972.

Characteristics of students who make accurate and inaccurate self-predictions of college achievement
Keefer, K. E.
The Journal of Educational Research, 64 (9), 401-404, , 1971.

The role of the faculty in the accrediting of colleges and universities
American Association of University Professors
Policy documents and reports Washington, DC: Author, 1968.

Diversity experiences and college student learning and personal development
Hu S. & Kuh, G.D.
Journal of College Student Development, , 0.

Education disrupted: Students beginning college during the COVID-19 pandemic
Kinzie, J. & Cole, J.S.
New Directions for Higher EducationNew Directions for Higher Education, Perspectives From the COVID-19 Pandemic: Students and Academic Life, 199, 27-40, 0.
In the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, students entering college in fall 2021 had an unprecedented culmination to high school and transition to college. This chapter explores the experience of entering college students following these unprecedented circumstances, examining high school disruptions, including changes in the learning environment and its relationship to instructional mode preferences in college, and documenting students�?? sense of optimism for college, their mental and emotional health, and perceptions of academic difficulty. Results show that the educational impact of the pandemic was not uniform across student groups and will remain an important factor in these students�?? educational journey.
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High-impact practices and student-faculty interactions for gender-variant students
BrckaLorenz, A., Garvey, J. C., Hurtado, S. S., & Latopolski, K.
Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, , , 0.
The vast amount of research on student success and engagement in college focuses on a narrative for majority student populations that does not account for unique experiences across social identities. This article examines the experiences of gender-variant students (i.e., students who do not identify as either cisgender men or women) regarding engagement in high-impact practices and student?faculty interactions using a large-scale, multi-institution quantitative data set collected from the 2014 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement. Although high-impact practice participation was similar for gender-variant and cisgender students, positive student-faculty interaction was found to be a significant predictor for increased high-impact practice participation for gender-variant students. Results from this study may also point to chillier climates of certain major fields for gender-variant students. Implications for these findings focus on investigating major choice as a mediating factor for high-impact practice participation and advocating for the inclusion of different gender identities in surveys, institutional data, and higher-education research.

Successful student outcomes assessment: Six institutional case studies including the role of student affairs
Beeler, K. J., Benedict, L. & Hyman, R.
(Available from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 418, Washington, DC 20009), , 0.

The use of student engagement findings as a case of evidence-based practice
Kinzie, J.
New Directions for Higher Education, 2017 Summer(178), 47–56, 0.
The chapter considers student engagement to discuss the use of assessment evidence to advance evidence-based practice and to illustrate a scholarship of practice.
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The use of student engagement findings as a case of evidence-based practice
Kinzie, J.
New Directions for Higher Education, 2017 Summer(178), 47–56, 0.
The chapter considers student engagement to discuss the use of assessment evidence to advance evidence-based practice and to illustrate a scholarship of practice.
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Worth The Squeeze: What Learning Improvement Is and Why It Matters

, , 0.
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Worth The Squeeze: What Learning Improvement Is and Why It Matters
Kern, J.A. Kinzie, J & Fulcher, K.H.
, 0.
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Am I a professional? A quantitative study of faculty professional identity
Chamis, Ella; Braught, Emily; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2024, November.
The field often takes the professional identities of its faculty for granted, and faculty professional identity development is largely understudied. In this person-centered quantitative study, we explore the importance of faculty professional identity and consider its influencing factors for development. Our findings provide clarity and guidance in developing faculty professional identity.
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Examining the relationship between faculty identity and their civically engaged teaching practices
Jin, Seonmi; Zhang, Xiaoxia; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2024, November.
This study explores the relationship between faculty�??s identity and their civically engaged teaching practices, applying the Diversity Learning Environment model (Hurtado et al., 2012). We used the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), which included 13,531 faculty responses from 65 participating institutions, and conducted a multi-level modeling analysis.
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A Multi-Institutional Examination of Mind and Body Well-being for First-Generation
Yuhas, Bridget; Copeland, Olivia; Feldman, Steven; BrckaLorenz, Allison
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2024, April.
First-generation students (FGs) often face unique challenges in navigating collegiate experiences which can impact their well-being. In this study, we examine undergraduate FGs�?? mind and body well-being using data from two large-scale multi-institutional data sets. Specifically, we examine relationships between stressors and supports and assess the extent that FGs know how to get help at their institution for a variety of well-being issues. Results imply that FGs generally feel less institutional support for their well-being, that inverse relationships exist for mind and body stressors and institutional supports, and that results for knowing how to get help are mixed. Implications point to continued disaggregation to better understand FGs experiences and recognizing the importance of social capital to FGs success.
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Connecting College Student Civic Engagement and Cultural Center Involvement
Copeland, Olivia; Feldman, Steven; BrckaLorenz, Allison
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2024, April.
In this study, we explore the relationship between cultural center involvement and college students�?? civic engagement outcomes. We utilize data from a large-scale, multi-institutional data set to run a series of regression analyses. Findings indicate that participating in the activities of a cultural center positively correlates with higher levels of civic engagement skills and abilities as well as frequency of civic engagement. We also used effect coding in our models to explore sub-group differences within gender, sexual, and racial identity categories. Disaggregating by identity, our results indicate some disparities among students prior to considering their cultural center involvement. These findings present a significant counter to the widespread attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, evidencing the continued relevance and positive influence of cultural centers on all students.
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Faculty Perceptions of Their Disciplinary Cultures: Re-Evaluating Biglan�??s Dimensions
Braught, Emily; Hiller, Stephen C.; Nelson Laird, Thomas
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2024, April.
Disciplinary cultures are an important part of understanding the faculty experience. For fifty years, the Biglan dimensions have been frequently relied on by researchers interested in considering disciplinary differences as parts of their studies; however, applying a cultural lens draws attention to the possibility that over time, disciplinary cultures may have changed. Through exploring faculty perceptions of their disciplines using an item set derived from key cultural aspects of Biglan�??s dimensions, compared to the Biglan dimensions, this exploratory study offers insights into the evolution of disciplinary cultures, highlighting the variation and fluidity of disciplinary cultures that faculty experience in their disciplines today.
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Connecting College Student Civic Engagement and Cultural Center Involvement
Copeland, Oliva M., Feldman, Steven, BrckaLorenz, Allison
ACPA Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, 2024, March.
In this study, we explore the relationship between cultural center involvement and college students�?? civic engagement outcomes. We utilize data from a large-scale, multi-institutional data set to run a series of regression analyses. Findings indicate that participating in the activities of a cultural center positively correlates with higher levels of civic engagement skills and abilities as well as frequency of civic engagement. We also used effect coding in our models to explore sub-group differences within gender, sexual, and racial identity categories. Disaggregating by identity, our results indicate some disparities among students prior to considering their cultural center involvement. These findings present a significant counter to the widespread attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, evidencing the continued relevance and positive influence of cultural centers on all students.
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Investigating the Campus Pride Index�??s Relationship to Perceived Student Support
Copeland, Olivia M., Feldman, Steven, BrckaLorenz, Allison
ACPA Annual Convention, Chicago, IL, 2024, March.
The Campus Pride Index (CPI) is often used as a litmus test for assessing the level of LGBTQ+ inclusion and support within higher education institutions. However, little research has explicitly examined the relationship between CPI rating and LGBTQ+ students�?? perceptions of supportiveness. To explore this, we analyzed 118,244 student responses about their institution�??s support for diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. Results indicate that at top-rated CPI institutions, LGBQ+ students had lower perceptions of support than their peers. We discuss the implications of these results, focusing on how institutions may uncritically utilize CPI as the ceiling for LGBTQ+ support rather than a minimum, with ideas for how student affairs practitioners can utilize CPI while also going beyond CPI�??s metrics.
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Examining campus support systems for LGBQ+ college students' mental health and well-being
Feldman, Steven; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2023, November.
In this study, we explore LGBQ+ college students�?? experiences related to mental health and wellbeing, using the Proud & Thriving Framework. Our research utilizes a large scale, multi-institutional, quantitative and qualitative data set that includes a variety of institutional types and geographic locations across the United States. We use a series of OLS regression analyses and descriptive analyses to explore LGBQ+ students�?? difficulties, support networks, knowledge about institution-provided supports, and student-suggested ways that their institution has supported their mental health and well-being. We find that large portions of LGBQ+ students do not know how to get help with various difficulties and that students within the LGBQ+ community had differing relationships with risks and supports depending on their specific LGBQ+ identity such as asexual students struggling less with workload-related issues and pansexual students struggling more with health-related issues than their LGBQ+ peers. We conclude with suggestions for campus staff, faculty, and higher education researchers on tangible ways that they can work to improve campus environments and experiences for LGBQ+ college students.
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Somewhere to Stay and Thrive: Relationships between Persistence and Environments for Diverse Faculty
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Christiaens, Roman; Feldman, Steven; Russell, Alethia; Wenger, Kevin
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN, 2023, November.
As colleges and universities invest in efforts to cultivate diverse learning environments, a primary focus has been hiring and retaining faculty with underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds. Using data from a large-scale, multi-institution quantitative data set, we explore how faculty persistence relates to aspects of a faculty member�??s environment. We found that faculty perceptions of work-life balance and within-work balance were the strongest indicators of a faculty member�??s intentions to persist. Relationships between persistence and aspects of environment tended to be strongest for LGBQ+ faculty. Institutions interested in supporting and retaining diverse faculty can use these findings to better understand their institution�??s environment for faculty and pinpoint areas to implement change.
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Exploring Relationships Between Faculty Values for and Practice in Developing Student Quantitative Reasoning
Hu, Tien-Ling & BrckaLorenz, Allison
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2023, April.
The American Association of Colleges and Universities listed quantitative literacy as an essential practical skill. Colleges and universities play a key role in preparing students with career skills. Building on two critical perspectives: the importance of quality teaching to quality learning and the importance of quantitative reasoning in workforce success, the study explores the relationship between faculty values for quantitative reasoning, how much faculty structure their courses to help develop students�?? real-world skills, and to what extent faculty encourage students to participate in career-related activities. The findings show that faculty values for the importance of quantitative reasoning significantly predicted how they structure their courses to help develop students�?? numerical skills and how they encourage students to participate in career-related activities.
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Faculty Feelings Matter: Environmental Experiences of Queer Faculty of Color
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Chamis, Ella; Feldman, Steven
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2023, April.
Despite an emphasis on diversifying the professoriate, higher education has failed to make significant progress in recruiting and retaining diverse faculty in the academy. Literature points to issues of campus climate, discrimination, and workplace stress as common reasons for diverse faculty to leave their positions. Using the College + University Teaching Environment framework, Quare Theory, critical methodological philosophies, and a large-scale multi-institution quantitative dataset, this study examines affective components of a faculty environment for queer faculty, faculty of color, and queer faculty of color. Results indicate strong relationships between perceptions of support, sense of belonging, mental health, and stress with faculty persistence in their role as well as additional stress for LGBQ+ faculty of color.
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Institutional Environments for Diverse and Inclusive College Teaching: Exploring Disciplinary Variation
Hiller, Stephen C.; Hu, Tien-Ling; Nelson Laird, Thomas; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2022, November.
This study examines the relationships of disciplinary cultures with three aspects of teaching environments: diversity in the curriculum, the use of inclusive pedagogies, and teaching autonomy. Using data from the College + University Teaching Environment survey, we found significant differences across disciplinary areas and Biglan dimensions.
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Intersectionality and Sense of Belonging: Unpacking the Student Veteran Experience
Morris, Phillip Allen; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Burke, Jim; Chamis, Ella; Russell, Alethia; Weiss, Jennifer
Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2022, November.
Military veterans are increasingly diverse students with multiple identity intersections. Using variable- and person-centered analyses with data from NSSE (n= 12,668), we examined impacts of veterans�?? diverse identities on the multi-item factors Sense of Belonging, Collaborative Learning, Student-Faculty Interaction, and Quality of Interactions. Policy and practice implications are discussed.
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Advising during the pandemic: What we learned from research and educational practice
Cole, James and Kinzie, Jillian
NACADA, Portland, Oregon, 2022, October.
The pandemic created new challenges for students and campuses alike. Students experienced major disruptions in their educational experiences resulting in heightened mental health and academic concerns that contributed to an increasing equity gap. Campuses realized that they needed to re-align, prioritize, and develop new approaches to advising to be meet the needs of these students. Much of what was learned since 2020 is now part of the new normal. This presentation will highlight the academic and mental health challenges faced by thousands of entering fall 2022 students, focusing on first-year and transfer students, students of color, and first-generation. The presentation will describe how two institutions responded to this challenge. An important component of this presentation will be participants learning from each other and sharing how their campuses responded.
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Environments that Motivate Teaching Excellence: The College + University Teaching Environment Framework
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Brandon, Josclynn; Nelson Laird, Tom
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2021, November.
Inequities and discrimination built into the systems and structures of higher education prevent faculty from doing and receiving recognition for their best work. The framework proposed here guides our understanding of faculty needs, motivations, and supports that are necessary for healthy teaching environments and the wellbeing of diverse faculty.
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Teaching during the Pandemic: A Spectrum of Faculty Perspectives
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Hu, Tien-Ling
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2021, November.
In this study, we holistically investigated the ways the pandemic altered how faculty navigated their roles. We examined how faculty adapted course reparation and teaching practices while considering faculty teaching needs and personal relationships. Findings from two national surveys show differences in faculty experiences by race, gender, sexual orientation, rank, and discipline. One finding showed White faculty tended to be less flexible regarding changes to their courses while Asian faculty tended to be more flexible in comparison to the average faculty response. We discuss both broad and specific implications for institutions and faculty for comprehending faculty teaching practices as well as understanding faculty holistically.
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College Students Responding to Sexuality-Based Items: A Differential Test Function Analysis
Fassett, Kyle T.; BrckaLorenz, Allison
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
Surveys are often intended to collect data across a swath of individuals yet sometimes the items favor certain respondents over others. Differential test functioning (DTF) analysis helps us understand if there are underlying latent characteristics that may affect the way a group of individuals responds to items. This study sought to examine if differences existed in the responses to items pertaining to college students�?? feeling safe and supported regarding their sexual orientation. Results indicate that there appears to be differences in an item for queer first year respondents, but no differences when looking at senior students. More research is needed to precisely understand which items are functioning differently.
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Disciplinary Differences in Faculty Emphasis on Deep Approaches to Learning
Hiller, Stephen C.; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
This large-scale study compares how Biglan and Holland conceptualizations of academic disciplines in their ability to explain differences in faculty emphasis on deep approaches to learning in their courses. To examine these differences, several multiple regressions models are conducted 6,500 faculty and instructor responses to the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), using effect coding to better compare disciplinary categories. Analyses examining disciplines using Biglan�??s three dimensions or Holland�??s theory suggest differences within each conceptualization that largely align with previous research. Comparisons between these two conceptualizations, while showing some overlap, indicate that Biglan�??s dimensions explain slightly more variation, with a slightly greater range of magnitude in some effect sizes. These findings underscore for researchers, faculty, and educational developers the need to examine disciplinary effects on teaching practices while also suggesting for researchers the need to appropriately align disciplinary conceptualizations with their area of study.
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Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting 2021: National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) Showcase Presentation
Kinzie, Jillian
Higher Learning Commission Annual Meeting, 2021, April.
In 2020, NSSE celebrated two decades of focused attention on student engagement and quality in undergraduate education. This session will showcase findings about high-impact practices, collaborative learning, and academic advising, and lessons learned from institutions that have made productive use of their results to inform improvements for student persistence and success.
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A Quasi-Experimental Multilevel Study Examining High-Impact Practices and Deep Approaches to Learning
Fassett, Kyle T.; Haeger, Heather; BrckaLorenz, Allison
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
High-impact practice research often focuses on improving student persistence and academic achievement with less of an emphasis on the development of student learning processes. Further, many studies historically center majority populations in research due to sample size restrictions or methodological procedures. This study uses national survey data to examine over 347,000 seniors? experiences at more than 1,100 four-year colleges and universities with high-impact practices and students? reported learning processes. A hierarchical linear model with propensity scores and effect codes show the relationship between six high impact practices and students? learning processes while de-centering motivating factors and majority populations. Findings indicate both service-learning and learning communities promoted the outcomes under investigation with mixed results among the others. Differences emerged by race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability status. We broadly discuss implications for higher education and future research.
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Difficult Discourse and Critical Pedagogies: A Large-Scale Mixed-Methods Exploration of Faculty Practice
Hurtado, Sarah; BrckaLorenz, Allison; Sisaket, Lesley; Washington, Sylvia
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
Using critical pedagogy as our framework, this study?s purpose is to explore faculty members? ability to engage in difficult discourse with their students and their use of related critical pedagogies. The findings come from a large-scale multi-institution mixed-methods study to provide guidance for faculty to participate in this work.
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Trial and Error: Socialization?s Failure to Teach Us How to Teach
BrckaLorenz, Allison; Hurtado, Sarah; Palmer, Dajanae; McCoy-Simmons, Casey
Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2020, November.
Socialization is a major component to faculty development, but without intentional direction it can fail to produce effective educators. The purpose of this large-scale mixed-methods study is to explore teaching influences, missed opportunities to prepare faculty for handling challenging teaching situations, and ways we can improve the socialization process. Results highlight the importance of faculty experiences as undergraduate and graduate students, the value of professional associations and conference participation, and the great range in faculty desires for professional development as educators. Potential implications include a focus on early socialization experiences, encouraging the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and providing equitable opportunities to support vulnerable populations.
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A multi-institutional study of teaching development opportunities and faculty practice
Fassett, K.; BrckaLorenz, A.; Hiller, S.; Nelson Laird, T.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Research on faculty teaching development is robust, with small-scale research studies on specific teaching development experiences or practices in particular fields. To contextualize the myriad of teaching development efforts available to faculty, this large-scale multi-institution study of nearly 4,500 faculty seeks to broaden our understandings of who participates in teaching development practices, how their participation relates to their institutional environments, and how their participation connects to use of effective teaching practices. Results show there are some notable trends by field, identity, the type of courses taught, and institutional characteristics. The overview of professional development participation in this study gives strength to positive findings from smaller-scale research studies and provides a solid base for more specific studies of these practices.
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Are Black women faculty and Women of Color faculty synonymous?
Priddie, C.; Palmer, D.; Silberstein, S.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Black women faculty in the professoriate are often lumped into broader women of color categories when examining their experiences in academia. However, women of color are not a monolith and their experiences should be examined with disaggregation. The current study examined the time allocation of Black women faculty in relation to other women of color faculty to assess whether narratives compiling all women of color faculty together are appropriate. Results showed that Black women faculty differ in how they allocate their time in relation to their women of color counterparts. Our findings suggest that studies conducted aggregating the stories of women of color are not portraying the unique experience Black women faculty are facing.
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Classifying higher education institutions by their general education requirements
Holcombe, E.; Nelson Laird, T.; Kwon, J.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
General Education (GE) curricula specify requirements, most often fulfilled through coursework, that undergraduate students need to satisfy in addition to and often preceding a specialized major or program. Due to the decentralized nature of the American higher education system and lack of national requirements or guidelines, however, GE requirements vary from one institution to another. This exploratory study investigates patterns of GE requirements among a selection of 154 institutions and determines whether and how institutions could be grouped or classified by their GE requirements. Our five-dimension typology is parsimonious and meaningfully distinguishes between GE patterns giving us insightful information about the values and goals of institutions that are not communicated through our traditional categorizations.
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Developing transferable skills for the public good
Kirnbauer, T.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Transferable skills are crucial for undergraduates to be prepared to enter the workforce after college. Previous research has shown how effective educational approaches enhance student learning. There is, however, limited research that understands how the emphasis on transferable skills relates to the value of deep approaches to student learning. This paper analyzes how faculty emphasis of transferable skills, through analytical writing and problem-solving, is related to deep approaches to learning in higher education. Data come from a large-scale, multi-institutional study that surveys faculty at four-year institutions. Findings indicate that the intentional development of transferable skills has a positive relationship with emphases on deep approaches to learning. The study reinforces the importance of collaboration between multiple stakeholders to foster student learning.
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Examining the relationship between faculty development opportunities and teaching practices
Fassett, K.; BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, 2020, April.
Teaching is arguably the lifeblood of higher education as students enroll in higher education institutions to learn new information. Faculty often partake in developmental opportunities that seek to improve their pedagogical practices and the student experience. Seeing the importance in understanding teaching, this study uses a multi-institution data set to examine the relationship between development opportunities and faculty use of effective teaching practices and course goals. Findings indicate that informal practices including discussing teaching with colleagues, speaking with students beyond course evaluations about classroom practices, and reading pedagogy books increased use of effective teaching practices. These findings have implications for faculty developers coordinating teaching development opportunities, administrators investing funding in development, and faculty who are looking to change their practices.
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Student Living Arrangements: An Exploration of Marginalized Identities
Fassett, Kyle T.; Gonyea, Robert M.; Graham, Polly A.; Fosnacht, Kevin
ACPA-College Student Affairs Educators International Convention, Nashville, TN, 2020, March.
While past research found on-campus living to benefit student success, recent studies find mixed support, particularly for marginalized groups. This study focuses on first-year and sophomore students of color, LGBQ+ students, gender non-binary students, and students with disabilities, analyzing where they live as related to a variety of outcomes. Data come from 76 residential colleges and universities that participated in NSSE during 2018. Results show differences in where students report living and students? engagement and perceptions of belongingness and safety in their living communities.
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Culturally engaging courses and campuses for LGBQ+ issues
BrckaLorenz, A., Duran, A., Haeger, H. & Duenaz, U.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Portland, OR, 2019, November.
This study examined student perceptions of how open their institution is to integrating LGBQ+ topics in curricula and how this relates to other forms of engagement. We found differences by major and sexuality, and that relationships between engagement and LGBQ+ topic inclusion are strong for LGBQ+ and non-LGBQ+ students.
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Examining the relationship between living environments and sense of community: A multi-institution study
Hurtado, S., Fassett, K., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Portland, OR, 2019, November.
This study seeks to expand the often-mixed results about college living arrangements. We examine differences between various on-campus and off-campus options as they relate to students sense of community and belonging. We specifically focus on students from marginalized backgrounds who have been historically underrepresented in college environment studies.
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Exploring interactions of race and discipline in teaching practices: Focusing on faculty of color in STEM
Hiller, S., BrckaLorenz, A., Priddie, C., & Nelson Laird, T.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Portland, OR, 2019, November.
This study seeks to center the experiences of minoritized faculty to better understand how diverse faculty approach teaching in different disciplines. Findings suggest that students in STEM courses taught by faculty of color may experience deeper and more meaningful learning than in STEM courses taught by White faculty.
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Top college choice among students? sexual orientations
Fassett, K. T., & Pike, G. R.
ssociation for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Portland, OR, 2019, November.
This paper aims to examine college enrollment trends of queer students using Perna?s (2006) conceptual model of student college choice focusing on aspects of capital and the recruitment of these students. The research questions of the study are: what differences exist between students selecting their top institution by sexual orientation, and how do social factors influence queer students selecting these institutions? Data from the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) paired with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for students entering college in 2017 and 2018.
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Top college choice differences among students' sexual orientations
Fassett, K., & Pike, G.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Portland, OR, 2019, November.
This paper aims to examine college enrollment trends of queer students using Perna�??s (2006) conceptual model of student college choice focusing on aspects of capital and the recruitment of these students. The research questions of the study are: what differences exist between students selecting their top institution by sexual orientation, and how do social factors influence queer students selecting these institutions? Data from the Beginning College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) paired with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for students entering college in 2017 and 2018.
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What's your threshold? How international students use vague quantifiers of behavioral frequency in student surveys
McCormick, A., Rocconi, L., & Dumford, A.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2019, May.
Many student surveys on the undergraduate experience ask respondents to quantify various aspects of their collegiate experiences. Studies of the survey response process have shown that enumeration is cognitively challenging and subject to various forms of error. As an alternative to enumeration, many surveys use vague quantifiers (VQs) such as ?very often,? ?often,? ?sometimes,? ?rarely,? or ?never.? Previous research findings generally support the use of VQs from a concurrent validity standpoint. One important area that has gone unexplored involves international students?how they interpret and use VQs and whether these interpretations and uses differ from those of domestic students. A related concern involves heterogeneity within the international student population. To the extent that the use of VQs differs between international and domestic students, or differs among international student populations, users of student survey data should be aware of these differences and their implications for the validity and interpretation of results. Informed by these concerns, we ask the following research questions: 1. To what extent do domestic and international students interpret VQs differently? 2. Among international students, to what extent do students from Western and non-Western countries interpret VQs differently?
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Advancing truth: Expanding our knowledge of LGBQ+ faculty
BrckaLorenz, A., Fassett, K., & Merckle, R.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2019, April.
Most research about queerness at colleges and universities has been aimed at examining the student experience. Research on queer faculty often has quantitative limitations, has grown outdated, or is qualitative in nature. From this, we know that the experiences of queer faculty are often difficult. Through a large-scale, multi-institution, multi-year investigation of LGBQ+ faculty, this study aims to give an overview of the academic lives of these understudied academics. We investigate who they are, at what kinds of institutions are they employed, and different ways they contribute to undergraduate education. With this story, we hope to strengthen the voices of qualitative studies and encourage higher education to think more broadly about notions of diversity and identity.
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An examination of inclusivity and support for diversity in STEM fields
BrckaLorenz, A., Haeger, H., & Priddie, C.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2019, April.
The lack of diversity in STEM professions is an ongoing concern for the US both in terms of social justice and in having a globally competitive workforce. This study provides information for campus leaders to be proactive in considering a wide array of identities to meet the needs of students beyond attending to structural forms of diversity. Data from a large-scale, multi-institution study of students‘ perceptions of inclusive coursework and institutional commitment to diversity in STEM fields furthers what we know about diversity in these majors. Results encourage campus leaders to additionally consider sexual orientation and disability status in conversations about diversity and to think about how culturally engaging and inclusive courses go beyond the content of the course.
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Centering Black women faculty: Magnifying powerful voices
Priddie, C., Palmer, D., Silberstein, S., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2019, April.
While much of the quantitative research Black women faculty, has taken a comparative approach to understanding their experiences, this study provides a counternarrative, centering their experiences as faculty. This large-scale, multi-institution glance at Black women faculty helps to give us an overview of these women across the country, looking at who they are, where they are, how they spend their time, and what they value in undergraduate education. This study allows us to strengthen various arguments made in qualitative studies of Black women faculty and give voice to a community that can be invisible. This study reaffirms and reinvigorates the need to continue to create avenues for recruitment, hiring, support, promotion, and retention of Black women across all disciplines.
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Does enjoyment, guilt, and/or rewards motivate faculty research productivity? A large-scale test of Self-Determination Theory
Stupnisky, R., BrckaLorenz, A., & Nelson Laird, T. F.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2019, April.
What motivates faculty to be productive researchers is largely unknown as institutional, demographic, and social-environmental factors explain limited variance. The current study tested the extent to which self-determined motivation served as a predictor of university faculty member‘s research productivity. Analysis of a large-scale USA sample of 1,980 faculty from 21 institutions using structural equation modeling found autonomous motivation (enjoyment, value) positively related to self-reported research productivity and number of publications, beyond time spent on research. The basic needs of autonomy and competence predicted autonomous motivation, and indirectly predicted achievement. External motivation (rewards) had a relatively small positive relationship with research productivity, while introjected motivation (guilt) had no relationship. The results contribute to both the faculty development and motivation research literatures.
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Employing differential item function analysis in survey research
Paulsen, J., Merckle, R., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2019, April.
One of the key assumptions involved in using any survey or measurement is that the instrument works consistently across groups. This is particularly important in survey research where group comparisons are ubiquitous. Differential item functioning analysis examines whether the instrument systematically biases in favor of one group. The findings from such an analysis are unattainable in traditional approaches to examining instrument validity, and yet, it is rare to find DIF analysis in surveys. This process illustrates DIF analysis with logistic regression using the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement. We find FSSE items did not show the presence of DIF. This provides confidence to users of this instrument that it measures the same constructs in the same way across different groups.
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Examining students’ use of, preferences for, and learning with e-textbooks
Abaci, S., BrckaLorenz, A., & Quick, J.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2019, April.
E-textbooks (e-texts) are becoming more available in higher education as they offer a cost advantage and features that are intended to enhance teaching and learning. Although previous studies speak to student experiences and preferences for e-texts, these studies are often limited in scope. The purpose of this study is to understand student experiences with e-texts and the factors that drive their preferences for textbook medium with a large-scale multi-institution data set. Findings indicate that e-text use and preferences differ by a variety of student characteristics, most notably students‘ class level and major field. In general, students who more frequently used the interactive features of e-texts felt that their use of these tools contributed to their learning and interactions with others.
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Time well spent: Flipped classrooms and effective teaching practices
Fassett, K. T., BrckaLorenz, A., Strickland, J., & Ribera, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, Canada, 2019, April.
Good teaching practices are the crux of student education and require constant evaluation to meet current generations‘ learning needs. Flipped classrooms have sought a foothold in higher education to provide opportunities for deep learning through the delivery of content online prior to attending class while having activities related to processing and applying the information during class. Using a large-scale, multi-institution study of faculty teaching flipped courses, this study empirically links flipped procedures to other forms of effective educational practice and additionally focuses on the motivations and impacts on the faculty side of this pedagogical practice. Findings indicate numerous learning and development benefits for students with implications for supporting and motivating faculty across disciplines, faculty identities, and course types.
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The relationship between residential learning communities and student engagement
Hurtado, S., Gonyea, R. M., Graham, P. A., & Fosnacht, K.
American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Boston, MA, 2019, March.
Residential learning communities (RLCs) are residence hall environments designed to deliver academic and social benefits. For decades, RLCs have been touted as an effective means to increase student success. Yet, substantial changes in the defining characteristics of campus housing and student diversity have led to new questions about the impact of living on campus and the benefits of RLCs in particular. Consequently, we investigated the continued efficacy of RLCs as an effective educational practice. Using data from a diverse, multi-institution sample of first-year and sophomore students, this study provides insight into the relationships between RLC participation, student engagement, and perceived gains in learning.
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Bringing their perspective to campus: Students’ experiences with inclusive courses and diverse environments
Kinzie, J., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, 2018, November.
How much do students experience courses that emphasize sharing their own perspectives or respecting diverse ideas? This study uses data from a multi-institution survey to explore student experiences with inclusive courses and perceptions of institutional commitment to diversity and discuss a dozen campus responses to their institutional assessment results.
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International students' reflective-integrative learning: Variation by geographical regions of origin
Oktafiga, D. A., BrckaLorenz, A., & Nelson Laird, T. F.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, 2018, November.
International students are an important and growing population at colleges and universities in the United States. Although some is known about the behaviors of these students in higher education, more information about how these students engage in reflective-integrative learning activities can help institutions create spaces for these students to thrive both academically and interpersonally. Using a large-scale, multi-institution survey of over three thousand international seniors, this study moves away from the common practice of grouping international students together and begins to disaggregate by exploring senior international students' reflective-integrative learning participation by the students' geographic region of origin. Findings indicate that there are differences in participation in reflective-integrative learning activities among international students from different regions as well as between international and domestic students, with notable differences from Asian students.
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The effects of the first-year residence hall roommate assignment policy on interactional diversity and perceptions of the campus environment
Fosnacht, K., Gonyea, R. M., Graham, P. A., & Hurtado, S.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, 2018, November.
A heterogenous student body is valued in part because diverse interactions among students help create educated and competent citizens and promotes student learning and development. Campus housing is a primary area for diverse interactions as students navigate living with individuals who differ from themselves. This study investigates how the roommate assignment process influences interactional diversity and perceptions of the campus environment for first-year students living on campus, and if these relationships differ by race/ethnicity. On average, students whose roommates were assigned by the institution (as opposed to choosing their own roommates) had a trivial increase in interactional diversity, but perceived a less supportive campus environment. However, the latter relationship differed by race. In particular, Asian, Black, and multiracial students who were assigned roommates by the institution perceived a less welcoming campus environment than their same-race peers who chose their roommates. This difference was not observed for White students.
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The intersections of race and sexuality in LGBQ+ college students’ belongingness, institutional commitment, and outness
BrckaLorenz, A., Duran, A., Fassett, K., & Palmer, D.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, 2018, November.
The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate how student subgroups within the LGBQ+ community differed in their perceptions of belongingness, institutional commitment, and outness. Findings from this study revealed how professionals can create targeted initiatives to support collegians who identify with specific racial or sexual minority groups
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The time is now: A study promoting STEM faculty use of culturally inclusive teaching
Ribera, A., Priddie, C., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, 2018, November.
This study aims to inform the conversation of inclusion in STEM. We analyzed nearly 3,000 faculty who shared their experiences with using culturally inclusive teaching in their selected undergraduate course. Our study serves as tool to promote discussions about strategies campus leaders may adopt to reinforce inclusion for all students.
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Wake up, institutions! Understanding the social and political causes of student activists
BrckaLorenz, A., Palmer, D., Kirnbauer, T., Miller, D., & Wright, A.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Tampa, FL, 2018, November.
The purpose of this large-scale quantitative study was to better understand the social and political causes in which students are active. Through our findings, we encourage colleges and universities to #wakeup and adopt a more proactive philosophy for their engagement with and support of students surrounding activism.
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Creative coursework exposure: Enhancing college student engagement across disciplines
Miller, A. L.
Southern Oregon University Creativity Conference, 2018, August.
Previous research suggests that creativity training can be effective in academic settings and that teachers, in particular, can have an impact on creativity (Scott et al., 2004). Furthermore, incorporating creativity into classroom activities and assignments can encourage student engagement in the educational process (Halpern, 2010). This study extends research on creativity and student engagement in higher education, using data from the ?Senior Transitions? topical module of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Responses from over 61,000 seniors at 266 different U.S colleges and universities were used to explore how exposure to creative coursework can predict student engagement in a variety of areas. NSSE‘s measure of creative coursework includes items on generating new ideas, taking risks without fear of penalty, evaluating multiple approaches to problems, and inventing new methods. Ordinary least squares regression models were conducted to determine the effect of creative coursework exposure on NSSE‘s established measures of student engagement: reflective and integrative learning, higher-order learning, use of learning strategies, collaborative learning, diverse discussions, student-faculty interaction, effective teaching practices, quality of interactions, and supportive environment. The results suggest that creative coursework is a significant positive predictor of student engagement, even after controlling for sex, transfer status, enrollment status, first-generation status, age, SAT/ACT, race/ethnicity, major, grades, percentage of online courses, control (private/public) and size. Potential reasons for these patterns of results will be discussed. These findings can help to inform curricular and programming enhancements for college students across all major fields, enriching their educational experiences through exposure to creative coursework.
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Dimensions of expectations: How it breaks freshman myth
Mu, L., & Cole, J.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, 2018, April.
First-year college students often arrive with unrealistic academic and engagement expectations that typically result in many of their expectations going unmet. This phenomenon is referred to as freshman myth. Due to the gap between the expected and actual engagement, investigations about their association at the average level may conceal the true relationship. In the current study, we used longitudinal student survey data from a national sample to explore how the variation in expectations influences the association of the expected and actual engagement of first-year college students. The results revealed that, at the same expectation level, entering college students who had more varied expectations were more likely to fulfill their expected engagement in the first academic year. An institution‘s environment did not show significant mediation on the association of expected and actual engagement.
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Examining faculty burn-out, well-being, and job performance
Stupnisky, R. H., BrckaLorenz, A., Yuhas, B., & Guay, F.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, 2018, April.
This study tested a conceptual model based on self-determination theory to examine how university faculty members‘ motivation for teaching predicts their utilization of teaching best practices and explored if faculty at various higher education institution types are differentially motivated for teaching. Data from a national online survey of 1,671 faculty from 19 universities were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Support for the overall model showed faculty autonomy, competence, and relatedness positively predicted autonomous (intrinsic, identified) motivation but not controlled (introjected, external) motivation. Autonomous motivation, in turn, predicted greater incorporation of effective teaching strategies, namely instructional clarity, higher-order learning, reflective and integrative learning, and collaborative learning. There were no differences found across faculty at doctoral, master‘s, and bachelor‘s institutions in terms of autonomous motivation mean levels nor for the predictive effects of autonomous motivation on teaching best practices. The findings have implications for the faculty motivation and teaching research literatures as well as for faculty development initiatives aimed at improving teaching effectiveness.
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Exploring perspectives on culturally inclusive practice: Institutional emphasis of diversity, inclusive coursework, and student gains
BrckaLorenz, A., Kinzie, J., Hurtado, S., & Sanchez, B.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, 2018, April.
In the last few decades, diversity, inclusion, and equity goals have proliferated across institutions in the US, and decades of research point to the benefits of culturally inclusive content and pedagogy on student outcomes. Despite these findings, it is not sufficient simply to know if students are exposed to these experiences; rather, we must understand how students interpret and perceive them as they relate to the institution‘s commitment to inclusion. Using data from undergraduates and faculty in a large-scale, multi-institution quantitative study, this paper presents findings regarding the ways students engage in culturally inclusive content and pedagogy, faculty practices for inclusivity, and how these influence students‘ educational gains and perceptions of institutional commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity goals.
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Faculty types and effective teaching: A cautionary exploration of how faculty spend their time
BrckaLorenz, A., Nelson Laird, T. F., Yuhas, B., Strickland, J., & Fassett, K.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, 2018, April.
Most research on faculty time focuses on research productivity, leaving the time they spend on other activities largely unexplored. Time spent teaching is certainly as core to institutional missions as research and is more likely to shape students‘ experiences and learning. This large-scale, multi-institution study of over 16,000 full-time faculty examines how much time they spend on teaching, research, and service. Five distinct groups, based on time use, are described. Additionally, the relationships between the groupings and the use of effective educational practices are explored. Surprising results, such as teaching-heavy faculty scoring the lowest on measures of teaching effectiveness, raise questions about faculty roles and autonomy and what conditions inspire the use of best practices in teaching.
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Measuring the diversity inclusivity of college courses: An update
Nelson Laird, T. F., Hurtado, S. S., & Yuhas, B.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, 2018, April.
In our current educational and national contexts, few things matter more than finding ways to facilitate learning across differences. Including diversity in the college curriculum is one well-established way to promote this learning. In this update to Nelson Laird‘s (2011) work, we use questionnaire responses from 4,468 faculty at 42 colleges and universities to show that all types of faculty are including diversity in some aspects of their courses, while certain faculty?such as women, faculty of color, and those who perceive a strong commitment to diversity among the people at their institutions?are more likely to include diversity than their colleagues. We discuss implications for faculty, faculty development, and students in the paper.
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Student and faculty perspectives on the emphasis of inclusive and culturally engaging coursework
Silberstein, S. & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, 2018, April.
Higher education provides opportunities for students from homogeneous backgrounds to be introduced to new concepts and experiences, and it has the potential to create environments that engage and include students from marginalized backgrounds. It is not enough to strive for structural diversity; institutions should intentionally create formal diversity experiences, such as coursework focused on inclusive and culturally engaging activities. This large-scale, multi-institution study of undergraduate and faculty perceptions of inclusive and culturally engaging coursework gives insight into the ways faculty create supportive environments in their classrooms and the students who are participating in these activities. This paper focuses on areas in which campuses are succeeding in creating more inclusive and culturally engaging classroom environments and areas that need improvement.
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Undergraduate financial knowledge and the role of financial education programming
Fosnacht, K., & Dugan, B. J.
NASPA Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2018, March.
College is an increasingly risky investment for students due to increased cost burden placed on students and their families and the associated student debt. In response, colleges and universities have increased their financial education programming hoping to mitigate some of the deleterious effects of this change. Therefore, we conducted an exploratory analysis of financial education programming by examining its relationship with financial knowledge. After holding other characteristics constant, we found little efficacy of many types of financial education programming. The single program with a significant and positive relationship was student loan counseling, which had a small to trivial influence on financial knowledge. Consequently, colleges and universities should reevaluate their financial education efforts to examine if these resources are being spent wisely.
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Biracial students’ collegiate interactions and perceptions of the campus environment
BrckaLorenz, A., Harris, J., & Nelson Laird, T.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Houston, TX, 2017, November.
The purpose of this research is to focus on the amount of and relationship between biracial students‘ collegiate interactions and their perceptions of the campus environment. Findings from this research explore an often understudied biracial student population and complicate the assumption that biracial students are a monolithic group.
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High-impact practices: Is the impact positive or negative for students of color?
McCormick, A. C., Kinzie, J., & Gonyea, R. M.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Houston, TX, 2017, November.
Although high-impact practices are promoted as mechanisms to improve the quality of undergraduate education for all students, it has been suggested that they may create the opportunity for distinctly negative, harmful experiences for students of color. This study examines the impact of HIP participation within racial/ethnic groups, finding generally positive effects.
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Marginalization at the crossroads: Exploring the experiences of queer students of color
BrckaLorenz, A., & Clark, J.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Houston, TX, 2017, November.
Queer students of color present a unique combination of marginalized racial and sexual identities. In this large-scale multi-institutional study, we explore the engagement, perceptions of campus environment, and satisfaction of thousands of queer students of color. Results highlight some of the struggles and successes of this often-silenced group of students.
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Peering into the box of grit: How does grit influence the engagement of undergraduates?
Fosnacht, K., Copridge, K., & Sarraf, S.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Houston, TX, 2017, November.
Angela Duckworth‘s concept of grit has become a popular way for admissions leaders to incorporate non-cognitive traits into admissions decisions. Despite this popularity, the validity of grit has been questioned by numerous scholars. This study investigated the construct and concurrent validity of the Short Grit Scale (Grit-S) using a large multi-institutional sample of first year and senior students. It also examined the measurement invariance of Grit-S to examine if the scale varied across populations. The results indicate that the criterion validity of Grit-S is not suitable for usage in high-stakes situations. However, the scale seems to be relatively invariant across important subgroups. The concurrent validity analyses revealed that one dimension of grit, perseverance of effort, was significantly and positively correlated to the NSSE Engagement Indicators, a perceived gains scale, time spent studying, and GPA. However, the second dimension of grit was frequently negatively related to the same measures.
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Religious intolerance on campus: A multi-institutional study
Broderick, C., & Fosnacht, K.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Houston, TX, 2017, November.
Incidents of religious intolerance and discrimination have become too common in American society and today‘s college campuses are not immune to these incidents. Previous research has shown the negative influence of perceived hostile campus cultures on students‘ overall learning and development. This study investigated the religious and spiritual discrimination experiences of college and university students. With particular attention paid to students‘ self-identified religious/spiritual identities, the study found that students who identify with a non-Christian, World faith tradition experienced a greater number of discriminatory acts than their Christian peers. Additionally, the results show that a greater respect for beliefs on campus was negatively correlated with experiencing acts of religious intolerance. In contrast, increased comfort in expressing religious and spirituality beliefs on campus was positively related to greater incidents of religious intolerance.
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Viewing higher education as a sea of islands: The impact of student engagement on cultural validation of Native Hawai'ian and Pacific Islander students
Saelua, N., Ribera, A., BrckaLorenz, A., & Museus, S. D.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Houston, TX, 2017, November.
Knowing that culturally diverse students find validation to be a motivating factor for their success on college and university campuses, this large-scale multi-institution study of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) students examines their views on cultural validation and specific forms of engagement that can help NHPI students feel valued.
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The role of religion and spirituality in promoting a positive campus culture: A multi-institutional study
Fosnacht, K., & Broderick, C.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, 2017, May.
Discriminatory acts against religious minorities at our nation‘s college campuses has been too common. Previous research has linked discrimination to perceptions of a hostile campus climate, which negatively influences students learning and development. This study investigated the correlates of two measures that capture students‘ perception of the campus climate. It pays particular attention to the role of religious identity and attending a religiously affiliated institution to assess how these factors influence students‘ perception of the respect for their beliefs and comfort in expressing their views on campus. The results indicate few differences by religious identity in students‘ perception of the respect for their beliefs, but significant differences by religion in their comfort in expressing their views. Additionally, attending a religiously affiliated institution was positively correlated with students‘ comfort in expressing their beliefs, even for religious minorities.
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Typology of students: A view from student transition from high school to college
Mu, L., & Cole, J.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, 2017, May.
Several recent studies have successfully identified several college student types. One limitation of past studies has been their reliance on one-time cross sectional assessments. As a result, we are left to ponder the stability or consistency of student behaviors as the academic year progresses. This study uses longitudinal data of student engagement to investigate the stability of student engagement typology. Guided by behavioral consistency theory, this study explores the supportive elements of educational settings in order to find those under which students‘ behavior-based types are more likely to change. Results showed that there are generally four student types based on their engagement in a variety of activities. In higher education settings, most students stick to a pattern of behaviors while a small portion changed compared with their engagement types in high school. Students‘ background characteristics and institutional environment showed association with these shifts.
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A comparison of international students’ engagement and faculty perceptions of international student engagement
Wang, R., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, 2017, April.
With the exponential growth of international students pursing degrees at U.S. colleges and universities, an increasing number of faculty and staff have brought up questions and concerns about supporting international students‘ academic engagement and success. Although prior studies have explored the educational experiences of international students in the US, only a small number of them have investigated international student engagement at four-year institutions. Little is known about faculty‘s approaches to international student engagement and how they may differ from international students‘ self-reported engagement. Using large-scale and multi-institutional survey datasets, this quantitative study aims to explore international student engagement in learning strategies, collaborative learning, and student-faculty interaction, and to compare international student engagement from the perspectives of faculty and students. Recommendations on supporting international student engagement from an individual faculty level, department level, and institutional level are discussed in the end.
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Applying item response theory to examine extreme survey response style
Wang, X., Ribera, A. K., & Gonyea, R. M.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, 2017, April.
Response style effect is a well-known survey limitation. By applying a generalized item response theory (IRT) model to the Global Perspective Inventory data from the 2014 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), this study provides estimates of college students‘ extreme response style (ERS) tendency. Furthermore, findings reveal significant group differences in ERS tendency by two student characteristics?first-generation status and major choice (STEM vs non-STEM).
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Social desirability bias and faculty respondents: Is ?good behavior? harming survey results?
Miller, A. L., & Dumford, A. D.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Antonio, TX, 2017, April.
Social desirability bias has long been a concern for survey researchers, with mixed findings for student self-reports in higher education. To extend this research, the current study investigates the potential presence of social desirability bias in faculty surveys. In addition to the core Faculty Survey of Student Engagement, this study used responses from a social desirability measure given to 1,574 faculty members at 18 institutions. A series of 10 step-wise OLS regression analyses looking at engagement indicators (while controlling for other faculty and institutional characteristics) suggest that in all cases, social desirability bias does not seem to be a major factor in faculty survey responses. However, it is also important to consider how some items are ?sensitive? for specific populations.
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The role of religion/spirituality in promoting a positive campus culture
Fosnacht, K., & Broderick, C.
American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Columbus, OH, 2017, March.
Postsecondary institutions are frequently forced to respond to discriminatory acts, including those against religious minorities. Such acts can create the perception of a hostile campus climate for students, which impinges on their learning and development. Campus climate research has traditionally focused on race and sex, but has largely neglected other important aspects of students' identities like religion and spirituality. In this study, we investigated how the religious/spiritual aspects of the campus climate influenced students' perceptions of the overall campus climate using data from a multi-institutional sample of first-year and senior undergraduates. Our multivariate results show that the religious/spiritual dimensions of the campus climate account for a significant proportion of the variance in students' campus climate perceptions.
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Found my place: The importance of faculty relationships for seniors’ sense of belonging
Miller, A. L., Williams, L. M., & Silberstein, S. M.
John C. Dalton Institute on College Student Values, Tallahassee, FL, 2017, February.
The current study sought to explore whether senior students‘ faculty-related engagement influences their sense of belonging, particularly their feelings of institutional acceptance. This study utilizes data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) to explore these relationships. Results suggest that increased student-faculty interaction, use of effective teaching practices, and participation in research with faculty have a positive impact on feelings of institutional acceptance for seniors. Furthermore, certain student demographics, college experiences, and institutional characteristics also play a role in this aspect of belongingness. Institutions can use this information to increase programming and resources directed at improving student engagement with faculty.
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Employing quasi-experimental methods to relate first-year student participation in research with faculty to desired outcomes
Fosnacht, K., & Zilvinskis, J.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Columbus, IN, 2016, November.
Undergraduate research opportunities with faculty are becoming increasingly common and previously been found to positively influence student learning. However, the literature on this activity is generally weak methodologically and/or is not generalizable. This study uses quasi-experimental methods to examine the influence of research with faculty using a large national sample. We found that research with faculty experiences had significant and positive effects on multiple aspects of student engagement for a sample of first-year students, particularly student-faculty interaction. Additionally, we found differential effects of undergraduate research participation between STEM and non-STEM majors. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
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Examining student-faculty interaction among Black/African American female undergraduates: An in-depth analysis of NSSE 2008&ndash2012 data
Wheatle, K. I. E., Davis, L. P., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Columbus, OH, 2016, November.
The current study examines student-faculty interaction by employing OLS regression models on a large-scale sample of student engagement survey data to compare Black female interaction with faculty to their Black male, White female, and White male peers. Within-group analyses will reveal impact of various student characteristics among Black women students.
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First-year students' time use in college: A latent profile analysis
Fosnacht, K., McCormick, A. C., & Lerma, R.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Columbus, OH, 2016, November.
Students‘ time expenditures influence their learning and development. This study used latent profile analysis to identify a typology of how first-year students spend their time using a large, comprehensive sample. It identified four time usage patterns by first-year students titled balanced, involved, partiers, and parents. Sex, expected major field, on-campus residency, age, Greek-life membership, and standardized test scores were predictive of students‘ time use patterns. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
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Effective advising: How academic advising influences student learning outcomes in different institutional contexts
Mu, L., & Fosnacht, K.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2016, April.
Using survey data from 156 bachelor‘s-granting institutions, this study explored the relationship between academic advising services and senior‘s grades and self-perceived gains. We found advising experiences has a positive relationship with students‘ grades and self-perceived learning gains. Additionally, our results indicate that the institutional advising climate is positively correlated with perceived learning gains, but not grades. The results also showed that the relationships of advising and students‘ learning and development varied across institutions. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
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High-impact practices and student-faculty interactions for gender variant students
BrckaLorenz, A., Garvey, J. C., Hurtado, S. S., & Latopolski, K.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2016, April.
The vast amount of research on student success and engagement in college focuses on a narrative for majority student populations that does not account for unique experiences across social identities. This paper examines the experiences of gender variant students (i.e., students who do not identify as either cisgender men or women) regarding engagement in high-impact practices and student-faculty interactions using a large-scale, multi-institution quantitative data set. Although high-impact practice participation was similar for gender variant and cisgender students, positive student-faculty interaction was found to be a significant predictor for increased high-impact practice participation for gender variant students. Results from this study may also point to chillier climates of certain major fields for gender variant students. Implications for these findings focus on increasing gender variant students‘ participation in high-impact practices, creating more safe and positive learning environments for gender variant students, and advocating for the inclusion of different gender identities in surveys, institutional data, and higher education research.
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Maintaining inequality: An analysis of college pathways among women at large public institutions
Tukibayeva, M., Ribera, A. K., Nelson Laird, T. F., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2016, April.
Armstrong and Hamilton (2013) proposed a framework of three college pathways?party, professional, and mobility?that lead to economically unequal postgraduation outcomes and vastly different college experiences for female students. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), we examined the responses from 42,504 women seniors at 183 four-year large public institutions to identify how the potential income of their college major choice relate to the pathways. We found that the economic advantage of major choice is not equally distributed among students: party pathway students selected the least lucrative college majors, professional pathway students selected the most lucrative majors, and first-generation students on all pathways tended to select majors with less potential income than their peers with college-educated parents. Students on the three pathways also engaged differently in three measures of academic engagement (three of the ten NSSE Engagement Indicators): Reflective and Integrative Learning, Learning Strategies, and Student-Faculty Interaction.
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Moving students to read: Unpacking the relationship with reflective and integrative learning
Wang, R., & Ribera, A. K.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2016, April.
College students‘ reading motivation and reflective and integrative learning play a significant role in influencing students‘ academic performance and engagement. Understanding students‘ reading motivation will help faculty members adjust their course design and provide sufficient support and resources in order to accommodate student learning. Using data collected in 2013 from 47 four-year colleges and universities located in the U.S., this study explores individual characteristics of students who tend to be intrinsically motivated to read. This study also explores the relationship between intrinsic reading motivation and students‘ level of engagement in reflective and integrative learning. Recommendations for enhancing students‘ reading motivation and reflective and integrative learning are provided.
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The teaching practices and time allocation of faculty and graduate student instructors
Wang, R., BrckaLorenz, A., & Nelson Laird, T.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2016, April.
Few studies have compared teaching behaviors between faculty and graduate student instructors (GSIs). Using a large-scale multi-institution dataset, this study takes a closer examination of the variation of effective teaching practices, proportion of time spent on in-class activities, and time commitment on teaching-related activates of faculty and GSIs with different demographic and course characteristics. Results suggest that faculty utilize more effective teaching practices than GSIs across all demographic, course characteristics, and disciplines. Faculty spent a greater proportion of time in lecture and discussion, whereas GSIs spent more time in small-group activities. GSIs spent less time than faculty at different academic ranks in all teaching-related activities. This study recommends more resources and support should be provided to GSIs to enhance effective teaching practices and time management in teaching.
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Understanding faculty experiences with discrimination: The role of intersecting identity and institutional characteristics
Hurtado, S., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, 2016, April.
Understanding the experience of faculty members has been an important focus of higher education literature, particularly the prevalence of discrimination for underrepresented populations. Experiences with discrimination have the potential to negatively impact aspects of faculty overall experience, including satisfaction and retention and perceptions of campus climate. Most previous literature focuses on one or two specific identity characteristics (e.g. gender and race/ethnicity) and less attention has been paid to ways in which various identity characteristics intersect in one‘s experience. Using a large-scale multi-institution data set, this quantitative study examines faculty experiences with discrimination by identity and institutional characteristics, its impact on faculty ability to work, and perceptions of institutional support. Findings indicate nearly half of faculty who experienced discrimination indicated it was based on two or more identities and of the identities provided, academic rank was the highest reported reason for discrimination.
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Livin' on a prayer: A quasi-experimental investigation into the efficacy of learning communities
Fosnacht, K., & Graham, P. A.
American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Montreal, QC, Canada, 2016, March.
With the increasing adoption of learning communities by post-secondary institutions, it is imperative to document their effectiveness, as the existing research is not definitive. In this study, we found that learning communities have a positive impact on students‘ engagement and perceived gains using a quasi-experimental approach, confirming previous research; however, learning communities do not appear to drastically alter the student experience on average. Additionally, we found that the estimated effect of learning communities varies widely across institutions on a variety of measures. Consequently, it appears that while some learning communities are extremely impactful, others have a negligible impact on students.
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Living on campus: Does it still make a difference?
Graham, P. A., Hurtado, S. S., & Gonyea, R. M.
American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Montreal, QC, Canada, 2016, March.
While the benefits of living on campus have been well documented, the changing landscape of living arrangements, programming efforts, and other factors underline the need to reexamine its impact. Using national survey data from first-year students, this study investigates the relationship of residential status with engagement and perceived gains in learning and development. Results indicate, after controlling for student and institution characteristics, that student residence has an inconsequential effect on the dependent variables. Implications for practice and additional research are discussed.
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Looking across high-impact practices: First-year student democratic awareness & democratic participation
Weiss, H. A., & Fosnacht, K. J.
NASPA Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN, 2016, March.
Creating educated and informed citizens for our diverse democracy has long been one of the objectives of the U.S. educational system. Traditionally, service-learning has been the primary tool for colleges and universities to promote civic outcomes; however, other practices also hold the potential to improve civic outcomes. In this study, we find that service-learning, learning communities, and research with faculty are positively and significantly correlated to two measures of democratic engagement for a multi-institutional sample of first-year students. The results have important implications for how postsecondary institutions promote civic outcomes.
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Learning online: Unintended consequences for engagement?
Dumford, A. D., & Miller, A. L.
Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, HI, 2016, January.
A rapidly increasing number of colleges and universities are looking for ways to deliver course content online. This paper investigates the effects of taking courses through an online medium on students‘ engagement using data from the 2015 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). A series of 10 OLS regression analyses, controlling for certain student and institutional characteristics, suggested several significant effects of taking online courses for first-year students as well as seniors. Students taking more courses using an online medium showed higher use of learning strategies and quantitative reasoning yet lower collaborative learning, student-faculty interactions, effective teaching practices, discussions with diverse others, and quality of interactions. The change in these engagement indicators based on the percentage of classes taken online reveals that the online environment might encourage certain types of engagement but not others.
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Focus on the finish line: Does high-impact practice participation influence career plans and job attainment?
Miller, A. L., Rocconi, L. M., & Dumford, A. D.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Denver, CO, 2015, November.
High-impact practices (HIPs) are an important component of student engagement in higher education, as they promote learning, development, and persistence among students. The goal of this study was to extend the research on HIPs to explore potential connections with HIP participation and career outcomes. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement, this study explores whether high-impact practice (HIP) participation influences plans for career and further education for graduating seniors, and whether HIP participation has a positive impact on job attainment for these students. The results of logistic and multinomial regression analyses suggest that even after controlling for a variety of other demographic and institutional factors, HIP participation is a significant predictor of future career plans and attainment. The findings are discussed in the context of the Chaos Theory of Careers (Pryor & Bright, 2003), which emphasizes the role of multiple influences and chance, as well as acknowledging nonlinear paths in career advising and development. HIP participation can give students a career-related advantage through transferable skill development, engaging in learning opportunities, and generating ?stories? for potential employers.
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Graduate student instructors, their courses, and the support they need
BrckaLorenz, A., Wang, R., & Nelson Laird, T. F.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Denver, CO, 2015, November.
While some existing literature exposes graduate students instructor‘s (GSIs) various approaches to teaching, and the importance of professional development, there is little research on the ways in which GSI characteristics may impact their needs and preferences for professional development (Boman, 2013). Led by these gaps in the literature, this study explores the diverse characteristics of GSIs employed at eight research universities in the U.S. and investigates the ways in which these characteristics impact GSI needs for professional development and support in teaching. The results of this study offer implications for practice and recommendations for future research that enhance GSIs teaching and learning, as well as their overall graduate education and preparation.
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Undermatching and the first-year experience: Examining effect heterogeneity
Fosnacht, K.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Denver, CO, 2015, November.
Academic undermatching, which occurs when a student with the academic credentials to compete for admission to a selective school enrolls at a substantially less-selective institution, has increasingly gained the attention of policymakers and researchers as a potential reason for the nation‘s lower-than-desired college completion rate. The relationship between undermatching and college outcomes, however, is not well understood. Following up on a previous study that found undermatching had mixed effects on outcomes in first-year students‘ engagement, perceived gains, and satisfaction, this study examines if these relationships vary by race/ethnicity, parental education, and gender. Results indicate that the relationship between undermatching and the aforementioned outcomes differed by race/ethnicity and gender but not by parental education. Implications for policy and practice are discussed.
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An alternative approach: Using survey panels to inform assessment
Sarraf, S., Fernandez, S., Houlemarde, M., & Wang, X.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2015, May.
As an experiment, eight mini-surveys based on selected items from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) were administered to 500 college students over an eight-week period. NSSE staff recruited participants from five diverse colleges and universities in order to investigate this alternative survey panel approach to see what impact it would have on various data quality indicators. Results indicate a dramatic increase in student participation rates and less missing data from those who responded.
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Barriers in returning to learning: Engagement and support of adult learners
Rabourn, K. E., Shoup, R., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2015, May.
Adult learners are a growing population in the U.S. postsecondary education system that experiences distinct barriers to academic success. However, higher education institutions continue to create and adhere to policies that favor traditional-age college students. Given that adult learners are becoming more common across the higher education landscape, it is important to better understand their experiences to ensure this population is supported to success. This study used data from the 2013 and 2014 administrations of the National Survey of Student Engagement to identify the characteristics of today‘s adult learners and to assess how their engagement differs from that of traditional-age students. We found that adult learners are more likely to take all of their classes online, begin their education at another institution, and enroll part time. Compared to their traditional-age peers, adult learners are more engaged academically and have more positive perceptions of teaching practices and interactions with others, but they interact less with peers and faculty and find their campuses to be less supportive.
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Contextualizing student engagement effect sizes: An empirical analysis
Rocconi, L., & Gonyea, R. M.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2015, May.
The concept of effect size?a measure of the strength of association between two variables?plays a crucial role in assessment, institutional research, and scholarly inquiry, where it is common with large sample sizes to find small or even trivial relationships or differences that are statistically significant. Using the distributions of effect sizes from the results of 984 institutions that participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in 2013 and 2014, the authors empirically derived new recommendations for the interpretation of effect sizes which were grounded within the context of the survey. We argue for the adoption of new values for interpreting small, medium, and large effect sizes from statistical comparisons of NSSE Engagement Indicators, High-Impact Practices, and student engagement data more generally.
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Does use of survey incentives degrade data quality?
Cole, J. S., Sarraf, S. A., & Wang, X.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2015, May.
Overall, this study found little evidence that survey incentives negatively affect data quality. Our analyses showed minimal differences between incentive and non-incentive groups with regard to straight-lining, item skipping, total missing items, and survey completion. Contradicting Barge and Gehlbach‘s finding, we found, in fact, that incentive respondents actually had better data quality than non-incentive respondents. Measurement invariance analysis also demonstrated that the presence of an incentive did not compromise the validity of NSSE Engagement Indicator scores or the underlying factor structures. The current study‘s findings with such a robust sample should allay any serious concerns NSSE users may have about incentives undermining data quality.
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Item nonresponse bias on the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement
Chiang, Y.-C., & BrckaLorenz, A.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2015, May.
Survey researchers often wonder about the impact of missing data and whether a sample with missing data is representative of a larger population. This study investigates the prevalence of item nonresponse bias among participants in the FSSE survey and its impact on the estimates of ten FSSE scale scores by comparing item nonresponse patterns across faculty-level characteristics such as gender identity, racial or ethnic identification, citizenship, employment status, academic rank, and the number of undergraduate or graduate courses taught. These analyses examined a set of FSSE items that comprise ten FSSE scales.
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Mining text data for useful information
Zilvinskis, J.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2015, May.
Text mining presents an efficient way to access the extensive amount of data found in written records by converting words into numbers and using algorithms to detect relevant patterns. This presentation focuses on the fundamentals of text mining, including an overview of key concepts, prevalent methodologies, and popular software packages. The utility of text mining is demonstrated through two examples: (1) using text to create a learning analytics system at a premier community college (CUNY Guttman), and (2) refining survey items on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).
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Optimizing long surveys for smartphones: Why it’s important
Sarraf, S., & Cole, J.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2015, May.
This discussion group addressed various questions related to optimizing a relatively long survey instrument for smartphones based on a National Survey of Student Engagement experimental administration. Colleges and universities across the country administer many surveys to their students, but optimizing them for smartphones may not be receiving the necessary attention it deserves. With this in mind, the following questions were addressed based on a paper: Why should survey developers consider optimizing their instruments for smartphones? What impact can smartphone optimization have on various survey data quality indicators? What does a smartphone-optimized survey format look like?
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Using canonical correlation analysis to examine student engagement and learning
Zilvinskis, J., Masseria, A., & Pike, G. R.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Denver, CO, 2015, May.
Using canonical correlation analysis, this study examines the relationships between measures of student engagement from NSSE and perceived gains in learning. The study draws on institution-level data from NSSE participants in 2011 and 2013. Several significant relationships were found between engagement and learning. For example, learning outcomes associated with application, like acquiring job-related skills, were positively associated with the engagement indicators of quantitative reasoning and collaborative learning. This presentation also provides attendees with an introduction to the logic and methods underlying canonical correlation analysis.
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What is the impact of smartphone optimization on long surveys?
Sarraf, S., Brooks, J., Cole, J., & Wang, X.
American Association for Public Opinion Research Annual Conference, Hollywood, FL, 2015, May.
Using results from a ten-institution experiment that used the 2015 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), this study details the impact that smartphone optimization has on a survey with over 100 questions. The study's research questions center on how optimizing a survey for smartphones affects various data quality indicators including early abandonment, missing data, item nonresponse, duration, straight-lining, and subjective student evaluations. The study also investigates scale measurement invariance for NSSE's ten Engagement Indicators. Results indicate that the smartphone-optimized survey format outperforms both smartphone-unoptimized and desktop survey formats in several ways.
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Civic engagement, service-learning, and faculty engagement: A profile of Black women faculty
Wheatle, K., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2015, April.
Existent research on African American (or Black) women faculty suggests that they are disproportionately overlooked during the tenure and promotion process, largely due to the academy‘s overvaluing of research activities and undervaluing of service-based and teaching activities. These studies largely utilize qualitative inquiry to develop a narrative about the experiences of Black women faculty. The current study seeks to test this narrative quantitatively by using a large-scale sample of faculty engagement survey data to compare Black women faculty‘s encouragement of civic engagement and use of service-learning to that of their Black male, White female, and White male counterparts. Findings suggest that Black women faculty are more encouraging of civic engagement among their students and include more service-learning within their courses than others.
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Global perspectives in curricula and deep approaches to learning: Examining faculty practices for engagement
Peck, L., Chiang, Y.-C., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2015, April.
Many higher education institutions today are placing a high level of importance on internationalization. One of the most popular means of providing students with a global perspective is through internationalizing a course curriculum. Global learning experiences in the classroom are seen as a way to expose students to multiple points of view on issues and foster cross-cultural understanding. Using results from the 2014 administration of the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE), this study compared faculty use of global perspectives in student learning to their use of reflective and integrative learning and higher order learning practices?to see how the two are related. The influences of faculty characteristics, such as gender and academic rank, as well as institutional characteristics, will also be explored.
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Revisiting the relationship between institutional rank and student engagement
Zilvinskis, J., & Rocconi, L. M.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2015, April.
Using data from the 2013 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), multilevel models were employed to explore the relationship between student engagement and three institutional ranking schemes: U.S. News, Forbes, and Washington Monthly. Findings reveal few relationships exist between NSSE‘s measures of student engagement and the three institutional ranking schemes, except for a negative relationship between the three ranking schemes and student-faculty interactions; implications of these findings are included.
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Seeking advice: An exploratory analysis of how often first-year students meet with advisors
Fosnacht, K., McCormick, A. C., Nailos, J., & Ribera, A. K.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2015, April.
While it is well understood that academic advising helps students adjust to and deal with the challenges of college, little is known about what influences the extent of their interactions with advisors. Using data from 52,546 full-time, first-year students at a diverse set of 209 institutions, we examined how often students met with academic advisors, and how this varies by student and institutional characteristics. We find that the typical first-year student met with an advisor one to three times during their first college year. However, the number of meetings varied across student subpopulations and institution types. Findings aim to inform wider discussions about academic advising and student support on college campuses.
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Social media: An opportunity for engaging undergraduates
Yuhas, B., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2015, April.
The rise of online social media within the past decade has had a profound influence on the way we connect with others and will likely continue to be a meaningful component of students‘ lives, campus culture, and the college experience. This large-scale study of students at four-year colleges and universities examines the engaging and disengaging use of social media sites (SMS) on campuses. Additionally, this study examines how SMS use varies by student characteristics and relates to other forms of educationally effective engagement. Results indicate that SMS use cuts equally across many, but not all, student characteristics. In addition, SMS use can be both a substantive distraction from engagement as well as a tool for increased positive engagement.
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What characteristics predict student-faculty interaction and important relationships with effective educational practice
Wang, R., BrckaLorenz, A., & Chiang, Y.-C.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2015, April.
Student-faculty interaction is significantly beneficial to college students‘ engagement and success. Past studies of student-faculty interaction (SFI) have focused on the relationship between student characteristics and SFI or between faculty members‘ qualities, skills, or approaches and SFI. This study uses a large-scale multi-institution data set to take a closer examination of the relationships between faculty characteristics, course characteristics, institutional characteristics, faculty course goals, and faculty values for campus support with SFI. Results suggest that several faculty, course, and institution characteristics predict increased SFI. Additionally, results also indicate that faculty who do more to structure their courses for student growth and development and more strongly value a supportive campus environment for students interact with students more frequently.
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What influences end-of-course evaluations? Teaching and learning vs. instrumental factors
McCormick, A., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2015, April.
Student evaluations of courses and teaching in the form of end-of-course surveys are ubiquitous in higher education, and at many institutions they serve as the primary basis for evaluating teaching effectiveness in the promotion and tenure process. Course evaluations of teaching are also controversial. It is often asserted that students use them to reward professors for easy courses and punish them for demanding ones, and many faculty believe that students‘ evaluations are influenced by their expected grade. This study investigates the relative influence of teaching and learning versus instrumental influences in students‘ overall course evaluation ratings using data from a diverse sample of 44 four-year institutions.
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Don’t put baby in the corner alone: Where and with whom students live can impact their peer belonging and institutional acceptance
Dumford, A. D., Ribera, A. K., & Miller, A. L.
NASPA Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2015, March.
With current concerns about graduation rates, it is crucial that students feel a sense of belonging during their transition to college and throughout their college experience. The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of where students live and with whom they share their living space on how students perceive their integration with peers as well as with their institution. Data from the 2014 administration of the National Survey of Student Engagement are used to explore the benefits and disadvantages of different living situations. Implications for these results are also discussed.
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Information use during the first college year: Findings from the NSSE Experiences with Information Literacy module
Fosnacht, K.
Association of College & Research Libraries Annual Conference, Portland, OR, 2015, March.
Using data collected from over 17,000 first-year students attending 76 bachelor‘s-granting U.S. institutions, this study investigated how often students engage in activities associated with developing information literacy skills. It found that most students frequently used information sources in their coursework, but substantially fewer students critically and effectively used information sources. It conducted a latent class analysis which identified four distinct ways or types first-year students engaged with information sources. The study also conducted a multinomial logistics regression analysis to investigate which student and institutional characteristics were correlated with the four latent classes identified.
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Promoting democratic engagement during college: Looking beyond service-learning
Howe, E. C., & Fosnacht, K.
NASPA Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2015, March.
Preparing students to be engaged participants in our democratic society has long been an important college outcome. Over the past few decades, postsecondary institutions have primarily attempted to improve civic outcomes by integrating service activities into their curricula. While research on the impacts of service learing is plentiful, research on how other educationally beneficial activities influences democratic outcomes is scarce. In this study, we find that service-learning may not be a panacea for promoting democratic outcomes, as other high-inpact practices, most prominently learning communities, had greater or equivalent relationship to two dimensions of democratic engagement.

Sense of peer belonging and institutional acceptance in the first year: The role of high-impact practices
Ribera, A. K., Miller, A. L., & Dumford, A. D.
American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Tampa, FL, 2015, March.
This study examines the role that high-impact practices play in shaping first-year students' sense of belonging as it relates to peers and institutional acceptance. Using data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (n=9,371), results reveal troublesome gaps for historically underrepresented populations in their sense of belonging among their peers and affiliation with the institution. Yet, when students participated in certain high-impact practices (learning communities, service-learning, research with faculty, and campus leadership), positive associations were found, even after controlling for other institutional and student-level characteristics. Implications for first-year programming are discussed.

Engaging in the margins: Exploring differences in biracial students' engagement by racial/ethnic makeup
Harris, J., BrckaLorenz, A., & Nelson Laird, T.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Washington, DC, 2014, November.
Due to socio-historical understandings of race in America and traditional methods of data collection and analysis, biracial undergraduate students‘ engagement in college remains unexplored. This research utilizes a national data set to shed light on the biracial student population and their engagement on campus. Findings problematize the ideology that biracial individuals are a monolithic group, fostering an overdue conversation concerning biraciality in higher education and providing critical implications for future research and practice.
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Exploring the effects of a HIP culture on campus: Measuring the relationship between the importance faculty place on high-impact practices and student participation in those practices
Nelson Laird, T., BrckaLorenz, A., Zilvinskis, J., & Lambert, A.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Washington, DC, 2014, November.
This study explores campus cultures that value high-impact practices by examining the relationship between the importance faculty place on high-impact practices and student participation in six different educationally beneficial high-impact activities. We further explore how faculty and institutional characteristics affect the importance faculty place on undergraduate high-impact practice participation.
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Participation in undergraduate research at minority-serving institutions
Haeger, H., BrckaLorenz, A., & Webber, K.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Washington, DC, 2014, November.
Despite the prevalence and effectiveness of undergraduate research, there is little information on undergraduate research participation at minority-serving institutions (MSIs), nor how undergraduate research affects educationally effective engagement for underrepresented minority (URM) students. This research examines undergraduate research participation at MSIs, predictors of participation for URM students, and benefits of participation.
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Exploring how course evaluation outcomes are collected, shared, and used
BrckaLorenz, A., McCormick, A., & Peck, L.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Orlando, FL, 2014, May.
End of course evaluations are a widely used means of assessing student learning experiences and provide opportunities for faculty to refine their teaching and course content. However, the way institutions collect and share those results varies. Using data from the 2013 National Survey of Student Engagement and Faculty Survey of Student Engagement administrations, this presentation examines how different types of institutions collect and distribute course evaluation results, how much students access course evaluation information, and how much faculty use course evaluation information to improve their courses and teaching. Student use of external evaluation sources (e.g., ratemyprofessor.com) to select courses is also be examined.
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Exploring how course evaluation outcomes are collected, shared, and used
BrckaLorenz, A., McCormick, A., & Peck, L.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Orlando, FL, 2014, May.
End of course evaluations are a widely used means of assessing student learning experiences and provide opportunities for faculty to refine their teaching and course content. However, the way institutions collect and share those results varies. Using data from the 2013 National Survey of Student Engagement and Faculty Survey of Student Engagement administrations, this presentation examines how different types of institutions collect and distribute course evaluation results, how much students access course evaluation information, and how much faculty use course evaluation information to improve their courses and teaching. Student use of external evaluation sources (e.g., ratemyprofessor.com) to select courses is also be examined.
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Survey lottery incentives and institutional response rates: An exploratory analysis
Sarraf, S., & Cole, J.S.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Orlando, FL, 2014, May.
Many institutional and educational researchers are well aware that response rates for assessment surveys have been declining over the past few decades (Dey, 1997; Laguilles, Williams, & Saunders, 2011). As a result, many researchers have noted that our ability to adequately assess student academic experiences, satisfaction, engagement, use of campus resources, and other important topics in higher education are at risk (Pike, 2008). Consequently, use of incentives are one tool that many institutional researchers have come to rely on to boost or hold steady their response rates for various campus student surveys. Though research regarding the efficacy of incentives to boost survey response rates in higher education is scant, the research that does exist suggests that incentives are an effective way to boost institutional response rates (Heerwegh, 2006; Laguilles, Williams, & Saunders, 2011). The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of lottery incentives (the mostfrequently used incentive approach) to boost responses rates for institutions using the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE).
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Taking surveys with smartphones: A look at usage among college students
Sarraf, S., Brooks, J., & Cole, J.
American Association for Public Opinion Research Annual Conference, Anaheim, CA, 2014, May.
The widespread adoption of mobile technologies has dramatically impacted the landscape for survey researchers (Buskirk & Andrus, 2012), and those focusing on college student populations are no exception. The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), one of the largest U.S. college survey assessment projects, annually surveys hundreds of thousands of undergraduate students at college and university campuses throughout the United States and Canada. Internal NSSE analyses show the number of smartphone respondents is increasing each year.1 This analysis showed that in 2011, only about 4% of NSSSE respondents used a smartphone, but by 2013 that figure had increased to 13%. Preliminary results from the 2014 administration suggest the percentage continues to increase, with roughly 18% of respondents using smartphones to complete the survey. Using 2013 NSSE data, the purpose of this study is to examine college student demographics and engagement results by smartphone respondent status. The results of this study will provide insights into the prevalence of college?aged survey respondents using smartphones, and the impact this technology has on survey responses.
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Testing the new scales on the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement
BrckaLorenz, A., Chiang, Y.-C., & Nelson Laird, T.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Orlando, FL, 2014, May.
The Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) annually collects information from thousands of faculty at baccalaureate degree-granting colleges and universities about student engagement both in and out of the classroom. With the update to the FSSE instrument in 2013, new scales were rigorously tested to aid in reporting and discussions about student engagement. FSSE staff have documented the array of analyses and tests used to evaluate the quality of these scales, including descriptive analysis and studies of validity and reliability.
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Testing the new scales on the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement
BrckaLorenz, A., Chiang, Y.-C., & Nelson Laird, T.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Orlando, FL, 2014, May.
The Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) annually collects information from thousands of faculty at baccalaureate degree-granting colleges and universities about student engagement both in and out of the classroom. With the update to the FSSE instrument in 2013, new scales were rigorously tested to aid in reporting and discussions about student engagement. FSSE staff have documented the array of analyses and tests used to evaluate the quality of these scales, including descriptive analysis and studies of validity and reliability.
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Bridge or barrier: The impact of social media on engagement for first-generation college students
Haeger, H., Wang, R., & BrckaLorenz, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2014, April.
Social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, are an integral part of communication for today‘s college students. This research explores whether this shift in communication functions to create more connections or whether it functions as another avenue for social reproduction of privilege for first-generation college students. Analysis on how first-generation students use social media to build and maintain social connections along with what factors most impact the formation of social capital through social media suggests that first-generation students use social media less than their peers, especially in building new relationships and in learning about events on campus. Despite this, social media use is still an important tool in making connections to peers and faculty on campus for first-generation students.
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Selectivity and the college experience: How undermatching shapes the college experience among high-achieving students
Fosnacht, K.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2014, April.
This study examined how undermatching impacts the college experiences of high achieving first-year students. Using propensity score modeling, it found that undermatching was associated with less academic challenge, but higher levels of student-faculty interaction and active and collaborative learning. The results also indicate that undermatches report fewer gains in their learning and development and less satisfaction with their institution. The implications of undermatching and how to reduce its prevalence are discussed.
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Financial stress and its impact on first-year students’ college experiences
Fosnacht, K., & Dong, Y.
Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, St. Louis, MO, 2013, November.
This study examined the relationship between undergraduate engagement and financial stress coping strategies. The study found that students who evidenced financial stress perceived a less supportive campus environment, but tended to participate in more academically beneficial activities. The results indicated that magnitude of the impact of financial stress varied by the type of financial stress coping strategy used.
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How important are high response rates for college surveys?
Fosnacht, K., Sarraf, S., Howe, E., & Peck, L.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Long Beach, CA, 2013, May.
How important are high survey response rates for estimating population statistics related to the college experience? Given a general decline in survey participation rates among college students, the answer to this question has broad implications for institutional researchers who often use surveys. Survey methodologists have found that low response rates do not necessarily bias results. This study tests this proposition using results from about 250 colleges and universities that administered NSSE. Findings indicate that survey population estimates based on simulated low response rates are very similar to those based on actual high response rates.
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Institutional satisfaction and the development of transferable skills
Miller, A., & Fosnacht, K.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Long Beach, CA, 2013, May.
Transferable skills, such as problem solving and analytical writing, play an important role in students‘ appeal to prospective employers. This study explores whether senior students‘ development of these transferable skills were related to their perceptions of satisfaction with their higher education institutions. Using data from the NSSE 2012 administration, regression analyses suggest that problem solving skills were a significant positive predictor of institutional satisfaction, even when controlling for other demographic and institutional characteristics. Analytical writing skills were also a significant positive predictor of institutional satisfaction.
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Senior leaders and teaching environments at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominately White Institutions
Cole, E. R., Nelson Laird, T. F., & Lambert, A.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2013, May.
Various scholars have entered the conversation on the educational effectiveness of HBCUs in comparison to PWIs. There is, however, an absence of research that examines the potential relationship between teaching practices and how faculty feel senior leaders (e.g., deans, provosts, presidents) contribute to fostering an environment that enhances their classroom effectiveness. This study uses data from the 2012 administration of the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) to examine the differences between faculty perceptions of senior leaders on HBCU and PWI campuses. The results add to our understanding of how much senior leaders support both faculty teaching practices and teaching-related resources.
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Student perspectives on the importance and use of technology in learning
BrckaLorenz, A., Haeger, H., Nailos, J., & Rabourn, K.
Association for Institutional Research Annual Forum, Long Beach, CA, 2013, May.
Under constant demands to improve the quality of higher education within an increasingly digital world, technology is often seen as a way to increase learning and collaboration on college campuses. The current generation of college students has grown up with technology, and these students are among the earliest adopters of new advances in technology (Jones, 2002; Haney, 2011). Allowing students to connect to their campus community, collaborate with peers, acquire new information, and demonstrate their learning through technology is essential for college campuses seeking to meet the needs of today‘s college students. Though access and use of technology is highest in traditional age college students, disparity still exists in who uses technology and at what age they are exposed to it (Jones et al., 2009; Pew Research Center, 2012; Wilson, Wallin, & Reiser, 2003). Race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, among other factors, can impact the level of technical proficiency students come to college with and should be considered in how technology is implemented on college campuses (Goode, 2010; Hargittai, 2010; Huang, Hood, & Yoo, 2012). In order to effectively use technology to improve education, we must investigate how students are currently using technology, what they want from their colleges in the use of technology, how technology impacts educational outcomes, and how these factors differ for different student populations. How do these perceptions of importance vary by different types of students and students in different institutional settings? To what extent has students‘ technology use enabled them to understand, demonstrate their understanding, or study on their own or with others? How does such uses of technology relate to other important forms of educationally effective engagement? This study uses a large-scale dataset to explore these issues and provide information to institutions of higher education to effectively implement greater technology use among students.
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Exploring the effect of parental education on college students’ deep approaches to learning
Ribera, A. K.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2013, April.
This study provides insights into how students‘ deep approaches to learning may be directly and indirectly affected by parental education, a component of SES. Goyette and Mullen (2006) found that students from lower SES families tended to hold lower degree aspirations and favor vocationally-focused majors. Hansen (1997) reported that students from socially disadvantaged backgrounds were less likely to select into degree tracks that are common gateways into graduate school such as fields in the arts and sciences. While it appears students‘ educational aspirations and choice of major is partly influenced by their social upbringing, it is unclear if these decisions also affect how they approach learning. We also do not know if parental education has a direct impact on students‘ engagement in deep approaches to learning (DAL). The following study explores these issues in tandem.

How much effort is needed? The importance of response rates for estimating undergraduate behaviors
Fosnacht, K., Sarraf, S., Howe, E., & Peck, L.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2013, April.
Survey methodologists have found that low response rates do not necessarily bias results. This study tests this proposition using results from several hundred colleges that administered a student survey. Findings indicate that survey population estimates based on low response rates are very similar to those based on high response rates.
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Undergraduates in the professional fields: Exploring the impact of institutional characteristics on time spent preparing for class
Ribera, A. K., Rocconi, L. M., & McCormick, A. C.
American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2013, April.
Using data from over 137,000 full time seniors enrolled at 543 four year colleges and universities in 2011, this study explores the relationship between the amount of time students spent preparing for class each week and both institutional context and field of study, with a particular focus on five professional fields (business, education, engineering, nursing, and allied health) relative to arts & sciences. Controlling for student and institutional characteristics, results indicate both systematic differences in study time related to field of study and a positive relationship between selectivity, Carnegie type, and study time. Moderating effects were found between discipline and institutional selectivity, Carnegie type, and control. Findings promise to inform national and disciplinary discussions about academic rigor, student effort, and learning outcomes.
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Undergraduate coping with financial stress: A latent class analysis
Fosnacht, K.
American College Personnel Association Annual Convention, Las Vegas, NV, 2013, March.
Undergraduates are increasingly caught between three financial realities. First, the sticker and net cost of attending college has outpaced the rate of inflation (Baum & Ma, 2012). These increases result from factors ranging from declining state subsidies (Quintero, 2012), increased enrollments (Bound & Turner, 2007), and effects of the 2008 recession (Baum & Ma, 2012). Second, in the decade between 2001 and 2011, family incomes declined across the entire income distribution after accounting for inflation (Baum & Ma, 2012). Therefore, many parents of undergraduates experienced financial hardship and Were less able to pay for college costs. Finally, due to their low incomes and assets and lack of financial knowledge, students constitute a financially vulnerable population (Avard, Manton, English, & Walker, 2005; Berkner & Wei, 2006; Chen & Volpe, 1998; Murphy, 2005). Consequently, undergraduates have had difficulty absorbing the additional college cost burden placed upon them over time. The rapidly rising amount of student loans debt incurred per borrower highlights this fact (Baum & Payea, 2012). Due to these financial realities, a significant source of stress for undergraduates is their finances. In one recent national study, approximately a third of students recently described their finances as ?traumatic? or ?very difficult? to handle (American College Health Association, 2012). Another study, focusing specifically on financial stress, found even higher rates among a national sample of undergraduates and recent graduates (Trombitas, 2012). Approximately a third of the respondents in the latter study stated that financial stress negatively impacted their academic performance or progress. An impression supported by previous research associating financial stress with dropping out of college, lower academic performance, anxiety, and depression (Joo, Durband, & Grable, 2008; McPherson, 2012; Ross, Cleland, & Macleod, 2006). The available evidence clearly indicates that undergraduates frequently experience financial stress; however, less is known about how first-year students react to financial stress and how it varies by demographic groups. To fill in this gap, this study investigated how undergraduates coped with financial stress and how coping strategies correlated with student characteristics.
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